Finding suitable authentic materials for the FLES class may be a little more difficult than for secondary school students, but resources are available. Activities intended for bilingual programs are a good source, but they must be carefully sifted to make sure they are not too advanced for English-dominant pupils.

Those of us who have access to a public library in a Hispanic area or to a Spanish bookstore are indeed fortunate. A college or university that prepares students to teach in bilingual programs offers some materials and certainly pertinent bibliographies. A comparatively recent addition to FLES resources is the FLESNEWS, published three times a year by NNELL, the National Network for Early Language Learning¹⁵⁵.

In the absence of these facilities, a FLES teacher can network, that is, ask other FLES instructors for suggestions. Not knowing other teachers of FLES personally need not be a stumbling block. Upon receiving the preliminary program of a meeting or conference, for example, the instructor can write to the speakers on FLES topics and ask if they have any suggestions for finding authentic materials, or have any to share.

A number of distributors of children's books are listed in the appendix at the end of this article. Their catalogues include many books imported from Hispanic countries, mainly Mexico and Spain. A careful choice will supply not only cultural components for the FLES program, but items for teaching and reinforcing structure and vocabulary.

A new source of material is the AATSP's recently appointed Pedagogical Coordinator, who, upon receipt of a self-addressed envelope, will send members a list of activities and materials available for the various levels and for specific teaching aims. For a moderate postage and handling fee, items of interest can be ordered from Nancy Humbach, Pedagogical Coordinator, 486 Maple Circle Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45246.

Collected from a delightful book published in Spain are several poems that can be helpful to FLES teachers. For example, children enjoy playing a game in the target language that they already know in their native language. To choose teams, children have special rhymes in every country. Two simple poems¹⁵⁶ suitable for early learners are:

When playing hide and seek in Spain, the child who is «it» gives the others time to hide while covering his or her eyes and reciting:

To play Blindman's Bluff in Spain, children recite the following rhyme:

Clearly, these games can be taught without reference to reflexive-intransitives or the present perfect subjunctive -new expressions should simply be treated as vocabulary items.

FLES pupils enjoy poems or games in the target language that they learned when they were younger. Following is the Spanish equivalent of «Clap hands, clap hands, till Daddy comes home»:

A Spanish equivalent of «This little Piggy

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Went to Market» also talks about food:

The following poem, meant to be recited while jumping rope, can be used to give the class a chance to move around a bit -essential for energetic youngsters. Safety in the class dictates that the rope be omitted, but using one in the schoolyard or gym, the children will enjoy practicing this rhyme:

Tongue-twisters are popular with students, and invaluable for pronunciation practice. Three that are simple enough for FLES pupils are¹⁶²:

A song that has been sung in New Mexico for generations is «La tabla»¹⁶³, «The (Addition) Table». Although New Mexico is not now part of a Hispanic country, the fact that it once belonged to Mexico, and much earlier, to Spain, makes it almost certain hat the song has roots in one of those two countries. It teaches addition, but by substituting por for y in the appropriate places, it can teach the multiplication table too. Long numbers like veinte y cuatro will have to be sung quickly, to take only the time allotted by the notes.

The introduction of death in the fourth line of the first verse might better be avoided. Moreover, the stanza bears no relation to counting, and the boys in the class might object to singing about dolls. One solution is to omit the stanza entirely, and to teach only the counting verses. The second stanza mentions a muchacha but in a coed class one could alternate that with muchacho.

In the original instructions, one child plays the part of the leader, and sings the questions, e. g., Dos y dos son ¿...? and points to another pupil, who sings the answer. However, the teacher might start by singing the questions and having the whole class sing the responses. As soon as the pupils have learned both words and melody, individual students sing the leader's questions and the replies, but the entire class could sing the second half of the stanza, i. e. Brinca la tablita... etc. Of course, a variation could be to have the whole group sing the song through rather than treat it as a dialogue.

First Verse (to be sung by entire class, but it may be omitted)

Second Verse

Suggested Further Verses

Another traditional song that is simple enough to use on an early level is «Tengo, tengo, tengo»¹⁶⁴. As with the previous song and with many of the authentic materials found in any language, one might find fault with the tone of a line or segment of the work. The second line of the first verse, «Tú no tienes nada», could be construed as offensive teasing. A possible substitution for that line is «Cerca, en mi granja».

Tengo, tengo, tengo

Traditional song
Arrangement by Patti Lozano

With a bit of imagination and networking skill, resources for a variety of FLES activities, in addition to the foregoing, can be found within reach.

Bilingual Publications Co., 1966 Broadway, New York, NY 10023; (212) 873-2067

Imported Books, 2025 West Clarendon, Dallas, TX 75208; (214) 941-6497

Lectorum Publications, Inc., 137 West 14 Street, New York, NY 10011; (212) 929-2833

Santillana Publishing Co., Inc., (East Coast) 257 Union Street, Northvale, NJ 07647; 1-800-526-0107; (West Coast) 942 S. Gerhart Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90022; 1-800-526-1676; in California 1-800-245-8584

Hispania [Publicaciones periódicas]. Volume 73, Number 1, March 1990