S1.13 Birthday-v9

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1.13 ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?

When's your birthday?

Now that pupils know the months of the year and numbers 1-31, they are ready to move on to say when their birthdays are. This increases their repertoire of language for talking about themselves and finding out about other people. Once they have learnt how to ask when someone's birthday is, they will also be exposed to a whole range of different answers - all of which they should now be able to understand.

NEW WORDS AND PHRASES

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Mi cumpleaños es el ... de ...

My birthday is the ... of ... ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?

When's your birthday?

¡Feliz cumpleaños!

Happy birthday!

Activities

Warm up

❑ Before watching film A1, have a brief “warm up” session to remind children of the numbers 1-31 and the months of the year.

You could also talk with pupils about how they celebrate their own birthdays.

Watch Film A1: When's your birthday?

Children will already know the numbers and months, so there are only a few new words for them to get used to hearing and saying.

We suggest you start with some revision, then give plenty of practice in talking about birthdays. This will also help prepare for saying today’s date in Spanish - which could become a regular class routine.

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A1. When's your birthday?

Talking Dictionary

Planning your lessons

Films to see

❑ Film A1 starts with children saying when their birthdays are: Mi cumpleaños es el 16 de febrero Mi cumpleaños es el 20 de mayo Mi cumpleaños es el 10 de noviembre Mi cumpleaños es el 4 de agosto

Mi cumpleaños es el 1 de julio Mi cumpleaños es el 6 de junio Mi cumpleaños es el 3 de enero Mi cumpleaños es el 10 de junio Celebrating a birthday in class

This sequence includes a small amount of extra language. Pupils should try to follow the “gist” of what is said, without translating - there are plenty of clues!

HOW SPANISH WORKS 1: Numbers in the date

Spanish speakers do not use “first, second, third etc.” in relation to dates. They simply say and write the number in exactly the same way as they would when counting.

This makes learning dates very easy, although pupils will still need to become used to saying:

Mi cumpleaños es el ... de ...

My birthday is the ... of ...

Film A1: Laura pulls Jero's ears 11 times!

It's Jerónimo's 11th birthday. (He is known in class as 'Jero').

Teacher: "Hoy es el cumpleaños de Jero". (Today is Jero's birthday). "Jero, ven aquí". (Jero, come here). "Vamos a cantar "¡Cumpleaños Feliz!" (We're

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going to sing "Happy Birthday!")

The children sing the Spanish equivalent of "Happy Birthday to You": ¡Cumpleaños feliz! ¡Cumpleaños feliz!

Te deseamos todos, ¡cumpleaños feliz! (“Te deseamos todos” means “we all wish you”) Laura comes to the front of the class and pulls Jero's ears 11 times!

Amanda then gives Jero a gift. "¡Felicidades!"

(Happy birthday/congratulations). He opens it and thanks the class as he shows everyone the puzzle that was inside: "Gracias, gracias".

The sequence finishes with Jero telling the viewer when his birthday is: "Mi cumpleaños es el 13 de mayo".

Question and answer Children reply to the question “¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?” The final child asks the viewer: “¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?”

KEY SOUNDS

Listen and enjoy copying these typical sounds. We will meet them in other words later.

θ

as in feliz

Heard before in: catorce,

ɲ

azul, pez

as in cumpleaños

Heard before in años,

mañana

cuándo Heard before in cuántos, nueve muy bien, buenos días as in

as in

cuándo, cumpleaños

Heard before in catorce,

¿qué tal?

Get used to the sounds

❑ Echoing: Show the e-flashcards ‘When is your birthday?’; play each film clip - initially

quince

* Note: phonetic symbols are for teachers ONLY! This box is not meant as a pronunciation guide - take the films and e-flashcards as a model.

with sound and text ON. Pupils echo the words, e.g. “Mi cumpleaños es el 6 de junio”.

see Talking Dictionary

Respond with understanding

Mi cumpleaños es el 6 de junio

After several repeats, switch text ON and sound OFF; ask children to read aloud, e.g.

“Mi cumplaños es el 20 de mayo”. ❑ Echoing: Continue with some random birthdates, using a selection of flashcards for numbers 1-31 and months. (You may need to combine the e-flashcards with paper versions).

Say when your birthday is, e.g. “Mi cumpleaños es el 17 de agosto”. As you speak, display the number and month. Pupils echo your words.

Your Spanish speaking puppet can also say when his birthday is. Pupils echo.

Repeat this with other dates.

❑ Make copies of the months flashcards so that each pupil has a card representing their birthday month. Ask them to write the number of their birthday on a sheet of paper, big enough for everyone to read. The class hold their numbers and cards so that you can see them.

Call out a selection of dates e.g. “Mi cumpleaños es el 20 de diciembre.” When a pupil recognises his/her birthday, he/she jumps up (or holds the cards up for everyone to see) and the rest of the class echoes the date. ❑ Show the“ question and answer” sequence of the film again, then move around the room asking different pupils “¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?”

Pupils reply as the children do in the film, e.g.

“El 2 de enero”.

To make this activity more amusing, you could use one of your class puppets. Ask the puppet “¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?” The puppet replies. He then asks different pupils when their birthdays are.

