Music video for Tarea Semanal

One thing I love about having students do Tarea Semanal is that, sometimes, I end up getting something that I can use with future classes. I also really like it when students come up with their own ideas for assignments.

As a class, we studied and sang the song "Río Abajo" by Ana Tijoux during our Desafíos Medioambientales unit. One student liked the song so much that she asked if she could make a video to illustrate the lyrics. She did this as her tarea semanal for 3 or 4 weeks. She used WeVideo (similar to iMovie, but maybe better because it is in the cloud) and this is her final product. I can't imagine how many times she must have listened to the song in order to get the lyrics to match so well with the pictures! 

I will definitely be using this video next semester when we do this unit.

On another note, I highly recommend using music by Ana Tijoux. I am a HUGE fan... for so many reasons. Her music is like poetry and her songs often have a social message. She is also a strong female role model who speaks out against the objectification of women in pop culture (teenage girls need more "cool" role models like her!). I have found that students really like her music. Some favorites have been Somos Sur, Shock, and 1977. At first it can be difficult to sing along with her songs, but once students try a few times, they really can sing along.