{Keeping} :: Spanish Notebook

I have been meaning to do a post on our (or my) Spanish Keeping Notebook for awhile. Now with Celeste's September Keeping Company Invitation, I have the impetus to go ahead and put some words and observations down in a post here.

This is something I desire to do consistently as a record, as well as a future resource for my children. 

First I must say that back when Royal was a wee 5-year-old, I actually started a crude version of a foreign language notebook where we would enter a new vocabulary drawing each day. I wrote the Spanish word at the top of the page:

More recently I began two books, one for each of the older two since they have been doing Spanish together since forever.

These spiral-bound books I already had on hand, initially to be purposed as a home for Royal's toddler art. After our move back to the States, I lost my "round tuit". ;-P 

As for the set-up, I just found a typical Spanish image to print off and set as the cover art to distinguish it as something special. The children colored their pictures, then I added the letter stickers to spell out "español":

As far as practicality goes, it really has fulfilled that purpose even thus far. I have had so many loose flashcards and papers to deal with. The keeping aspect of this notebook really lives up to its name in this case! Lol :-)

From various web searches and Pinterest posts on foreign language, I have seen the emergence of something called interactive notebooks. I took this idea as something to incorporate into our Keeping and hope it finds use as the children grow to use their books as a source for personal review:

And now with the numerous series we have been learning in our Around the House unit, I have a place to record the series as well as illustrate the vocabulary (with room to add more vocabulary that may belong to each of these rooms of the house):

So there it is!
A work in progress, for sure.

So now I want to see some of yours!

Drop me a line with a link if you've got a post highlighting your special foreign language Keeping.

{Spanish} :: ¡A Cantar!

In order to add in a little more actions having to do with clothing, I decided to make up my own song to the tune of Old MacDonald Had a Farm. I suppose that singing little phrases, with performing the appropriate actions along with the song, could be a form of the Gouin series that Charlotte Mason references and endorses. So why not add in a bit of diversity to our Spanish learning?

In thinking about things we do with clothes, I first came up with a list. I decided shopping is done first, then ordered all other actions in a logical sequence afterwards:

• go shopping
• buy
• wash
• dry
• fold
• put away
• put on
• wear
• take off

So finally, the hardest part was the song leading up to the series, but I think this works out ok. 
Any native Spanish speakers, feel free to chime in and suggest better phrasing!

The way I do the song is by shuffling our clothing flashcards, placing them face down in the middle of us, then when we come to the first blank in the song, one child draws the card and has to say what it is from memory. (If using these clothing flashcards, just cut off words if your students are already reading!) Of course this song follows having practiced our clothing items for awhile, so for the most part the kids already know each article of clothing's Spanish word. 
Oh, and for words like necklace or hat or whatever, it is fun to go ahead and sing about washing and folding them because the kids think it's hilarious :-)

So here goes...

Spanish song:                                          Old MacDonald words:

Voy de compras ahorita.                            Old MacDonald had a farm.

¡Vamos, vamos ya!                                     E-I-E-I-O

En la tienda compro ____.                         And on that farm he had a ____.

Y a casa regresar.                                      E-I-E-I-O

Lavo ____.                                                 With a ____ here.

Seco ____.                                                And a ____ there.

Doblo ____.                                               (same tune over and over for the rest of the list)

Guardo ____.

Me pongo ____.

Llevo ____.

Me quito ____.

Voy de compras otra vez.                         E-I-E-I-O.

And thus the song repeats for as many times as you like, in order to practice the clothing items and verb phrases.

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If interested in the translation...

I'm going shopping right now.

Let's go, let's go now!

In the store I buy ____.

And home to return.

I wash ____.

I dry ____.

I fold ____.

I put away ____.

I put on ____.

I wear ____.

I take off ____.

I go shopping again.