La Señorita Amarilla series: Story based learning in Spanish!

These teaching resources for kids are designed to be engaging, fun and effective.  Each unit starts with a Spanish song and lyrics page that will introduce the important language structures through a music based approach.  The music video provides a visual context to help students understand without having to translate.  After playing the song and video a few times, students will automatically start to sing along not only practicing important structures, but also developing their pronunciation skills.  As the story progresses students will learn tons of high frequency structures and verbs while following along with the adventures of La Señorita Amarilla and El Señor Azul!

Let’s take a closer look at all this story based series has to offer:

Part 1: La Señorita Amarilla

The first unit is the introduction of a very special girl: La Señorita Amarilla.  She’s not like everyone else, she walks with her hands and eats with her feet!   We’d recommend starting with the song and video to introduce the high frequency verbs and structures in Spanish.  Students will learn "Vive..." "Tiene..." Va a ..." "Quiero..." Tengo que..." "Escucha" "Habla", and more. 

Make sure to pause the song and ask questions like: 

¿Anda con las manos o con los pies? 

¿Come con las manos o con los pies? 

¿Adónde va a vivir?

Don’t forget to ask personalized questions (this helps students remember what they learn):

¿Puedes andar con las manos? 

¿Puedes comer con los pies? 

¿Vives en un pueblo o en una ciudad? 

¿Qué te gusta más la ciudad o el pueblo?

After the students have watched the video a few times and understood the song, check for understanding with the video with questions.  You can do this as a whole class or individually. 

The worksheet activities are designed to practice what they’ve learned through lots of different activities and include illustrations that will keep students’ interested and help them learn important Spanish vocabulary and structures through context.  

The short story is a great way to wrap up the unit.  It includes all of the structures students have learned and practiced and is available in a printable and interactive version.  Both versions include comprehension activities that will help you check for understanding while students feel like they’re playing a game.   The printable version of the story has teacher tips which include example questions you can ask your students throughout the short story.  This is a great way to help them practice speaking in a low-stress environment. 
 

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Part 2: La Señorita Amarilla Part 2 (Corre que te pilla)

The story continues!  This part follows Señor Azul on his adventure after the storm blew him away.  Use the song and video to introduce these high frequency structures in Spanish: "¿Qué pasa?" "No recuerdo..." "Me gustan..." ¿Quieres...?" "Lo siento" "Tengo que..." "No puedo..."

Don’t forget to pause the video and ask questions like: 

¿Dónde está?

¿Le gustan las pinturas de Frida? 

¿Se queda a cenar? 

¿A quién tiene que buscar?

Once you’ve checked for understanding and your students have started to sing along, use the video with questions to practice comprehension in a fun way.  

This unit includes interactive games to practice important Spanish vocabulary as well as lots of different types of worksheet activities.  This way students can get lots of practice without it feeling repetitive.  Don’t forget to check out the short story, which includes an interactive and printable version.  Oh, and try not to sing this song all day long.. we dare you ;)

Part 3: Los piratas (señorita Amarilla parte 3)

What’s that noise?  They are pirates!  Part 3 takes us aboard a pirate ship where El Señor Azul finds himself in a tricky situation.   This song and video are packed full of great vocabulary and high frequency structures like: "¿Qué es?" "Estamos..." "Date prisa" "No puedo..." "¿Quién es?" etc... 

Some questions you can ask your students during a comprehensible input session include:

¿Dónde está? 

¿Qué es ese ruido, música o piratas? 

¿Hay muchos piratas o pocos? 

¿Quién salva al señor Azul? 

¿Te gustan las ballenas? 

¿Has visto alguna vez una ballena? 

¿Te gusta el mar?

Once you’ve watched the video and used the video with questions don’t forget to check out the interactive games and worksheets!  This part includes a story telling activity (with visual story cards to help students remember) that will help your students develop speaking skills in a natural way.  

Part 4: Se busca (Señorita Amarilla parte 4)

It looks like we’re not the only ones looking for El Señor Azul!  Like the parts before, this unit starts with a song and video in Spanish.  Students will learn important vocabulary like:"Busco..." "Dónde está?" "Está allá" "Dime..."No entiendo" "Espera aquí" "Yo también" "¿Quién es el último?" "¿Quién es el primero?" and much more! 

Make sure to stop the video/song and ask questions like:

¿Es un hombre grande o pequeño? 

¿A quién busca? 

¿Le busca por mares?

¿Tiene que esperar mucho o poco? 

¿Te gusta esperar? 

¿Te gusta ser el primero o el último de la línea? 

The video with questions is a great way to check for understanding while students feel like they’re playing a game.  The worksheet activities are created with interesting visual aides and will help students practice the high frequency verbs and structures learned in the song and video and include activities that promote speaking in a natural way.

Part 5: Dime ¿Por qué?

Part 5 is our most recent addition to this series and it's full of lots of great high frequency structures and vocabulary presented through comprehensible input!  After you listen to the song and watch the video, don't forget to check out the worksheet activities.  They are designed to be fun and memorable, while also practicing important structures.  

Use the short story and comprehension questions to practice everything your students have learned.  The story includes a PDF printable version and interactive version.  Both versions include comprehension activites and games! 

This has been a really fun series for us to create.  It combines natural language like high frequency words in Spanish and important grammar structures with an exciting story that will make teaching and learning fun.  All of the activities are designed to work towards fluency in a natural way, and the prepared activities will save you tons of planning time.  Each unit has its own special activities, but builds on what was previously learned.  We know teachers and students love it and that’s why we are so excited to share the NEW Part 5 with you!