FREE Cuento/Canción de la Semana: Juan y Clara (Siendo #Idiota)

Using stories in the classroom has been the best way for me to transition away from traditional, so much so that I have a workshop that focuses on just that!

During the past year, I have really enjoyed creating and using Stories/Songs of the week. The stories (some are more like video descriptions) are based on popular music videos. On Mondays, my students listen to the story before they see the video. My students have enjoyed listening to the stories and the songs, and acquiring lots of language from them. I am looking forward to sharing more about how I use Story/Song of the week this fall at MaFLA, NHAWLT, and TCI Maine!

My latest "story of the week" is based on the song and music video #Idiota by Juan Magan. This song is very repetitive and pretty comprehensive too! I am sharing these resources for FREE because this has been so successful for me in the classroom that I want other to share with others! Check out the video:

In this (free) document you will find the suggested order of activities for the week, the story, some links to other activities related to the story, a cloze activity with the translation of the song, and a link to the  slideshow below. 

The story is written for Spanish 2 (maybe late Spanish 1 if it is a CI class), but I have found that these stories are also a fantastic thing to use in ANY level! Upper level students love it because it is an easy listen. But, if you are looking for a more linguistically advanced Story/Song of the week, check out "El Novio Reggaetonero" and "Una Ruptura Mala."

Before you read the story, I recommend watching the video and looking at the lyrics:

Ya no quiero verte más 

¡No! 

Ya no quiero verte más, 

ni mucho menos estar contigo. 

Te bloqueo en el whatsapp.

Borro las fotos que compartimos.

Es que reírte de mí 

no es lo mismo que reírte conmigo. 

Pensaste que soy de ti, 

no contaste con el destino. 

Y ya no tengo miedo a soltarlo todo,

porque de ningún modo, 

voy a quedarme aquí.

Siendo idiota, no que va, 

no soy de tu propiedad. 

Vamos a ponerle ya, el punto final. (2Xs)

Siendo idiota 

siendo idiota 

You will see almost all of the lyrics are used as dialogue in the story.

Also, Juan Magan, the singer and main character of the story, is Spanish and Dominican. And the woman he meets and marries in the story is his actual wife. The rest of the story is stuff I made up.

You will see that on first click you only see the pictures. This is so that the teacher tell the story first (and write words on the board) and then students will not see the text the first time, they will just LISTEN to understand. Also, the teacher can just use the pics to say cierto/falso statements, ask questions, and/or have students talk about what happens in the story.

Free Unit: La Importancia de la Educación para todos en Ecuador

~ Ecuador EF Tours 2018 ~ Culture and Service in Ecuador

Through EF Tours and SNHU, I am taking a self-directed course. I decided to focus on Intercultural Communicative Competence and combine it with learning more about Intercultural Bilingual Education in Ecuador, also known as MOSEIB, click here to learn more. I have read a lot during the last few weeks (see my annotated bibliography here)!

As part of the class, I had to come up with a unit plan. Click here to see it. Feel free to make a copy and adapt any of it. It is for a late Spanish 2 class, but could certainly be used at any level above 2. I think I will use it with my Cultura y Civilización course. There are some excellent pre-AP activities in this unit, including a final Comparación Cultural final assessment.

In the unit, students will do the following:

• Read some basic information about Ecuador and MOSEIB.
• Watch four Ecuadorian school-related videos and do a variety of activities with them.
• Video #1 (thanks Zachary Jones!) shows that in Ecuador, some school related cultural products, practices, and perspectives are very similar to those in the U.S.

• Video #2 is a UNICEF video, made for kids (= more comprehensible and simple), that shows the long distances that some Ecuadorian students have to travel to get to school everyday. 

• Video #3 is another UNICEF video that shows the importance of school supplies. There is also an interview with an Ecuadorian teacher.

• Video #4 is another UNICEF video that shows a bilingual school in Ecuador. The video shows a bilingual student and her town.

Essential Questions:

• What are some cultural products, practices, and perspectives related to school in Ecuador?
• How are some cultural products, practices, and perspectives related to school in Ecuador similar and/or different to mine?

Enduring Understandings:

• There are many rural schools. Many students have to travel long distances to get to school. This shows the importance of getting an education.
• Not all schools are rural. There is a variety of types of schools, including private and public.
• School supplies are extremely important for school, but not always easily bought for some students. 
• The Ecuadorian government, after a grassroots movement, has made a commitment to preserving and honoring indigenous languages and cultures by having many Bilingual Intercultural schools in Ecuador. Many of these bilingual schools are in rural zones where Spanish is the second language spoken.
• Many of the school supplies in Ecuador are the same in the U.S. Marketing (commercials) for those products are also similar.

