Grande/Pequeño o Chico (Big/Small or Little)
WAYS WE CAN USE THE WORD
DESCRIBE: e.g., Ese perro es grande/pequeño. (That dog is big/small.)
REQUEST: e.g., Quiero la galleta grande/chica. (I want the big/small cookie.)
EXPRESS ONESELF: e.g., Tengo un pequeño problema. (I have a small problem.)
This activity sheet was adapted from the School Year of Core Words activities for “big” and “little” by Kelsey Robin @ Kelseyrobin.ccc.slp@gmail.com. For specific questions or more ideas regarding this core word Activity Sheet, please contact Isabel Medina @ imedina@sfsu.edu. Thank you!
Snack/mealtimes: Students can request a certain size snack or plate/bowl by saying “Quiero la galleta grande” (I want to big cookie), “Quiero el pedazo chico” (I want the little piece), Quiero el plato pequeño” (I want the big plate).
Circle: Adults can model the core words when instructing students to get into a circle or to sit on spots on the carpet. “Hagan un circulo grande” (Make a big circle), “Sientate en el circulo pequeño” (Sit on the small circle).
Toys and Games: Students can play the game ‘Pop the Pig’. It entails rolling a dice and adding different colored sandwich pieces to the pigs mouth as it grows bigger and bigger. Students can use the core word while describing the pig’s belly e.g., “Esta es más grande” (It is bigger) or when the game is over and the pig’s belly deflates “Su panza está chica” (It’s belly is small).
Batalla de Tamaños/Spanish Size War: Students can play a Spanish size war game using the free printable game. Contains instructions in English.
To play, you will need to print 4 sets of cards on card stock and cut them apart for a total of 48 cards. Mix the cards thoroughly and deal 24 to each player. Players decide before they start if bigger or smaller is going to win. Both players place a card down at the same time, one of the cards wins based on the size of whatever is in the picture on the card. Students can say the following phrases while playing e.g., “Un carro es más grande que un ratón” (A car is bigger than a mouse), “El ratón es más pequeño que el carro” (The mouse is smaller than the car)
Recess: Students can describe items in the environment while at recess e.g. pelota chica, pelota grande (little ball, big ball), el columpio grande/chico (the big swing, small swing).
Here are some suggested books on YouTube that can assist in teaching the core word:
- Ricitos De Oro Y Los Tres Osos Libro by Marta Mata
- This is a bilingual book in Spanish and English and tells the story of “Goldilocks and The Three Bears”. The core words are used throughout the whole story when talking about e.g, “El oso grande y pequeño” (The big and little bears), “Sopa de un plato grande y pequeño” (Soup in a big and little plate), “Cama grande, cama pequeña” (Big bed and little bed), etc.
- Marta Grande y Pequeña by Jen Arena
- This is a bilingual book in Spanish and English. This book tells the story of a little girl named Marta as she navigates her environment of things big and small, along with other pairs of opposites.
- Tamaño Real by Steve Jenkins
- This is a book in Spanish. The book is about the sizes of different animals around the world and their ‘actual size’ is presented in the book in fun and informative way. The core word is used throughout the book e.g. “El avestruz es el ave más grande” (The emu is the biggest bird), “El gobio enano es el pez mas pequeño” (The dwarf goby is the smallest fish)
Social Interactions: Students can use the core word when socializing with peers and talking about their siblings e.g “Tengo una hermana grande” (I have a big sister), “¿Tienes un hermano más chico?” (Do you have a little brother?).
Video Modeling: The Spanish Safari for kids is a Spanish language learning app. It uses narrative-based gameplay, interactive activities and video models to teach spanish for children 3-9 years old. Below is a video that models the core words grande/pequeño
Body Percussion Song: Students can participate in a body percussion motor song activity through this Youtube video song. Adults can model the core word by saying e.g, “Vamos a hacer un clap clap grande!” (Let’s do a big clap, clap!), “Haz un toc, toc chico con tus pies” (Do a small toc, toc with your feet).
Balloon Activity: Students can blow up different colored and sizes balloons. Students can use the core word to describe their balloon e.g., “Mi globo es grande!” (My balloon is big), “Mi globo es chico” (My balloon is little).
Sensory Box: Adults can create a sensory bin with shaving cream and food coloring with different sized marine animals and students can describe items they pull from bin “Un tiburon grande” (a big shark), “una tortuga chica” (A small turtle).
Butterfly Life Cycle: Adults can create an activity around the life cycle of the butterfly. This video in Spanish discusses the life cycle of a butterfly through a cartoon. Adults can model the core word e.g. “Los huevos pequeños” (The small eggs), “La mariposa grande” (The big butterfly).
Student can then complete this activity sheet by coloring and circling according to the size of the butterfly.
Size Collage: Students can create collages with different items or cut outs according to size. Adults can model using the core word e.g. “Pon la piedra grande aqui” (Put the big rock here), “Aqui va el animal pequeño” (The small animal goes here).
- Ricitos de Oro y los tres Ositos | Cuentos infantiles en Español
- Golidlocks and The Three Bears animated short in Spanish, English subtitiles available
National Donut Day Bilingual Workbook: Students can cut, paste, sort, and color different donuts based on size through this Bilingual Spanish/English workbook. The core word is targeted throughout the book when sorting or coloring e.g. “Colorea las donas grandes de color marron y los pequeños de color rosa” (Color the big donuts the color brown and the small donuts the color pink).
Spanish Planets Activity: Students can complete a solar system science/art activity by cutting and pasting the planets to their corresponding spot in the system. Adults can model the core word through desribing the different planets or comparing them e.g “Jupiter esta mas grande que Tierra” (Jupiter is bigger than Earth), “Mercurio es el planeta mas pequeño” (Mercury is the smallest planet).
Online Game – Grande y Pequeño: This is an online game in Spanish to target the concepts of the core words. It involves selecting the correct object and sorting different objects into ‘Big’ and ‘Small’ categories.
FlipHTML5 – Online Book Creator: This is an online book creator that can be changed in the language section to
include Spanish. A story topic could be about the planets of the solar system in order of increasing size e.g. “Tierra es mas grande que Mercurio” ( Earth is bigger than Mercury), “Tierra es mas pequeña que Jupiter” (Earth is smaller than Jupiter).
My Storybook – Online Book Creator: This is an online book creator in English, you are able to add any text you want
to include Spanish and create a story using the core word. A story topic could
be about different animals and comparing their characterisitcs e.g “La trompa del elefante esta muy grande!” (The elephant’s trunk is very big!)
WORD WALL: Create a WordWall and add ‘core word in bold’ to the list.
READING and the Word Wall: Sound out the letters together. Have the students find the word on the AAC system.
WRITING and the Word Wall: Using a pencil or alternative pencil, have students try to type the word on the keyboard or write the word together.
Choosing Words for the Classroom Word Wall with Dr. Caroline Musselwhite Video. Courtesy of Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium.