KS2 · Spanish · Year 5
El Día de los Muertos: describe an 'altar'
Me and others: plural 'estar' (for states) and 'ser' (for traits)
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/9
Your learning goal
I can understand and write a description of an 'altar' in the context of the Mexican tradition, El Día de los Muertos.
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El Día de los Muertos: describe an 'altar': slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
Original teaching resources
The original illustrated PowerPoint is available as well as the IllumED text slides. It retains the publisher’s design and credits.
Download original PowerPoint ↓What you’ll learn
I can understand and write a description of an 'altar' in the context of the Mexican tradition, El Día de los Muertos.
Key learning points
- Numbers 1-31 and months of the year can be combined to give dates.
- 'Son' means 'they are'. It is often followed by an adjective to describe people or things.
- 'Hay' means 'there is' or 'there are'. 'It is often used to identify or locate people or things.
- To describe plural nouns, add - s to adjectives ending in -a, -e and -o. For those ending in -l , -s, or z. add -es.
- On the Day of the Dead, Mexican families make special tables called 'altares' to remember their loved ones.
Words to know
- son
- part of the verb 'ser' meaning 'they are'
- hay
- verb meaning 'there is' or 'there are' depending whether it comes before singular or plural nouns
Common mistakes
I can use 'son' to talk about what there are where, e.g. 'son tres libros en la mesa'.
'Son' means 'they are', is a form of the verb 'ser' ('to be') and is used to describe things, people or places. 'Hay' means 'there is' or 'there are' and it is often used to identify or locate people or things, e.g. 'hay dos libros y son grandes'.
For parents, carers and teachers
- A class display could be created with an actual altar or picture of one. Pupils' written descriptions could form part of this display.