11. Los días de la semana
11. Los días de la semana Days of the week Learning to say the days of the week is the final step towards enabling pupils to say the full date in Spanish and the first step towards being able to communicate about the days on which things happen. If pupils are visiting Spain, there are many occasions when it is useful to be able to recognise the days of the week, for example, to identify when shops are open or closed, understanding bus and train timetables and checking TV listings in magazines.
The video shows a variety of images of children in their school environment. The weekdays, lunes - viernes, are named as the pictures appear on screen. The weekday images are followed by a sequence showing children and adults out and about doing their shopping on a Saturday - sábado. The Calahorra town band is then shown playing in the square on a Sunday as people take a stroll before lunch - domingo. The sequence finishes with a picture of the cathedral as the bell rings calling people to church.
NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
lunes martes miércoles jueves viernes sábado domingo Hoy es ...
DAYS SONG: Children sing the days of the week.
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Today is ...
Lunes, martes, miércoles y jueves Viernes, sábado, domingo Children say which day of the week it is using the phrase “Hoy es ...”. The images representing Monday - Friday show aspects of school life; the images representing Saturday and Sunday show children out and about in the town and at the swimming pool. Introducing the written word
Images of each of the days of the week are repeated with the word superimposed over the picture. You may choose not to show this when first presenting the video to pupils. You can show it at a later date when they have had plenty of opportunities to practise the days of the week orally. They will then be ready to make more connections between the written word and pronunciation.
VIDEO section 11 Children say the days of the week: lunes martes miércoles jueves viernes sábado domingo
KEY SOUNDS
lunes introduction to the Spanish way of pronouncing “es” at the end of words
jueves reinforcement of “j” Scenes from video section 11: “martes.”
71
11. Los días de la semana ❑ Everyone stands in a circle with you in the centre. Throw a soft ball to different pupils. Each time you throw the ball say a day of the week. The pupil echoes the day as he/she throws it back to you. To begin with, it is best to say the days in order. This will help establish the pattern and rhythm of the seven day sequence.
Pupils will see on the video that, when you write the name of a day in Spanish, it starts with a lower case letter - unless it is the first word in a sentence.
❑ Make flashcards for the days of the week using enlargements of the activity sheet, (or use the OHP). Attach the cards to the board in sequence. Pupils say the days. Then turn over one of the flashcards. Pupils say the days again, including the one that is hidden. Gradually increase the number of blank cards until there are no visible prompts left.
Scenes from video section 11: “Hoy es domingo.”
Activities
Cultural awareness ❑ When pupils have had the opportunity to practice some of the new language, you can talk with them about the images they have seen on the video. See this chapter's “talking point“. You may find it useful to replay the video at this point.
Before watching video section 11, it is a good idea to have a brief “warm up” session to prepare pupils for the new words and phrases they are about to learn. You could play one or two of games to practise months, numbers and birthdays. You could also talk with pupils about occasions when they find it useful to be able to say or recognise the days of the week in their own language.
❑ Play “swap days” Pupils arrange their chairs in a circle. Give everybody a flashcard representing a day of the week, making sure that there are several children holding each day. When you call out “Hoy es martes” for example, the pupils with cards representing “martes” swap places. As they do so, you run for an empty chair. The pupil left without a chair becomes the caller.
❑ Watch video section 11: “Los días de la semana.” ❑ Echoing: Pupils echo each day of the week as you say it. ❑ Flashcards Make enlarged copies of the cut out days on the activity sheet so that everyone in the class has a card representing a day of the week. Say each day of the week in sequence. As you say “lunes”, for example, pupils with cards representing “lunes” hold them up for everyone to see. Speed up saying the days of the week as pupils gain confidence.
❑ Do a “Mexican wave” to practise the days of the week. Pupils form a circle with their chairs. Beginning with “lunes”, each pupil says the next month one after another in rapid succession. As they speak they stand up and promptly sit down again as soon as they have said the day. Alternatively, the “wave” can take place round each of the class tables if the children normally sit in groups. See which table reaches “domingo” first.
