Alphabet Fiesta: An English/Spanish Alphabet Story

 

 

Author/Illustrator: Anne Miranda/Young schoolchildren in Spain

About the Author:
http://www.amazon.com/Anne-Miranda/e/B000APVXIS
Miranda has written a number of books inlcuding Glad Monster, and Sad Monster with Caldecott Award winning illustrator Ed Emberley. She currently lives in Spain with her husband, Saturnino, and her two sons, Evan and Tyler, that play basketball.  She likes to paint, garden, blog, go on facebook and watch her sons play basketball.  She is continuing to write and hopes to have a new book out soon.

Genre: English, Foreign Language, Science

Grade Level: K-1
Theme: Animals, Letters of Alphabet

Synopsis:

This book is about different animals that start with different letters of the alphabet preparing for a surprise party for their friend Zelda the Zebra.  This story also is told in Spanish as well as English to show students different ways of saying the animals names.

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:
Ask the students to say the alphabet together at their seats.  Have students brainstorm different animals that start with different letters of the alphabet.  Make sure you have already read the story to be able to tell the students what some of the animals are because students may not know what a burro, emus, ibis, nightingale, gnu, quetzal, salamander, viper, or yaks, is/are.  They also may need clarification with some of the things they bring to the party as well.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:
After reading the story, teach students some of the names of the animals in Spanish to let them teach other students or even their parents!  You can also have them make up different things that start with the letters of the alphabet to incorporate into the story. For example Dot the Dog can bring drums to Zelda's party.  They will have fun making up their own ideas that would go along with the book.

Reflection:

I think this is a great book to use because it allows students to see the different kinds of animals that there are in the world as well as practice the alphabet and learn new words in a different language.  Children will have fun guessing what animals might be in the story as well as what they might be bringing to the party!

Book Fiesta

Author/Illustrator:  Pat Mora/Rafael Lopez

About the Author:

http://www.patmora.com/
Pat is a popular national speaker at conferences, campuses, libraries and schools.  She is a former teacher, university administrator, museum director, and consultant. She has three children, who are now all adults. She is married to anthropology professor Vern Scarborough and currently lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Genre: Non-Fiction
Grade Level: K-2
Theme: Exploring different cultures/celebrations

Synopsis:
This is a story celebrating Children's Day/Book Day.  This shows that children are special and books are special and it is important for children to read books!  The books shows that children do not need a special place to read books because books can and should be read anywhere!

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Have the class write about what their favorite book is and why it is their favorite.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:

After reading the story, have the students create posters celebrating Children's/Book Day and have students brainstorm ways they could celebrate this special day in their school.

Reflection:

I think this is a very special book. It discusses celebrating children and books they like to read on April 30.  It is important to get children interested in other cultures and read about them and one way to do that is to incorporate different celebrations in your own classrooms.

Family Pictures Cuadros de Familia

Author/Illustrator:  Carmen Lomas Garza

About the Author:

http://www.askart.com/AskART/artists/biography.aspx?searchtype=BIO&artist=101344

Carmen Lomas Garza was born in Kingsville, Texas. At 13, she made a commitment to pursue a career in art and taught herself elements of drawing. Her works of art depict childhood memories of family and friends in a wide range of activities from making tamales to dancing to Tejano music.

Garza has a bachelor’s degree in science from Texas A&I University (currently Texas A&M University, Kingsville) where she studied art education and studio art. 

Genre: Non-Fiction, Foreign Language
Grade Level: K-2
Theme: Family Traditions

Synopsis:

This is the story of Carmen Lomas Garza's childhood and different things that she remembers. Some of these include celebrating birthdays, making tamales, finding a hammerhead shark on the beach, picking cactus, going to a fair in Mexico, and talking to her sister about her dreams of becoming an artist. This story is told through pictures that show daily activities in the life of a traditional Hispanic community through the perspective of a child.

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Have the class draw a picture of their family.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:

After reading the story, have the students write about some special things they do with their family and draw a picture of something they like to do with their families.

Reflection:

I think this is a cute book!  It talks about different things that families do together and shows how families are different.  I think the Spanish and English versions in the book are very beneficial because as teachers we can teach children different words in different languages.

My House Mi Casa

 

Author/Illustrator:  Rebecca Emberley

About the Author:

http://www.amazon.com/Rebecca-Emberley/e/B001H6W1N0

Rebecca Emberley is the author and illustrator of numerous books for children, including a bestselling bi-lingual series. She comes from a family of artists, including her father Ed Emberley, her brother Michael Emberley, and sister in law Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, who are all children's book illustrators. Her daughter Adrian Emberley and her husband Peter Black, are both singer-songwriters and sometimes they work on projects together. Because of this, Rebecca is constantly very busy. When she is not creating books for children, she does some graphic design, travels, and looks for opportunities to work with her family. She now lives in Maine with her husband, but will soon be traveling for a while, to look for new and exciting ideas.

Genre: Non-Fiction, Foreign Langauge
Grade Level: K-2
Theme: Building vocabulary through a different language

Synopsis:
This is a bilingual story about different things you can find in someones house. It uses English and Spanish to describe different people in their family, different toys in the rooms, different items that are connected with certain rooms and other places people can live.

Pre Reading Activity:

Activity:

Have the class draw a picture of their house and describe it to the class.

Post Reading Activity:

Activity:

After reading the story, have the students draw a picture of any room inside their house and write different items they have in the room. Have them also write down the name of the item in Spanish with your help to learn new ways to say these different items.

Reflection:

I think this is a very good book to use in a younger classroom because it allows a student to learn words in Spanish and be able to remember them.  It also helps students to talk about what type of building they live in and be able to describe different things using different ways to say them.