Primary Spanish is divided into Start Here (5 units), Learn More (10 units), and there is also a Festivals unit. Top tips gives general advice on language teaching. In the sections below you will find specific details, tips and ideas for each unit.

START HERE

¡HOLA!
		This unit covers saying 'Hello', 'How are you?' and 'Goodbye'.
		The unit features:
		Animated Animals (key vocabulary) Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard. Links Worksheets
		QCA units covered:
		1. Hablo español
		Suggested activities:
		Students walk around the class greeting others. No name exchange needed. Link greetings to pictures of times of day (morning, afternoon, night). Link greetings to gestures agreed with students. Then one student can do a gesture and the others say the greeting.
		Tips for this unit:
		Make the first class fun by using gestures and exaggerated signs for phrases such as 'muy bien', 'regular', 'fatal', etc. Changes in voice are also helpful when repeating the same vocabulary many times (e.g. happy, sad, angry, quiet, secret, loud, singing...).

YO
		This unit covers how to say your name, age and where you are from.
		The unit features:
		Animated Animals (key vocabulary) Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard. Links Worksheets A song
		QCA units covered:
		1. Hablo español 2. Me presento (where you live, where you are from, age) 6. El mundo (countries)
		Suggested activities:
		Students are given new 'personalities' and they have to find out each other's details.
		Tips for this unit:
		Introduce first the answers to the questions so students can talk straight away and just use the phrase '¿Y tú?'.

EN CLASE
		This unit covers saying 'What's this?' and 'How do you say... in Spanish?'.
		The unit features:
		Animated Animals (key vocabulary) Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard. Links Worksheets A song
		QCA units covered:
		1. Hablo español 2. Me presento
		Suggested activities:
		Hangman. Register taking in Spanish.
		Tips for this unit:
		This vocabulary can be introduced in stages during the initial lessons so students can ask for help when needed.

HORA Y FECHA
		This unit covers saying time, numbers, dates and months.
		The unit features:
		Animated Animals (key vocabulary) Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard. Links Worksheets
		QCA units covered:
		1. Hablo español (numbers) 2. Me presento (numbers, days of the week) 3. La familia (months) 5. Mi cumpleaños (months, time)
		Suggested activities:
		Put days/months in order (either usual order or order dictated by teacher or pupil). Play 'Hoy, Ayer, Mañana' ('Today, Yesterday, Tomorrow'). Teacher or student choses one of the three; the rest of the class has to respond with the correct day. You don't need to use verbs, just gestures. Make a Spanish calendar. One student says a time; the other has to put it on a clock.
		Tips for this unit:
		Teach the numbers 1 to 7 before teaching the days of the week, and 1 to 12 before the months. This makes it easier to relate numbers to days and months for activities. Once students can say the date, make putting the date in a Spanish calendar the first activity of each day or lesson. For the time teach the o'clock hours first, then half past, then quarter past and quarter to. In Spanish, the week starts on Monday. This is a cultural aspect you might want to explain to your students.

¡ME GUSTA!
		This unit covers likes, dislikes and opinions.
		The unit features:
		Animated Animals (key vocabulary) Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard. Links Worksheets
		QCA units covered:
		3. La familia (likes/dislikes; colours) 4. Los animales (likes/dislikes) 7. Mi escuela (likes/dislikes) 9. Los deportes (likes/dislikes) 10. La ropa (likes/dislikes)
		Suggested activities:
		Survey of likes and dislikes. Make happy/sad faces to signal likes/dislikes.
		Tips for this unit:
		Start by introducing the singular forms of each colour and then the plural ones.

LEARN MORE

SPANGLISH
		This unit covers Spanish words which are just like English.
		The unit features:
		Photo slideshow (images from Spanish-speaking countries) Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard.
		QCA units covered:
		This unit is designed to enable students to see similarities between Spanish and English and to build confidence in using Spanish vocabulary.
		Suggested activities:
		Flashcards or real objects could be used to introduce vocabulary; students could guess the name of the object in Spanish. This could be developed into a lesson covering the common origins of English and Spanish or links between English, Spanish and Latin to enable students to understand these similarities.
		Tips for this unit:
		This unit is designed to be a starting point for learning more complex Spanish vocabulary. It could be revisited if teaching students to write and spell in Spanish.

FAMILIA
		This unit covers talking about your family and pets.
		The unit features:
		Photo slideshow (images from Spanish-speaking countries) Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard. Worksheets A song
		QCA units covered:
		3. La familia 4. Los animales
		Suggested activities:
		Family tree (own, imaginary or famous person's). Make up a family and describe it from a given model (directed speaking/writing).
		Tips for this unit:
		In this unit students start to use the pronouns 'he', 'she' and 'they'. Descriptions are included in this unit but teachers might decide to teach this aspect of the unit later. To introduce this topic, cards/pictures representing family members could be used. Some students may not wish to talk about their own family. It might be easier for students to describe an imaginary family, or perhaps one from a book or TV show.

