In 2011 I blogged about what a boring teacher I really am and how I was inspired by some conference workshops to make things more fun in the classroom.
This is the eighth post on the activities that came out of those experiences: “let’s sing.”
My lyrics file is currently over 230 pages long. Usually, when we do a song in class, I have a particular reason – we’re working with the verbs, or the vocabulary, or the theme, or even just to decide whom we’ll vote for in Premios lo Nuestro. But not for the fun activity.
I ask a random student to choose a number between 1 and 230. They pick a number, and we go to that page. Now, some of my classes just flat don’t like some of the songs. So, in the spirit of the “fun” activity, if we land on one of those, we pick a different number, until we have one that the majority of students want to do.
My normal song mantra is “You can watch and listen, or you can watch and sing, but you can’t not watch [the lyrics].” But not here. Here, they have to sing. Even if they’re just whispering and mouthing the words, everyone’s mouth has to be moving. Even better if you have a dancer in the room. Have a sing-off, or a sing-and-dance-off.
Music has reached students in whom I thought I’d never find intrinsic motivation. Next time you have a lull halfway through class, and students seem bored and inattentive, pull up a lyrics file (ask me for mine!), pick a number, and sing away.
Foto credit: JosEnrique
How fun! I’ve been doing songs almost every day this year, a new one every 2 weeks or so, and have heard overwhelmingly that it’s their favorite part of class. I aspire to 230 in my file someday!
You continue to amaze me every single time you make a post. I look forward to reading them, and emulating you. I would love to have your lyric file.
And just so you know, I will be using “No me doy por vencido” song in the class this week as my students have just learned about the past participle and this song happens to have 5 of them!
Gracias Sara-Elizabeth, ¡un millón de gracias!
Con mucho gusto 🙂
My students LOVE ‘No me doy por vencido’! Incidentally another couple of songs with past participles are Quinta Estación’s Sueños Rotos and Gianluca Grignani’s Mi historia entre tus dedos – both considerably less positive than the Fonsi song, however. “Todos mis problemas se llaman tú,” got to be one of the worst lines in song history, right? 😉
¡Muchísimas gracias! I’ll have to look up those canciones. Me da pena admitir que nunca las he oído, and you think you’re a boring teacher, pienso que te llevo por mucho. Espero que esto cambie.
I’m a first-year teacher and would love to see your lyrics file!
We have Música Miércoles every week and start out the class with a new song. I would LOVE to se your lyrics file!
Es mi segundo año de enseñar español y me ayudaría mucho si tuviera la lista de canciónes. Gracias por todo lo que usted hace! 🙂
I am also a first-year teacher with much to gain and learn; I feel so fortunate that I stumbled upon this website. I am currently teaching high school Language Arts and Humanities in Spanish to native speakers/bilingual students. No textbooks. Challenge of my life. However, I also recently started teaching an evening scholars class – 2nd year high school Spanish as a foreign language. It is a fun change of pace, but I want to make sure that I actually keep it fun and meaningful/effective for the students. I would be so grateful to get my hands on your lyrics file; music had a HUGE impact on my Spanish language learning (when one song in one college class led me to fall in love with hundreds more). If you are indeed sharing that, thank you. I also look so forward to staying updated on your posts…tangible, current, and stimulating suggestions and queries…Wow, thank you!
You’re welcome and I hope you continue to find tidbits that help you along your journey!
Hi,
Im a first year teacher I came across your page today , and I found it fascinating. I would love to see your music files . Thank you!!
I wont miss your posts . Super Helpful!