Lesson Starters – Primary Spanish - El camino de la escuela
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 : El camino de la escuela
Context: Two boys walk to school through their neighbourhood. They meet all their friends on
the way and show us the main shops they walk by.
QCDA unit 15: On the way to school
TRANSCRIPT
Nino 1
Nino 2
Mamá
Nino 2
Nino 1
Nino 2
Nino 1
Nino2
Nino
Nino
Nino
Nino
1
2
1
2
Nino 1
Nino 2
El camino de la escuela
Langua
ge
element
s
 S
al
g
o
d
e
m
i
ca
sa
¡Hey! .... ¿Cómo te vas a la escuela?
Primero salgo de mi casa y doblo a la derecha
¡Te apuras y cierras la puerta!
Voy con mi mamá y mis dos hermanas. Ya voy mama,
¡espérenme!
Y ¿qué haces después?
Sigo caminando hacia la esquina y me encuentro a mis amigas.
Después cruzo la calle y doblo hacia la izquierda. Me encuentro
con mi amigo Alfredo y doblo hacia la derecha.
¿Y pasas por unas tiendas?
Sí, paso por dos, una que está en la esquina y la y la frutería,
donde venden mangos, plátanos, manzanas melones.
Y ¿qué fruta te gusta más?
La fruta que me gusta más es la manzana.
 d
¿Y qué haces entonces?
o
Sigo caminando todo recto. Cinco minutos más y doblo hacia la
bl
izquierda. Llegando a la esquina, cruzo la calle. Ahí, se encuentra
o
un teléfono donde doblo hacia la derecha. A doscientos metros
a
después, doblo hacia la izquierda y por fin llego al colegio.
la
Es que no entiendo. ¡Repite por favor!
d
¡Ohhh!
er
echa / sigo caminando hacia la esquina / cruzo la calle / doblo hacia la izquierda / doblo
hacia la derecha / todo recto
Suggested activities
 Ask children to draw maps of their route to school, annotating these with a list of places
they pass. This could include distance travelled, walking to school with/without parents,
types of school bags, what you see en route like shops and amenities. They then
compare and contrast their journey to school with the boys in the clip.

Copy, print and cut into sets of cards (one per pair of pupils) the following directions.
As children watch the boy talking about his way to school, they should put the cards in
the order of his journey. To make the activity more challenging, ask the children to
watch the clip in 2-3 shorter sections and tell them not to touch the cards while the clip
is playing. Once the programme is paused, pairs of children can arrange the cards –
but stop again when the next section is played and so on.
Primero salgo de mi casa y doblo a la derecha.
Sigo caminando hacia la esquina y me encuentro a mis amigas.
Sigo caminando hacia la esquina y me encuentro a mis amigas.
Sigo caminando hacia la esquina y me encuentro a mis amigas.
Después cruzo la calle y doblo hacia la izquierda.
Me encuentro con mi amigo Alfredo y doblo hacia la derecha.
Sigo caminando todo recto.
Cinco minutos más y doblo hacia la izquierda.
Llegando a la esquina, cruzo la calle.
Ah se encuentra un teléfono donde doblo hacia la derecha.
A doscientos metros después, doblo hacia la izquierda y por fin llego al colegio.

Children can also use dictionaries to list the shops they find in their way to school and
list at least 5 items they can buy in those shops.
e.g. La frutería donde venden mangos, plátanos, manzanas, melons.
The consultant for the programme was Jenny Carpenter, MFL Adviser, London Borough of
Barking and Dagenham.