S2.07 time by Early Start Languages

7. ¿ Q u é h o r a e s ?

7. ¿Qué hora es? What’s the time? In this section pupils learn how to say the time in Spanish and how to ask someone what the time is. They already know the numbers 1 to 12. We begin with the analogue clock, focusing at first on simply learning the hours, together with the words for midday and midnight.

VIDEO Clocks ticking: ¿Qué hora es? Animated clockface: the hands turn on the clock showing each hour passing. es la una son las dos son las tres son las cuatro son las cinco son las seis son las siete son las ocho son las nueve son las diez son las once son las doce es mediodía es medianoche Clocks in Calahorra: we see clocks on different buildings around the town at various times of day. ¿Qué hora es? Son las once. ¿Qué hora es? Son las cuatro. ¿Qué hora es? Son las ocho.

NEW WORDS AND PHRASES

¿Qué hora es? es la una son las dos son las tres son las cuatro son las cinco son las seis son las siete son las ocho son las nueve son las diez son las once son las doce es mediodía es medianoche

What’s the time? it’s one o’clock it’s two o’clock it’s three o’clock it’s four o’clock it’s five o’clock it’s six o’clock it’s seven o’clock it’s eight o’clock it’s nine o’clock it’s ten o’clock it’s eleven o’clock it’s twelve o’clock it’s midday it’s midnight

Scene from video section 7: Late for school! “Son las nueve”.

Arriving at school in the morning: two pupils are rushing across the empty playground on their way into school in the morning. Child 1: “¿Qué hora es?” Child 2: “¡Las nueve!” In the classroom at the end of the school day: Child 1: “¿Qué hora es?” Child 2: “Las cinco”. Everyday activities: Arriving at school - “Son las nueve”. Playtime - “Son las once”. Eating school lunch - “Son las dos”. A lesson in the computer room - “Son las cuatro”. Scene from video section 7: “Es mediodía”.

7. ¿ Q u é h o r a e s ? Going home from school - “Son las cinco”. Playing pelota in the sports hall - “Son las seis”. Shopping in the supermarket - “Son las siete”. Taking an evening stroll - “Son las ocho”. Eating the evening meal - “Son las diez”. Out and about in the streets - “Son las once”. Nájera at midnight - “Es medianoche”. Shutters closed for the night - “Es la una”.

4. Responding with understanding ❑ Prior to this introductory lesson, ask each pupil to make a simple clock with moveable hands. You call out different times and the children move the hands on their clocks to show the time that you say.

HOW SPANISH WORKS 1 In time expressions, the verb agrees in number with the hour. This means that as “una” is singular, the verb is singular too i.e. “es la una”. All the rest are plurals, i.e. “dos” is plural, so Spanish people say “son las dos”.

KEY SOUNDS Where have you seen this before?

silent

❑ Ask individual pupils to come to the front of the class and move the hands of the toy clock to show a time of their choice. The rest of the class has to say what time it is.

“h” as in hora

Heard before in:

hola

(Listen to the native speakers - try to copy the typically Spanish sounds.)

Activities 1. Warm up You could start the lesson by revising numbers - especially numbers 1-12. Play one or two of the numbers games from Early Start Spanish pack 1: “Tú y Yo” and sing one of the numbers songs.

2. Watch the video ❑

❑ Turn the sound down on the video and play section 7: ¿Qué hora es? again. Pupils call out the times shown on the clocks.

Watch video section 7: ¿Qué hora es?

3. Get used to the sounds ❑ Echoing: Using a toy clock, turn the hands slowly round the face saying: “Es la una”, “Son las dos” etc. until you get to “Son las doce”. Now say, “Es mediodía”. The pupils echo each phrase after you say it. Then start again. When you reach “Son las doce” for the second time, say “Es medianoche”. Pupils echo each phrase.