72
11. Los días de la semana ❑ Activity sheet: sequencing Give each pupil a copy of the activity sheet and ask them to quickly cut out each of the days of the week. They shuffle them and place them face down. You say, for example, “Hoy es miércoles”. The children turn over the cards and put them into sequence beginning with miércoles.
❑ Music: Pupils can compose their own tunes or chants for the days of the week. ❑ Art and design: Pupils can design a frieze as a group or make individual picture “diaries” showing aspects of their daily routines. They can also include pictures showing what they like to do at weekends. These can be labelled in Spanish with each day of the week. If you are linked with a school in Spain, these could be exchanged for pictures from their Spanish counterparts. Pupils can then compare the similarities and the differences.
❑ Working in pairs: play “snap” Pupils can use the days of the week activity sheet to make “snap” cards. If you plan to play this regularly, it is worth using fairly thick card as a backing. It is also a good idea to have several sets of cards so that the game does not finish too quickly. Pupils play in pairs. They shuffle the cards and deal them into two piles. Pupils take it in turn to pick up a card. If two cards are the same, they shout the name of the day. The player who says the day first takes the cards which have been turned up. The winner is the one with all the cards, or with most cards when time is up.
❑ IT: Pupils can word process labels for their pictures. If you have access to a modem and scanner, pupils could send them via e-mail to their exchange school.
Talking point
❑ Working in pairs: play “remember the day” Pupils work in pairs with two sets of shuffled cards. They set out all the cards, face down on the table. Each player takes it in turns to turn over two cards. Pupils say the the day as each is revealed. If the days are the same he/she keeps the cards. If the cards do not match, they are replaced. The game continues until all the cards have been picked up. The winner has the most cards.
EVERYDAY LIFE IN SPAIN The days of the week Spanish children go to school from Mondays to Fridays. Pupils may be interested to know that this is not the case in all European countries. In France, for example, some children have Wednesdays free, but go to school instead on Saturday mornings. In Germany the school day starts earlier and finishes at about 1300, but children generally have some homework to do in the afternoons.
❑ Watch video section 11: “Los días de la semana” again for reinforcement. Encourage pupils to echo the days and join in with the song.
The most popular spectator sport in Spain is football which is played from September until May. Most major games are held on Sundays, often in the evenings. Most towns and cities have their own stadium. The majority of Spanish children take pride in supporting “their” football team and avidly follow the team's progress. This could be the team from their home town or one of the larger, internationally famous football teams. Pupils may have heard of some of the famous Spanish football clubs such as Real Madrid and Barcelona.
CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
❑ Classroom routines: Ask pupils to say what day of the week it is today on a regular basis. You can simply say “¿Hoy es?” with a rising intonation and wait for pupils to respond with the appropriate day. ❑ Music: Pupils can sing the days of the week song from the video.
73
11. Los días de la semana Tennis, swimming and cycle-racing are also popular sports. Nowadays most towns have a sports and leisure centre which people can use in the evenings and weekends. The video shows the brand new swimming pool which has recently opened in Calahorra. Many Spanish children take part in organised after school activities, e.g. ballet, IT, English, swimming etc. Most children also have homework to do. Visiting relatives or going to join them for a meal is a fairly common weekend activity. Scenes from video section 11: Calahorra's new swimming pool.
Cultural awareness ❑ If you are linked with a school in Spain pupils can exchange information about their favourite football teams.
Los días de la semana C
Lu
-
nes
Am
mar
-
tes
do
-
nes
Am
vier - nes
mar
min
-
tes
-
sá - ba - do
C
C
do
-
74
min -
G
go.
miér - co - les
G
jue - ves
F
G
F
-
y
C
sá - ba - do
C
C
miér - co - les
G
vier - nes
Lu
G
F
go.
y
jue - ves
NOMBRE:
Me llamo
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
lunes martes miércoles
jueves
viernes sábado domingo This page may be photocopied for classroom use.
Early Start Spanish “Tú y yo”