El Día de los Muertos: information questions with 'cuántos' and 'cuántas'
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can ask and answer questions about El Día de los Muertos using 'cuántos' and 'cuántas'.
Vocabulary and transcripts for this lessons
Key learning points
- Weak vowels [i] and [u] merge with strong vowels a, [o], and [e] to make a single syllable,
- The Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday. Families set up and decorate special tables called 'altares'.
- The question word cuánto agrees with the gender and number of the noun it refers to: cuánto, cuánta, cuántos, cuántas.
- To describe plural nouns, add -s to adjectives ending in -a, -e and -o. For those ending in -l, -s or -z, we add -es.
Keywords
Strong vowel - the vowels [a], [e], [u] which are pronounced separately when they appear next to each other
Weak vowel - the vowels [i] and [u] which merge with [a], [e] and [o] to make a single syllable
Cuántos - question word meaning 'how many' for masculine plural nouns
Cuántas - question word meaning 'how many' for feminine plural nouns
Common misconception
There is only one way to say 'how many' in Spanish: 'cuánto'.
In Spanish, the question word 'cuánto' agrees with the gender and number of the noun it refers to. There are four forms: cuánto (m), cuánta (f), cuántos (mpl) and cuántas (fpl),
Teacher tip
There are lots of excellent videos and resources about El Dia de los Muertos, which would develop pupils' understanding further. It may be helpful to choose a small selection of these so that pupils can see El Dia de los Muertos in a real-life context.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match the Spanish to the English.
to learn, learning
to write, writing
to listen, listening
to read, reading
to need, needing
to participate, participating
Q2.Order the numbers from biggest to smallest.
Q3.Which words could describe 'una niña'?
Q4.Match the Spanish to the English.
to prepare, preparing
to have, having
to be, being (permanent traits)
to be, being (temporary states)
to speak, speaking
to tick, mark, ticking, marking
Q5.'Cuántas guitarras tienes?' Translate the sentence into English.
Q6.'I receive a small red present.' Translate the sentence into Spanish.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which word means 'food'?
Q2.Match the Spanish to the English.
blue
red
yellow
black
green
purple
Q3.Order the words to say 'the skulls are placed in front of the altar'.
Q4.Which question means 'how many books are dictionaries'?
Q5.'Flores rojas decoran mi altar.' Translate this sentence into English.
Q6.'How many candles do you light?' Translate this sentence into Spanish.
To help you plan your 5 Spanish lesson on: El Día de los Muertos: information questions with 'cuántos' and 'cuántas', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 Spanish lesson on: El Día de los Muertos: information questions with 'cuántos' and 'cuántas', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 Spanish lessons from the Me and others: plural 'estar' (for states) and 'ser' (for traits) unit, dive into the full primary Spanish curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.