TPRS year 5 - Mi mascota es _____.

Here's a video/song to get you to talk about your students' pets and also get a little brain-break and music all in one.

While it might seem silly, yes I would probably do this in a high school class because in my opinion, high school students are often nostalgic for those activities they used to do in classes as kids.


Step 1: PQA (Personalized Questions and Answers)

Depending on the level of class, here are some Spanish 1 questions I would consider asking to practice some basic structures... in upper levels, you could use more complicated language:

¿Quién tiene una mascota?
¿Cómo se llama?
¿Es pequeño/a, grande o mediano?
¿Es bonito/a o feo/a?
¿De qué color es?
¿Te gusta tu mascota?
(maybe target action word you could ask about: what does it eat? / why is it special? /etc)

TPRS year 4 - song - pulgarcito

So I've been continuing doing a warm up, basic conversation, TPR and PQA for my 90 minute classes.  It's going ok.  I started trying to do brain breaks about 20 minutes into PQA and then we finish more refreshed.

I think it also reminds my students how important their attention is.

But today, for the brain break, I wanted to do something a little different.  I thought a change of pace would be to turn around to the projector (which is strangely at the back of my classroom). And then I made a very basic PowerPoint with the lyrics to the little song: "Pulgarcito".

This is a Spanish version of a song "Where is Thumbkin," which I had never heard of, but saw on an episode of Sesame Street.  In the Elmo's World section, there was a Spanish version of it called: "Pulgarcito."  It's to the tune of Frère Jacques.

Here are the lyrics I used, I changed it slightly for my students and added a gesture for, "¿Dónde estás?"

Pulgarcito  (hands behind back)
   Little thumb
¿Dónde estás? (put hand up over brow looking for someone)
   Where are you?
Aquí estoy. (bring out right hand, thumb up, moving to say "Aquí estoy")
   Here I am.
Aquí estoy. (bring out left hand, thumb up, moving to say "Aquí estoy")
   Here I am.
¿Cómo estás? (move right thumb as if talking)
   How are you?
Muy bien, gracias.  (move left thumb as if talking)
   Very well, thanks.
Ya me voy. (put right hand behind back)
   Gotta go.
Ya me voy. (put left hand behind back)
   Gotta go.

Then repeat as much as you want with students having them gesture and sing along/move their mouths so you don't know they aren't singing.

Most of my students seemed to enjoy it.  I saw them smiling.  Many of them are freshman/sophomores.  I think the simplicity of the language helped them and the fact that I explained how important music is in my classroom and how studies show how music can enhance learning a language.

Good activity!  Saving this one for later.

*revision: My mother swears she used to sing "where is thumbkin" to me when I was little (in English) but I don't have any recollection of it.

*revision #2: Some of my students will say "Ya me voy" as they leave class now in Spanish 1.