❑ Give each pupil a copy of the activity sheet for this chapter. Call out a series of different times. Pupils draw the correct time on the clock faces. If you are going to include “es mediodía” or “es medianoche”, you could ask them to draw a sun or a moon by the side of the clock.

7. ¿ Q u é h o r a e s ? ❑ When pupils are confident with being able to say the hours, the next step is to ask what the time is. Each pupil has a card with a clock face showing a particular time of day. (Pupils can make their own cards or you can prepare them beforehand as flashcards). Move around the room asking each child, “¿Qué hora es?” Pupils respond according to the hour shown on their cards. To make this more amusing, the class puppet could ask the question. ❑ Play “clock bingo” Give each pupil a copy of the activity sheet. Ask them to draw in hands on the clock faces to show the hours of their choice. They can draw a sun to represent midday and a moon to represent midnight. You call out different times in random order. Make a note of which times you have called so that the winner’s sheet can be checked.

❑ Ask pupils to swap cards so that each child has a new time to say. Everybody moves round the room asking each other the time, “Qué hora es?” You can agree a signal beforehand which means that everyone swaps cards again. ❑ Play “guess the time” Invite one pupil to select a card showing a particular time and ask him/her not to show it to the class. S/he asks the class “¿Qué hora es?” The other children have to guess what time is on the clock “¿Es la una?”, “¿Son las cinco?” etc. The pupil with the card replies “sí” or “no” as appropriate. Whoever is first to guess the correct time, chooses the next card.

❑ Do a “Mexican wave” with the hours. Pupils form a circle with their chairs. Beginning with “es la una”, each pupil says the next hour one after another in rapid succession. As they speak, pupils stand up and promptly sit down again as soon as they have said the hour. When 12 o’clock is reached, one pupils can say “son las doce”, the next “es mediodía” and the last child “es medianoche”. If the children normally sit in groups, the “wave” can take place round each of the class tables. See which table reaches “es medianoche” first.

❑ Play “human clock” 3 Ask one child to come to the front of the class. S/he stands facing in the same direction as the other children. S/he “acts out” a time using his/her arms and asks, “¿Qué hora es?” The rest of the class has to say what time the “human clock” is showing.

❑ Play “human clock” 1 Ask everyone to stand up and face the same way (and at least an arm’s length between each child). Call out different times. The children use their arms to “act out” the times.

5. Working in pairs ❑ Pupils can use the activity sheet in pairs. Each child has a sheet. They take it in turns to call out a time and both draw that time on the clockfaces. They can then compare sheets to see if they have the same times on all the clockfaces.

❑ Play “human clock” 2 Ask one child to come to the front of the class. S/he stands facing in the same direction as the other children. Ask another pupil to call out a time. Pupil one is the “human clock” and uses his/her arms to “act out” the time. Repeat this with other pairs of pupils.

6. Working in groups ❑ Pupils can play “clock bingo” in groups.

7. ¿ Q u é h o r a e s ? (two steps forwards) and so on. When they reach 12 o’clock, the two children on the far side of the hall call, “¡Es medianoche!” and run to catch the others before they can get back to base. Anyone who is caught joins the chasing team and the game starts over again.

7. Watch the video again ❑ Show video section 7: “¿Qué hora es?” again. Many of the sequences have been constructed so that there are pauses during which pupils can call out the times after they have heard the native speakers say them.

❑ PE: Play ¿Qué hora es? 2 A variation on the first game is to make one of the chasing team the spokesperson. S/he can call, “¡Es medianoche!” at any time. This means that the children will have to listen to the Spanish and will not be able to predict when it is time to run away.

Introducing the written word When pupils were learning the numbers 1-12 and 13-31, we recommended that you concentrate on helping them to associate the Spanish words with the figures rather than the written word. We suggest that this is also the best approach for telling the time, especially if you have pupils in your class who are still struggling to tell the time in English. If pupils hear the time spoken in Spanish and can instantly associate this with the correct clock face - you have done very well. However, when pupils are confident with telling the time in Spanish, you may like to show them the final part of video section 7: “¿Qué hora es?”, in which the key words and phrases are repeated with text superimposed on the pictures. Pupils may like to word -process or write labels for their pictures or photo diaries.

