Much of what I do for Spanish lesson ideas consists of scouring the internet for meaningful learning activities in English, which I then translate into Spanish. When I began researching math curricula for my Kindergartner, I came across the word subitize, which to my knowledge means “to recognize a number without counting.” I had never heard of it, and had no awareness of it being a necessary math skill. Spanish is my forte, remember? Since then, I continued my research on how to teach numbers to kids and built my collection of math resources and ideas. For example, I bought this extensive Numbers 1-20 Mega Bundle from “A Spoonful of Learning.” And that is where I came across ten frames. For a while I used the ten frames without thinking about it, trusting that the math-teaching experts had me covered. Then one day while reading more materials about teaching math to kids (I have to do a lot of research on teaching math!) I discovered the ten frame tool is used to help kids learn how to subitize! Finally I understood why I kept seeing them EVERYWHERE. And like all good things I find on the internet, I make sure we have a SPANISH version to go with it. One of my favorite ten frame resources is this fun Pumpkin Ten Frame game from Playdough to Plato. It inspired the Christmas tree ten frames I made here. (You can download the printable with the link at the end of this post.) Make sure you visit Playdough to Plato for the instructions on how to play.
For Beginners
Focus on practicing how to say the number in Spanish. When you roll the dice, say the number in Spanish. If your child doesn’t know the number right away, all the better! You can count in Spanish to find out what it is.
I did this with my four-year-old who is beginning to recognize some of his numbers. I let him do it in English, and then reminded him of the name for the number in Spanish. He is my little buddy that always likes to do activities with me. He sat and did this sheet on his own after I modeled a few.
For Intermediate Learners
Play the game using as many Spanish phrases as you can. Here is a chart to help:
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echa los dados
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EH-chah lohs DAH-dohs
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“roll the dice”
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te toca
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tay TOH-kah
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“it’s your turn”
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me toca
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may TOH-kah
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“it’s my turn”
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¿A quién le toca?
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ah kee-EHN lay TOH-kah
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“Whose turn is it?”
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te toca lanzar
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tay TOH-kah lahn-SAHR
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“your turn to roll”
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¿Cuánto?
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KWAHN-toh
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“How much/many?”
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cuenta
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KWEHN-tah
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count (the command)
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contemos
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kohn-TAY-mohs
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“let’s count”
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¿Dónde está ése número?
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DOHN-day eh-STAH EH-say NOO-mehr-oh
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“Where is that number?”
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¿Dónde está?
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DOHN-day eh-STAH
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“Where is it?”
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¿Qué número es?
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kay NOO-mehr-oh ehs
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“What number is it?”
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Feliz subitizing!
