Occasionally, I stumble upon a wonderful site that is full, full, full of information and activities that I can use to supplement my curriculum or to create independent weekend/summer projects. If you have not already discovered Mis Cositas, you will be excited with this post.
To fully explain the entire site, I've asked Mis Cositas' creator, Lori Langer de Ramirez, to share the many resources that MC provides to teachers. (Gracias, Lori!) While most of the material within may be targeted towards foreign language (Spanish+) learners, much of it may also be used to support bilingual homeschoolers...
MisCositas.com is a free web resource that offers teachers a variety of materials for teaching languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, Thai and ESL. Available on the site are:
• Over 100 videos for teaching simple vocabulary, "in-flight movies" for fantasy trips, karaoke and cultural clips
• Annotated lists of vetted links for language teaching • Authentic realia and games tied to the stories and thematic units
• Daily updates and suggestions on the MisCositas Facebook page or Twitter site
Who can use MisCositas.com?
This site was originally created by a teacher for other teachers to use in a classroom or computer lab. However, people from all over the world have written in about how they use the site in a variety of settings. Parents have used MisCositas.com for homeschooling and for enrichment. Administrators have used the site in after-school clubs and staff development sessions. And anyone interested in learning a language can use the site to enhance their studies.
Who created MisCositas.com... and why?
MisCositas.com is really a labor of love for me. I created MisCositas.com first as part of my doctoral dissertation work in 1996. The first incarnation of the site contained three stories with a few illustrations. Since then, the site has grown to house folktales, original stories, curriculum units, lesson plan ideas, and other materials that I created for use in my own teaching. Now – almost 15 years later – MisCositas.com has grown leaps and bounds! I enjoy hearing from teachers, parents, students, and fellow language learners from around the world – especially when I receive emails with suggestions, ideas for new materials, and just comments about how the site is being used in a variety of settings: homes, schools, libraries, etc. Feel free to contact me with your comments: lori@miscositas.com. I look forward to hearing from you!-Lori Langer de Ramirez
Creator of MisCositas.com