"I can" statements

• Interpretive (Intermediate Low) What can I understand, interpret or analyze in authentic informational texts?
• I can identify the topic and related information from simple sentences in short informational texts.
• I can identify the topic and related information from simple sentences in short informational audio, specifically four authentic videos.
• Presentational (Intermediate Low) How can I present information to inform, describe, or explain?
• I can present (write and speak) information about school in Ecuador and my school, using simple sentences.
• Interpersonal (Intermediate Low) How can I exchange information and ideas in conversations? 
• I can request and provide information in conversations about school by creating simple sentences and asking appropriate follow-up questions.
• Intercultural - Investigate 
• In my own and other cultures I can identify and compare products related to school. 
• In my own and other cultures I can identify and compare practices related to school.
• I am hoping to include this with some contact with someone from Ecuador - Intercultural - Interact (Intermediate)
• I can converse with peers from the target culture in familiar situations at school, work, or play, and show interest in basic cultural similarities and differences.
• I can recognize that significant differences in behaviors exist among cultures, use appropriate learned behaviors and avoid major social blunders.

Assessments (see unit packet):

• Interpretive Reading (pages 5-7): Read an informational text about Ecuador and answer comprehension questions in English.
• Interpretive Listening and Presentational Writing (page 13): Watch and listen to a video and write five follow up questions.
• Interpretive Listening (page 14): Watch and listen to a video and answer questions. 
• Presentational Writing and Speaking (pages 15-16): Write a presentation that compares and contrasts the school related products, practices, and perspectives in all the videos with those in the United States. On Flipgrid, say the presentation. 
• Interpretive Listening and Interpersonal Speaking (pages 15-16): Listen to classmates comparisons on Flipgrid and comment and/or ask questions about what they say. 

Me and two of my favorite travelers in Ecuador - my husband and my son! 

Back to School Bonus Sale: Recommendations

Use the code BTSBONUS18 and get 25% of today on anything in my Teachers Pay Teachers store ... and many other teachers too, including my favorite: CCC Spanish Store by the amazing Arianne Dowd. Everything she creates is excellent!

Here are some recommendations:

If you are looking for a way to add more to "Song of the Week," this product has FIFTEEN stories based on songs/music videos: Cuento y Canción de la Semana. These could be used at any level! For upper levels, these stories will be a fun way to start the week and review some basic vocabulary. I used thirteen of these stories in Spanish 1 last year, so they start off very basic.

These four songs would be excellent for "Song/Story of the Week" for upper levels: Cásate conmigo, Internacionales, Quisiera alejarme and Usted. Both have stories that incorporate lyrics from the songs.

A old favorite: If you are looking for a "bridge to CI" story unit for level 1, check out my Soy yo unit.

A new favorite: Álvaro tiene un problema!  My students and I (and teachers that I have presented it to) LOVE this mini unit (for level 1 or above).

This CI story unit "El Día Perfecto de Carlos Vives" has a focus on the conditional and it is jam packed with culture! Excellent for pre-AP.

La Lotería de España: Carmina y otras historias is another favorite for upper levels, and also excellent for pre-AP.

This is another excellent pre-AP unit for Novices: "Si quieres, puedes" is a song by Sebastián Yatra. The biography addresses the themes of Global Challenges and Personal and Public Identities. And the music addresses Beauty and Aesthetics.

Movies!

This immigration unit is for level 1, but could be used in any level. It includes a movie (La Misma Luna), a short film, and two songs.

I used these two movie in units in my AP class: Diamantes Negros and 3 Bellezas. Both of these movies are heavy and should definitely be previewed!

If you are looking for more movies, Arianne Dowd makes THE BEST CI movie guides! Here are just some of them: McFarland USA, También la lluvia, Coco for Novice High to Intermediate Low, Coco for Intermediates, Ferdinand, The Devil's Miner, Living on $1, La Lengua de la Mariposa, and En el tiempo de las mariposas.

New Song/Story of the Week: Ella by Álvaro Soler

I love Álvaro Soler! And so do my students! "La Cintura" was a big hit last year with all of my classes. And I think "Ella" will be a big hit too! 

But in this song, Álvaro seems a little desperate and obsessed! So, I wrote up a story called "Un hombre un poco obsesionado." You can find it on TPT here. It also includes the following activities: 

- a suggested order of activties
- a story script for the teacher to read to students
- a link to Textivate to review the story
- a link to a Quizlet Live with comprehension questions about the story
- a cloze activity with the translation of the song
- a put-in-order activity to do with the song
- a short quiz with 15 cierto/falso statements about the story

Strike a Chord Winner!

So, I have been away in beautiful Colombia for ten days, but I am finally posting the winner of the Strike a Chord raffle... Nicole Milliner! Please contact me (email: ceauthres @ gmail )for how to redeem your prize! 

If you like music, I would highly recommend this ganga: Story/Song of the week! It has fourteen stories based on songs, lots of related activities, and basic assessments.