❑ Music: Singing Spanish to familiar tunes: Pupils can sing the hours in Spanish to the tune of “London’s burning”. See the words and music at the end of this chapter. This can be sung in cannon. ❑ Music: Pupils can make up their own tunes or chants for the hours. ❑ Drama: Play “the miming game” Pupils work in pairs. Give each pair a clockface showing a time of day. Pupils have 5 minutes to prepare a mime to represent the time they have been given. They can use speech only if it is in Spanish (e.g. greetings, saying what day of the week it is) but they cannot, of course, say what time it is! Each pair performs the mime to the rest of the class. The class has to guess what time is being represented.

CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ❑ Daily routines: Ask pupils “¿Qué hora es?” at various times during the day when it is close enough to the hour for them to answer “Es la una”, “son las dos” etc. ❑ Art and design: Pupils can prepare a frieze showing their own daily routines. They can draw clock faces to show the times of day when the activities take place.

Note: It is a good idea to establish beforehand whether the mime is representing activities taking place in Spain or the UK.

RECORDING & ASSESSMENT ❑ PE: Play ¿Qué hora es? 1 This is a Spanish version of “What’s the time Mr Wolf?” The children stand in a line at one end of the hall or playground. (You need a large space for this game to be effective.) Two confident children stand at the other end, facing the group. The class calls out “¿Qué hora es?” The two children on the other side of the hall reply, “Es la una”. The group takes one step forwards. This is repeated, “¿Qué hora es?” “Son las dos”

Children are now ready to record their achievements to date on the first sheets of “can-do statements”: TALKING ABOUT WHERE I LIVE to TELLING THE TIME. (Find them after chapter 15.) Each child could keep his or her completed sheets as part of their European Languages Portfolio (see Introduction) - ready to show their parents and their next teacher.

7. ¿ Q u é h o r a e s ? Many Spanish bars and cafés serve tapas - little savoury snacks that people eat if they are getting hungry in the hours before the main meal. These are usually displayed along the bar so that customers can choose what they would like to eat. The tapas on offer might be: small slices of Spanish omelette made with potato (tortilla), olives (aceitunas), ham (jamón) or a bocadillo with cheese or ham inside.

Talking point EVERYDAY LIFE IN SPAIN Daily routines - meal times Pupils watching the video will see that meal times in Spain are generally much later than in Britain. The lunch-time break will normally be from 1 until 3 o’clock and lessons continue through the afternoon until 5 o’clock. Most children will usually have a light snack when they arrive home from school. This might be any of the following: un bocadillo (a sandwich made from a bread roll or a slice of a thick bread stick), biscuits and cocoa, a small cake, some fresh fruit. They will then often go on to do other activities. Many children in Calahorra use the public library to do their homework. The library stays open until 8 o’clock in the evening. Sporting activities like pelota (see the next Talking point) and swimming are popular in the evenings. It is also common for children to take English or computing lessons. All the shops (not just the supermarkets) are open until 8 or 9 o’clock.

Cultural awareness You could talk with pupils about the different times of day when they do things. ■ Pupils could prepare a “day in the life of” photo diary to send to their exchange school. This could be done either as individual “diaries” or by the whole class. The diaries do not have to be written in Spanish - pupils could draw clock faces to represent the times when activities take place and include simple comments in English. You could have an interesting discussion with the children about what would be good things to show in the photographs in the “diary”. What would Spanish children be interested to see?

Talking point EVERYDAY LIFE IN SPAIN The Spanish game pelota The video shows children playing the Spanish game pelota. Pelota is an incredibly fast ball game. It is played with a special ball which has a hard core and is wrapped with string and covered with hide. It is similar to a baseball, but smaller and with a lot more bounce. In professional matches, the ball can reach a speed of 150mph. There are several different versions of the game, but the basic idea is that there are two teams of two players each and a playing area (indoors or outdoors) with at least one smooth, blank wall. The ground in front of the wall is marked off in cuadros every 4 metres away from it.

