Lesson Starters – Primary Spanish - Un recorrido de mi ciudad Cosoleacaque
About the clip
This is one of a series of lesson starter clips for Key Stage 2 Spanish and is intended to support a specific unit of the QCDA schemes of work although it can equally be used to support many alternative schemes. The starter is aimed at learners in Years 5 and 6.
The filming was done on location in Mexico to help demonstrate that the Spanish-speaking world extends well beyond Europe. This presents an opportunity for the children to look at an atlas and discover where Mexico is in the world. We can find some differences in terms of pronunciation between the Spanish Castilian and the Mexican Castilian. The most important is the “seseo”. C and Z in Mexican are pronounced like ‘s’.
All the lesson starters (there are ten altogether) were filmed in or near a primary school in the city of Veracruz (Escuela 22 de septiembre). The city of Veracruz is found in one of the 31 states of Mexico, which is also called Veracruz. The clips also include scenes from popular celebrations.
Using the clips
The clips can be used to stimulate children’s observation of non-European Spanish-speaking environments as much as to embed and extend language learning and listening skills. The videos offer visual clues to help pupils better understand the context in which the language is spoken.
Each individual clip is short enough to be played several times; once as an introduction to the context and then for specific listening or language activities. It is a good idea to pause the video at certain points either to talk about what the children see (the context) or to break down what is being said, so the children become more accustomed to listening to the language and then identifying individual words or phrases.
Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) opportunities
All the lesson starter clips can be used on an interactive whiteboard and adapted using the whiteboard tools to capture video screen shots straight into the notebook. You can then annotate over the screen using the pen tools and make interactive resources within notebook such as spelling and vocabulary. Having captured a still image from the clip, the spotlight or reveal facility can be used to focus on one particular aspect. Using the interactive whiteboard tools, clips can be customised and broken down into even smaller chunks.
Clip: Un recorrido de mi ciudad Cosoleacaque (Y5/6)
Context: Paola takes us on a tour of the city of Cosoleacaque.
QCDA unit 22: Then and now
TRANSCRIPT: Un recorrido de mi ciudad Cosoleacaque.
Hola yo me llamo Paola y vivo en la ciudad de Cosoleacaque, Veracruz y yo les invito a conocer mi heroica ciudad de Cosoleacaque.
Aquí les presento el palacio municipal. A mí me gusta de este palacio municipal: su pintura, sus balcones. Éste es un edificio grande y nuevo que fue fundado en mil novecientos ochenta y ocho.
Estamos en el parque. El parque es muy bello. A mí me gustan sus flores, sus bancas rojas, sus árboles. Aquí viene la gente para relajarse porque es un lugar muy calmado.
Nos dirigimos a la iglesia. Ahora estoy frente a la iglesia de Cosoleacaque. Como el pueblo de Cosoleacaque es nuevo, la iglesia no tiene muchos rasgos antiguos. A mí lo que me parece muy antiguo es la campana que fue hecha en mil setecientos ochenta y dos y en mi opinión es muy bella.
Ahora nos encontramos en el mercado. Este mercado fue fundado el 18 de octubre de mil novecientos ochenta y uno. Como ven está cerrado pero normalmente hay muchas personas que compran productos del campo, frutas y verduras. A mí, me gustan los productos del campo como la naranja que es jugosa y dulce.
Muy bien, hemos concluido con el recorrido de Cosoleacaque. Les invito a visitar mi ciudad.
Closing question: Y, ¿cómo es donde viven ustedes?
Language elements: El palacio municipal / el parque / la iglesia / el mercado.
Suggested activities
· Distribute plans of the town centre of Cosoleacaque. Ask children to mark the route of the visit as Paola describes it during the clip.
Town plans are downloadable at:
http://www.minube.com/mapa/mexico/veracruz/cosoleacaque
www.guiarte.com/mapas.../politico_poblacion_cosoleacaque.html
www.mapasmexico.net/cosoleacaque-veracruz.html
· Children create a tour of their local town or neighbourhood. Can they see evidence of any changes? Perhaps they could interview adults in school to find out what changes have taken place since before they were born.
· Children could create a powerpoint / display comparing their local area with Cosoleacaque.
Information about and pictures of main buildings, markets and history of Mexico and Cosoleacaque can be found on these websites:
http://www.inafed.gob.mx/work/templates/enciclo/veracruz/municipios/30048a.htm
http://www.mexico.com.mx/cosoleacaque_mapa_e_historia.html
The consultant for the programme was Jenny Carpenter, MFL Adviser, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.