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1 . 1 3 ¿1 C3 u á. n d¿oC 1u e4 s á .nt d u3oc uemsp l te ua ñ o s ? ❑ Do a “Mexican wave” to practise saying birthdays. The first pupil in the circle says when his/her birthday is, e.g.“Mi cumpleaños es el 20 de mayo.” The rest of the pupils take it in turns to say just the dates of their birthdays. e.g. “el 14 de enero.”

Look again at sounds

❑ Play “It’s that sound again” Now that the new words and sounds are familiar, pick out a “key sound” from this chapter’s new words. Ask children to suggest all the Spanish words they know that also contain that sound.

As the children’s vocabulary is expanding, you can repeat this with some of the other “key sounds”. This will help them remember the Spanish they already know.

❑ Play “musical birthdays” Pupils move around the room with Spanish music playing in the background. When the music stops, they ask the person nearest to them when their birthdays are e.g.

Pupil 1: “¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?” ❑ Play “Find the sound”where children find Pupil 2: “El 5 de febrero. ¿Cuándo es tu an cumpleaños?” example of a “key sound” in a number of word-cards scattered on the floor. Play some Pupil 1: “El 17 de marzo”. music and pass a soft ball or cuddly toy around Alternatively, pupils form two circles. The outer the circle. When the music stops, ask the pupil circle moves clockwise, the inner anti-clockwise. holding the ball to find a word containing the When the music stops, pupils ask the person ‘special’ sound. Everyone echoes the word. opposite ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?

Repeat this with one or two other "key sounds". ❑ Play “When's my birthday”

CCROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES To help develop pupils' listening skills, play ❑ Classroom routines: You can sing “Cumpleathe online game "When's my birthday?" Pupils ños feliz” whenever someone in the class has a listen very carefully to the Spanish children as birthday. they say their birthdays. They then decide which date displayed is the correct one. ❑ Art and design: Pupils can design and make Spanish birthday cards.

❑ Play “true or false?”

Write a selection of birthday dates on the board.

When you point to a date say “Mi cumpleaños es el ... ” and either the correct date, or a date that is slightly different from the one you are pointing to. If the date you say is the same as the one you are pointing to, pupils echo the date; if it is different, they remain silent.

You might, for example, say just one of the components correctly. Numbers which are sometimes misheard by beginners are 2 and 12, 3 and 13, 4 and 14 etc.

It is best to wait until pupils are confident with saying dates and birthdays before trying this activity.

❑ IT/data handling: Pupils can make a survey of how many people have birthdays in different months. They could collect information from other classes as well as their own. The results can be shown in a chart or graph. ❑ Drama: Pupils can use their puppets to improvise a birthday celebration. The scenario could be birthday celebrations in school as in film A1 or a birthday party with friends.

Pupils may be surprised when they realise just how much Spanish they have at their command to equip them for this activity.

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The puppets can now greet each other and wish each other happy birthday. They can count the numbers as the guests attempt to pull the birthday puppet’s ears. The birthday puppet can say “gracias” when he receives his present.

Puppets who do not know each other can introduce themselves and find out how old the other puppets are. They can all sing “Cumpleaños feliz” and say goodbye as they leave the party. ❑ Drama: Pupils who enjoy role-playing themselves could improvise a birthday party along similar lines. They could also include one or two “party” games that they are familiar with from their Spanish activities, such as “musical birthdays”, “swap colours” or “jump to the number”.

Talking point

EVERYDAY LIFE IN SPAIN Celebrating birthdays

Everyday

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Spanish children celebrate their birthdays in much the same way as British children do.

Not all schools celebrate birthdays in the way shown in film A1. However, singing "¡Feliz cumpleaños!" is quite common.

The tradition of pulling a birthday child's ear is practised throughout Spain - one pull for every year. At a birthday party in a child's home, this normally takes place as you say “¡Feliz cumpleaños!” - either as a greeting or later on when the birthday cake is presented.

Birthday parties are still popular, particularly with younger children. However, many families live in flats, particularly in the towns and cities and so there is not always enough space to have a party. Instead children will often go on a

The cake is the highlight of the birthday tea.

special trip, perhaps to the swimming pool or to see a film. The trend for having a birthday party in a burger restaurant is also popular in Spain!

At a typical birthday party children will start their tea with savoury foods like crisps and sandwiches. Smoked ham is very popular delicacy in Spain and will nearly always be included as part of any birthday tea either as a sandwich filling or eaten on its own.

Birthday cards are growing in popularity in Spain but are not an essential part of birthday celebrations. Close friends and relatives give presents, but they do not usually give cards unless they are very much in touch with British and American culture.

However, it would not be uncommon for a group of Spanish pupils, particularly those of primary school age, to make a birthday card for a classmate.

Children will have recognized the familiar birthday song, which is a Spanish version of the “Happy Birthday” song written in the USA in the 20th century and spread round the world by films, radio and TV. How did we ever celebrate birthdays without it?

Saints’ days Traditionally Spanish families celebrate a child’s saint’s day, i.e. the day devoted to the saint they are named after. Some still observe this custom.

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Cultural awareness

❑ If you are linked with a Spanish primary school, pupils can draw pictures showing how they celebrate their birthdays and exchange these with their Spanish counterparts.