Spanish children often eat their evening meal at 10 o’clock.

The video shows a family eating their evening meal at 10 o’clock at night with the children sitting at the table in their pyjamas. This is very common practice in many households. At weekends family lunch is usually eaten at 2 o’clock at the earliest and on a Sunday it would be quite normal to sit down to lunch at 3 o’clock! It is the same in restaurants which do not usually start serving lunch-time guests before 2 o’clock. They then re-open for dinner at about 9.30 or 10 o’clock in the evening.

7. ¿ Q u é h o r a e s ? To be “in” a ball bounced off the wall must usually land between the 4th and 7th cuadros if it is not returned without touching the ground. Players hit the ball either with their bare hands, with la pasaka (a leather glove) or with a type of racket called la chistera, which is made of wickerwork and is used to scoop up the ball and fling it back in one movement. Games are usually up to 22 points. Players wear a loose white costume and are called pelotaris. The court is called el frontón. Every Basque village has a frontón and on some village churches going right back to the 1600s you can see how the architects left one smooth, blank wall for playing the game! Many courts have another wall on the left hand side which makes the game even faster. Professional pelota is very popular. Matches are attended by people of all ages and in the north they are frequently televised.

Cultural awareness ■ Play pelota as a PE activity. It takes a lot of skill and training to play the real game, but pupils could play a simplified version using bats or tennis raquets and a fairly hard, bouncy ball. Choose a safe area with a smooth wall (no windows!) e.g. in the sports hall or on the playground. Depending on the age of the children, mark at least one line several metres from the wall. When the ball bounces against the wall, it must land beyond the line to be “in”. Each team has two players. A player from team 1 hits the ball against the wall; team 2 must run to hit the ball back against the wall, either before it has landed, or when it has bounced just once in the area beyond the marked line and so on. A point is scored if the opposing team misses a ball or lets it bounce more than once. If the serving team loses a point, the other team takes over the service. First team to reach 22 points wins - or whatever total you set.

Children playing pelota.

EXTRA WORDS AND PHRASES When your pupils are confident with saying the hours in Spanish, you might like to move on to include “quarter past”, “quarter to” etc.

Son las nueve y cinco Son las nueve y cuarto Son las nueve y media Son las diez menos cuarto Son las diez menos cinco de la mañana de la tarde

It’s five past nine It’s a quarter past nine It’s half past nine It’s a quarter to ten It’s five to ten a.m. p.m.

The pronunciation of these additional phrases can be heard on the audio CD for teachers.

7. ¿ Q u é h o r a e s ? In Spain, a.m. and p.m. are usually expressed by de la mañana and de la tarde. In Latin America a.m. and p.m. are used. Most of the games and activities described in this chapter can be adapted for use with more complex time-telling.

HOW SPANISH WORKS 2 Telling the time in Spanish is relatively easy. There is no actual word for “past”, you simply add the number of minutes to the hour, e.g. “Son las nueve y cinco”. To say “five to” you say “menos cinco”. Pupils will already be familiar with “y” (and) and “menos” (less/minus) from their number work in Early Start Spanish 1: Tú y yo.

The music below shows how the hours can be sung to the familiar tune of “London’s burning”. This can be sung in canon.

Hours song - “Es la una” Es la

u - na

Son las tres

es la

son las tres

Son las cin - c o

son las cin - co

Son las sie - t e

son las sie - te

Son las nue - ve

son las diez

Son

las

u - na

son las

Son las on - c e

Son las dos

Son las

son las dos

cua - t ro

son las

Son las seis

son las seis

Son las o - cho

nue -

son las

Son las

son las on - ce

cua - tro

o - cho

diez

Son las do -

¿Qué hora es?

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