Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo, May 5th, commemorates the defeat of the French by the Mexican Army in 1862. It’s a national holiday in Mexico, and is celebrated by Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans in the United States.

Finding high-interest materials for students to read, and activating prior knowledge, are both good instructional strategies, so in that spirit I offer another “The Best…” list.

Here are my choices for The Best Sites For Teaching & Learning About Cinco de Mayo:

The Orange County Register has a good interactive graphic about the day.

EL Civics has a good Cinco de Mayo Lesson designed for English Language Learners..

The History Channel has a Cinco de Mayo feature.

Here’s a video presentation of a Cinco de Mayo Celebration by the San Jose Mercury News.

This is a simple historical explanation by Social Studies for Kids.

How Stuff Works has a presentation on How Cinco de Mayo Works.

Glencoe has an online slideshow on the day’s history.

For students who are not from Mexico (and for those who are) here are some accessible links for them to learn some basic information about the country:

Apples 4 The Teacher has a “talking book” about Mexico.

Here’s an interactive timeline of Mexico’s History. It’s from PBS.

Mr. Nussbaum has two good interactives for learning about Mexico.

Brainpop, Jr. has a movie about Mexico, though you need to have a paid subscription to view it.

MSNBC has a short article on President Obama’s celebration of the holiday.

A Brief History of Cinco de Mayo is a TIME Magazine slideshow.

Read Write Think has a number of good resources, including lesson plans, related to the holiday.

The Detroit News has a slideshow about a local Cinco de Mayo Parade.

Nation’s Capital Celebrates Cinco de Mayo is a video from ABC News.

ESL Holiday Lessons has a lesson for English Language Learners about the holiday.

The U.S. Census Bureau has a fact sheet on the day.

The Modesto Bee has a video of a local celebration.

Why Do We Celebrate Cinco de Mayo is a CNN video.

President Obama Celebrates Cinco de Mayo is a video of the celebration at the White House.

Cinco De Mayo History: 7 Must-Know Facts About The Annual Celebration is a slideshow from The Huffington Post.

Cinco de Mayo goes hip is a slideshow from The Orange County Register.

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, here’s a short excerpt from PBS’s profile of America’s first all-female mariachi band, Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles:

Remember, Remember, The Fifth Of May is a very good NY Times article on Cinco de Mayo.

Rethinking Cinco de Mayo is from The Zinn Education Project.

Cinco de Mayo a Mexican import? No, it’s as American as July 4, prof says is from CNN.

CBS News has a slideshow on Cinco de Mayo.

What to Really Eat on Cinco de Mayo is from Smithsonian Magazine.

Shared by Larry FerLazzo

Calendar activity steps

1. Write the name and the date.
2. Take Agosto and Septiembre calendar from the folder. 
3. Write the numbers.
4. Write the number words in Spanish.
5. Check your spelling. 
6. Color it.

Números / Numbers

Here you have this fun matching game to practice the numers in Spanish.

This site if from PBS. Its about a boy named Noah. He is visiting his grandmother in a Spanish speaking country and he only speaks English, and he is getting in trouble for not understanding Spanish. 

Also, Noah has a website with tons of fun activities. 

Spanish / English color match

Here you have a site to practice reading skills and the colors vocabulary.

San Valentín / Saint Valentine's Day

Dora and the Lost Valentine

Dora and Boots travel across the "Be Mine" Vines and explore the heart of the jungle to retrieve a Valentine that got away. But they need plenty of help

First, swing from colored vine to colored vine by using your mouse to choose the next color in the pattern. Next, it's on to the Think Pink Stepping Stones, where kids match the number of frogs to the numbered stepping stones and help Dora and Boots step safely across. Finally, travel into the heart of the jungle to retrieve that lost Valentine! The game has three sections, and they're all about the same level of difficulty.

Educational apps for 1st graders

IPAD: Educational apps:

1. Classdojo: Behavior Management Software. 


Put your slides, movies, photos, and everything else that fills your iPad or iPhone 4S screen on an even bigger screen — a VGA-equipped TV, monitor, or external projector for video mirroring. The Apple VGA Adapter mirrors exactly what you see on your screen so that everyone in the room can enjoy it.





