Spanish for Educators: School Schedules and Subjects in Spanish

In this Spanish for Educators lesson you will learn how to communicate your school schedules and all of the subjects into Spanish.

The objective of this Spanish lesson is for educators to learn how to talk about their school schedules and subjects in Spanish with your Spanish-speaking students; including learning how to tell time and express school subjects.

Su reto profesional: I challenge you to…create your own schedule and explain the hour and the subjects in Spanish. ¿Qué hora es?, ¿Qué materia estudiaré?, ¿Cuál es mi horario escolar?

Here is the Spanish lesson I taught to my Maestro Miércoles Facebook group:

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Pasos de la lección / Lesson Progression

1. La Hora / Time: ¿A qué hora empieza _____? / At what time _______ begin?
2. Los horarios / The schedules
3. Las asignaturas / The subjects

La Hora / The Hour

The verb SER (to be) is used to express time in Spanish. To express the specific hour use the verb conjugations ES or SON, let me explain:

• ES la una  ( It’s one o’clock): “ES” is used to express only the time between 1:00 and 1:59 either AM or PM. “ES” is the singular form of the verb and the 1:00 hour is a singular number.
• SON las dos  (It’s two o’clock): “SON” is used to express all the other hours. “SON” is the plural form of the verb and us used to express all other hours as they are plural numbers.

Note: Perhaps it’s not correct, you can hear some Spanish speakers using SON when talking about the time between 1:00 and 1:59. For example: SON la una y media. This is not grammatically correct but it is used in the spoken language sometimes.

Hora del Día / Time of the Day

• De la mañana / In the morning
• De la tarde / In the afternoon
• De la noche / In the evening or night

Examples:

• Son las cuatro y cuarenta y cinco de la tarde 
• Son las siete de la mañana 
• Son las nueve de la noche 

Note: to express the time between midnight and 4:59 AM, some Spanish speakers use the expression “de la madrugada” (in the early morning), then they start using “de la mañana” from 5:00 AM and on.

Example: Son las tres de la madrugada y tengo que ir a la escuela a las nueve de la mañana (It’s three in the early morning and I have to go to school at nine in the morning).

Los Minutos / The Minutes

1. To express minutes use “y” (and):

• Es la una y diez : 1:10

2. To subtract minutes use menos (minus):

• Son las tres menos diez : 2:50

3. Speak like a native using this strategy…Another way to express minutes is using “faltan” (left) and “para” (until, in this case).

• Faltan cinco para las cuatro : 3:55. There are 5 minutes left till it’s 4:00,

Notice the number after “faltan” represents the minutes left and the number after “para” represents the hour.

4. Cuarto: quarter past or till

• Es la una y cuarto  : 1:15
• Son las cinco menos cuarto  : 4:45
• Falta un cuarto para las cinco : 4:45

5. Media: half (30 minutes)

• Es la una y media: 1:30
• Son las 6 y media: 6:30

El horario / The Schedule

¿A qué hora…? / At what time…?

¿A qué hora tiene clase de…?

• A las 8:05 tengo clase de ciencias 
• A las 9:00 tengo lectoescritura
• A las 11:15 tengo almuerzo

¿Cuál es tu horario? / What is your schedule?

Las asignaturas / The Subjects

Let’s talk about the different subjects a student can study during a year:

Primaria / Primary School

Secundaria / Middle / High

Otras asignaturas / Other Subjects

¡Ahora te toca a ti! / Now It’s Your Turn! 

Study all of this classroom vocabulary in Spanish with these flashcards!

• Create your horario en español and explain it to your students, parents and / or guardians.

Share it in the comments below or on our Facebook group to receive feedback from other teachers!

I packaged all of this into easily downloadable .pdf notes– Get your copy for free today!

¡Arriésguense, abran la boca y cometan errores!