SONIDOS
		This unit covers the special Spanish sounds: j, rr, ñ, h and more.
		The unit features:
		Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard.
		QCA units covered:
		1. Hablo español 2. Me presento
		Suggested activities:
		Hangman. Putting words in alphabetical order. Trying to read new words.
		Tips for this unit:
		Teach the alphabet in stages. You can work on similar sounding letter groups. Reading in Spanish is quite easy as most letters always have the same sound. However, you should be careful students do not use English pronunciation in Spanish. Reading in Spanish could be linked to literacy by comparing and contrasting English and Spanish sounds. However, students with reading difficulties might find this more confusing.

EL TIEMPO
		This unit covers weather, seasons and months.
		The unit features:
		Photo slideshow (images from Spanish-speaking countries) Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard. A song
		QCA units covered:
		2. Me presento 3. La familia 5. Mi cumpleaños
		Suggested activities:
		Add a picture of the day's weather to the date each morning and ask a student to label it in Spanish. Link months to weather. Survey of likes and dislikes, or favourite weather.
		Tips for this unit:
		Group the phrases by contrast (e.g. nice/bad; hot/cold; sunny/ windy...) Link phrases to gestures suggested by students. Then the teacher can say a phrase and students do the sign and vice versa. Teach whole sentences or phrases (e.g. 'hace calor'), rather than individual words (i.e. just 'calor').

ANIMALES SALVAJES
		This unit covers describing wild animals and what they eat.
		The unit features:
		Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard.
		QCA units covered:
		4. Los animales 6. El mundo
		Suggested activities:
		Map of the world with different animals in their correct locations. The teacher can then ask which animals live in each continent. ('¿Qué animales hay en Asia/África?', etc... Invent animals with different bodies, head, legs. Draw and describe them.
		Tips for this unit:
		When introducing vocabulary link each animal to a sign/gesture.

GENTE VIP
		This unit covers describing favourite celebrities.
		The unit features:
		Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard.
		QCA units covered:
		2. Me presento 6. El mundo
		Suggested activities:
		Design posters of famous Spanish people and create an ID card or simple magazine profile for each one.
		Tips for this unit:
		In this unit, as with 'Family', students use the pronouns 'he' and 'she'.

BANDERAS
		This unit covers colours, shapes and countries.
		The unit features:
		Photo slideshow (images from Spanish-speaking countries) Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard.
		QCA units covered:
		2. Me presento (countries, nationalities) 3. La familia (colours) 6. El mundo (countries)
		Suggested activities:
		Colour in flags by numbers (e.g. 'colorea de rojo el número uno', etc). Place flags in the correct countries in a map of the world/Europe/South America, etc. Describe a flag and guess the country. Make a wall display with the flags of each student's country of birth/places students have visited. In Olympic/World Cup years, link flags to countries and sports strips.
		Tips for this unit:
		In this unit students work with gender and number agreements between nouns and adjectives (colours). Students work with countries of the world and shapes in flags. Colour adjectives have to agree with the object (noun) they describe: e.g.'¿De qué color es la bandera de Italia? - Es blanca, roja y verde'. However, you can get away from agreement problems using the phrase 'de color': e.g. 'Es de color blano, rojo y verde'.

MÚSICA
		This unit covers favourite music and playing an instrument.
		The unit features:
		Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard.
		QCA units covered:
		This unit is designed to enable students to develop their confidence in speaking Spanish, building on skills such as stating preferences, talking about themselves and using new vocabulary.
		Suggested activities:
		Draw an orchestra or band and label instruments. Survey on music likes or instruments played in the class.
		Tips for this unit:
		Working on this unit could be an opportunity to introduce aspects of Spanish culture such as music and dance.

DE VACACIONES
		This unit covers countries, transport and family.
		The unit features:
		Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard.
		QCA units covered:
		6. El mundo
		Suggested activities:
		Survey of favourite/upcoming holiday destinations and modes of transport. Study of holiday destinations in Spanish-speaking countries.
		Tips for this unit:
		This unit provides further opportunities for students to practice speaking Spanish in a familiar context.

FÚTBOL
		This unit covers favourite teams, team colours and football vocabulary.
		The unit features:
		Photo slideshow (images from Spanish-speaking countries) Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard.
		QCA units covered:
		3. La familia 9. Los deportes 10. La ropa
		Suggested activities:
		Wall chart of League/World/European teams' strip colours.
		Tips for this unit:
		This unit provides further opportunities to develop students' understanding of agreement rules between nouns and adjectives.

FESTIVALS

FIESTAS DE ESPAÑA
		This unit covers how Spanish people celebrate Fiestas.
		The unit features:
		Practice (interactive Q&A activity) Words in this unit (drag and drop activity) Games for 1 or 2 and for use on a whiteboard.
		QCA units covered:
		2. Me presento (aspects of festivals)
		Suggested activities:
		Study of Fiestas could lead in to a class 'Fiesta' where students prepare and eat Spanish food and listen to Spanish music. Students could investigate how other festivals (e.g. Carnival, Christmas, Easter, birthdays) are celebrated in the Spanish-speaking world.
		Tips for this unit:
		This unit provides opportunites to recap and practice using vocabulary for months and seasons encountered in previous units.

Top tips gives general advice on language teaching.

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