Span1 ch12

12. ¿Qué día es hoy?

12. ¿Qué día es hoy?

Saying the date This section gives pupils the opportunity to practise saying the full date in Spanish now that they are familiar with all the component parts.

This can become a regular part of your daily routine. Each day the date will be slightly different, so it is a good way to reinforce months, numbers and the days of the week.

VIDEO section 12 Children say what the date is today: martes 23 de noviembre jueves 11 de febrero viernes 19 de mayo A variety of images reflecting different times of year appear on screen. The day, number and month are superimposed over the pictures as the dates are given: lunes 3 de mayo domingo 25 de julio jueves 19 de agosto sábado 9 de octubre viernes 31 de diciembre miércoles 6 de enero The video then show the celebrations that take place in Spain on 6 January. See this chapter's “talking point”.

NEW WORDS AND PHRASES

¿Qué día es hoy?

What's the date today?

HOW SPANISH WORKS There are several different ways of asking the date in Spanish. ¿Qué día es hoy? is a simple way of asking both what day of the week it is today and also what the date is.

KEY SOUNDS

día

reinforcement of “i”

Scenes from video section 12: ¿Qué día es hoy?

reinforcement of Spanish silent “h”

Asking the date in class: The teacher asks a pupil what the date is today “Barbara, ¿qué día es hoy?” Barbara replies, “Martes 6 de octubre.”.

SONG: Children sing a traditional Spanish song which is all about different dates.

Scenes from video section 12: The Three Kings parade.

Scenes from video section 12: “Hoy es martes 6 de octubre.”

hoy

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12. ¿Qué día es hoy?

Cultural awareness

Activities

❑ When pupils have had the opportunity to practise saying the full date in different ways, you can talk with them about the 6 January celebrations that they have seen on the video and some of the other special dates in the Spanish calendar. See this chapter's “talking points”.

You may find it useful to replay the video.

Before watching video section 12, it is a good idea to have a brief “warm up” session.

REVISION: Apart from the question ¿Qué día es hoy? all the words in this video section will be familiar: numbers 1-31, days of theweek, months.

This means that your “warm up” could be anything which will help pupils be receptive to the sounds and images they are about to see. You could, for example, ask several pupils when their birthdays are and sing the songs for the months of the year and/or the days of the week.

❑ Play “find the date” Set out the days, numbers and months flashcards on a flat surface. Ask for three volunteers to “find the date.” Pupils take it in turns to make up dates. Volunteer 1 has to select the correct day, volunteer 2 finds the number and volunteer 3 looks for the month.

If you have duplicates of the flashcards you can make this into a team game. See which team can find all three components and say the complete date first.

❑ Watch video section 12: “¿Qué día es hoy?” ❑ Echoing: Say today's date e.g. “Hoy es lunes 20 de noviembre.” Pupils echo the date. ❑ Ask nine pupils to come to the front of the class. Give three pupils a flashcard each representing one of the days of the week; give three pupils a number flashcard and the other three a flashcard representing a month.

Call out a date e.g. “lunes 19 de marzo”. The pupils holding flashcards representing “lunes”, “19” and “marzo” run to form a line facing the class so that the flashcards can be read from left to right. Everyone echoes “lunes 19 de marzo”.

Now change the date by one or two components e.g. “lunes 29 de marzo”.

The pupil holding the “29” flashcard runs to swap places with the pupil who was holding the “19” flashcard.

Everyone echoes the new date.

❑ Watch video section 12: “¿Qué día es hoy?” again for reinforcement. Encourage pupils to join in with the song.

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12. ¿Qué día es hoy?

CROSS CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Talking point

❑ Classroom routines: Ask “¿Qué día es hoy?” each day to practise saying the date in Spanish.

CELEBRATIONS The Three Kings: 6 January

❑ Technology: Pupils can design and make their own “calendar machines” which enable different combinations of days, numbers and months to be revealed. They can work in pairs calling out dates to test the “machines”.

Although Christmas is an important festival in Spain it is generally a time for family celebrations. The 6 January (Epiphany) is the day when Spanish children usually receive their presents.

This is the day of the Three Kings (Los Reyes Magos) which is celebrated all over Spain.

There are processions and the people on the floats throw sweets to the children in the crowds.

There is always some form of re-enactment of the journey of the Three Kings. In Mallorca, for example, men dressed as the kings arrive by sea and distribute sweets to the children when they land on the beach. In other towns the kings ride through the streets on horseback as they do on the video. The parades often include camels carrying parcels.

❑ Music: Pupils can sing the song “Uno de enero” as the children do on the video.

When pupils have completed the activities in this chapter, you could ask them to complete the second self assessment sheet. See chapter 15.

Scenes from video section 12: The Three Kings parade

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12. ¿Qué día es hoy?

Talking point CELEBRATIONS The fiesta of San Fermín The children in the video sing the song:

Uno de enero Dos de febrero Tres de marzo Cuatro de abril

Cinco de mayo Seis de junio Siete de julio San Fermín

San Fermín: Cabezudos

San Fermín is the patron saint of Pamplona in northern Spain, and the town holds a fiesta in his honour on 7 July. For a whole week there are parades in the streets and music, singing and dancing - a continuous party! The processions include huge papier-mâché figures supported by dancers, called gigantes (giants). These represent kings and queens. There are also cabezudos, big-headed figures in military hats.

Most Spanish towns hold a similar fiesta for their patron saint's day. Pamplona's is famous for the bull run. Each morning the bulls are let loose to run through the streets to the bull ring.

Traditionally, young men who wish to show their courage, run in front of the bulls trying to keep ahead of them and avoid being trampled.

Although safety rails are erected to keep the bulls to the route, someone is usually injured during this event. The most dangerous point is when the bulls and the runners all try and squeeze through the narrow entrance into the bullring.

San Fermín was the son of a Roman senator and first Bishop of Pamplona. The festival dates back to 1324 and has gradually evolved into a ritual that has changed very little since the 1860's when the giants were first introduced.

National Festivals New Year's Day 1 January Epiphany 6 January Saint Joseph's Day 19 March Holy Week Good Friday Easter Labour Day 1 May Corpus Christi Saint James 25 July Assumption 15 August Columbus Day 12 October All Saints' Day 1 November Constitution Day 6 December Immaculate Conception 8 December Christmas Eve 24 December Christmas Day 25 December

San Fermín: Gigantes

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Año Nuevo Los Reyes Magos San José Semana Santa Viernes Santo Pascua Día de los trabajadores El Corpus Santiago La Asunción Día de la Hispanidad/ El Pilar Todos los Santos La Constitución La Imaculada Concepción Nochebuena Navidad