PowerPoints, lesson plan, PDF and Word worksheets
KS2
Years 3-6
Spanish animals activities based around The Carnival of the Animals provide an enriching and positive cross-curricular learning experience, says Lisa Stevens…
This download includes the full lesson plan PDF plus accompanying resources.
With the increasing focus on delivering a broad and balanced curriculum, there comes the question of how to fit in all the areas of learning included in the primary curriculum.
Cross-curricular projects and making links between subjects is one way of finding the time to meet demands while ensuring a positive learning experience. “Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity,” states the music national curriculum.
Why not make links between two ‘languages’, therefore, and combine music and language skills in a short series of activities based around The Carnival of the Animals by Saint Saens?
This lesson plan is the abridged version of three sessions so could equally be delivered as suggested here or as a series of shorter lessons. Each section in itself could take an hour if fully explored.
Learning objectives
- Name some animals in Spanish
- appreciate and appraise music, using simple Spanish to describe it
- Explore rhythm using Spanish words
- Discover animal sounds in Spanish
- Form short sentences in Spanish about music
Starter activity
Start off by presenting learners with some animal vocabulary. Choose the names of the animals from El Carnaval de los Animales:
- un león
- un gallo
- un canguro
- un pez
- un cuco
- un elefante
- un burro
- un pájaro
- una tortuga
- una gallina
- un cisne
You could go straight for presenting the vocabulary with images – or for an added challenge for more advanced learners, you could show a list of the words and see if learners can deduce any of the vocabulary using cognates, knowledge of other languages or other decoding strategies.
Combine repetition of the vocabulary with actions to further anchor the vocabulary.
Lisa Stevens is a primary languages educator and consultant who teaches at two Birmingham primary schools. She has consulted on various projects including the BBC Schools Radio series ¡Mi Madrid! for KS2 Spanish learners. Find her at lisibo.com and follow her on X at @lisibo.