2. Quizlet: We make simple learning tools that let you study anything, for free.



3. Pinterest: A content sharing service that allows members to "pin" images, videos and other objects to 

their pinboard.




4. Educreations:  Educreations turns your iPad into a recordable whiteboard. Creating a great video tutorial is as simple as touching, tapping and talking. Explain a math formula... Create an animated lesson... Add commentary to your photos... Diagram a sports play... and so on. 



5. Audionote app: Take notes synced to audio with our bestselling note-taking software. AudioNote combines the functionality of note-taking and voice recording apps to create a powerful tool that will save you time while improving the quality of your notes. 




6. Futaba: If you're looking for a fantastic multiplayer game AND a fun way to help children learn new words, look no further....Futaba is a 4 player game designed for kids. This outrageously fun word quiz game can be used at home or in the classroom as a entertaining way to build language skills. 





7. Silly sentences 2: This app provides fun activities that introduce vowel sounds and their letter combinations. The activities will help kids identify long vowels. We have another application for the short vowels. Through the flash cards, matching, sound and signs, and silly sentences, the kids will receive lots of practice distinguishing between the different vowel sounds. 


The application builds reading skills and give your children opportunities to decode words, phrases, and sentences. These are all important stepping stones to becoming a proficient reader. 

Features: 
-Phonics 
-Pronunciation
-Flash Cards 
-Matching 
-Sounds and Signs 
-Silly Sentences 
-Touch and Hear 
-Capital vs. Lower-case 
-A lot of Animations 

8. Kids Picture dictionary: Download this A to Z Picture Dictionary with hundreds or words and sentences with a fun self-record tool for kids and parents to record their own voice and playback!



★ Kids tested - they love it! Parents tested - they love it!
★ Building vocabulary has never been so much fun
★ Large pictures
★ Professional voiceovers recorded in production studio
★ High quality images
★ Self-record tool - Kids love to hear their own voice as they make their sentences!
★ Great vocabulary building exercise
★ Over 650 words!
★ A great learning tool for ESL!
★ FREE!
★ Upgrade to Ad-free with instant In-App purchase. Ad-free version is also multi-tasking!

Building strong English vocabulary has never been so exciting for preschoolers and toddlers. eFlash Kids Picture Dictionary features over 650 high quality images with text and voiceovers. Parents or kids can repeat the sentences or make their own sentences by using the fun self-record tool! Complexity of words is perfect for ages 3 to 6 so two or more young siblings can play together and even teach each other! 

10. Phonics awareness 1st Grade: Phonics Awareness, 1st Grade Reading, is a fun way for your child to learn core phonics. Bugs are used to add whimsy and help in the teaching. This tutorial is highly interactive, giving your 1st grader a chance to relate to phonics on a personal level and get instant feedback on how they are doing.



This course was created by educational professionals, including reading specialists, with over 30 years of experience working with struggling readers.

Features:
***************************
* Learning through animation, sound and touch.
* Bugs do the teaching to add fun and whimsy.
* The “Check Yourself” section tests your child’s learning and shows you the scores.
* Tutorial format guides your child through the activities.
* Games add to the fun.
* Based on the Common Core Standards for 1st Graders.
*Give your child a head start on first grade literacy.
* Correct answers get immediate and consistent praise while wrong answers simply ask them to try again.
*Multi-sensory learning creates a high degree of interactivity through voice, written words and animations.
*Fun bug graphics holds your child’s attention.
* Personalized feedback every step of the way.

11. Phonics Tic-Tac-Toe Interactive Game: 


Children build language skills in a fast-paced game of tic-tac-toe! Fun, interactive game explores vowel sounds, syllables and more. For ages 6-8 years. 

Plus, check out the other Lakeshore Learning Materials apps: Letter of the Day Interactive Activities and Beginning Sounds Interactive Game.




Great websites for 1st grade teachers

Google translator: Great tool to translate everything that you want to Spanish.