La Curandera & El Niágara en bicicleta

La Curandera por Carmen Lomas Garza

La Curandera por Elastic Bond

I recently came across the song "La curandera" by Elastic Bond (link Zambombazo wksht and other resourcest) while listening to Betsy and Zachary Jones' LAMC 2013 Artists' Choice Podcast (29:38). It is an excellent song that expresses some great cultural practices and perspectives related to health, so I decided to use it in a unit called Perspectivas de la salud (website with authentic resources linked at bottom and UbD outline with assessment descriptions). 

The essential questions for the unit are the following:

• ¿Cómo es el sistema de salud en la República Dominicana y en otros países lationamericanos?
• ¿Cuáles son algunas prácticas medicinales alternativas y cuáles son las raíces de estas tradiciones?
• ¿Cuáles son las persectivas culturales sobre los sistemas y las prácticas de la salud en estas tres canciones: El Niágara en bicicleta, Yerbatero and La curandera?
• ¿Cómo comparan y contrastan las prácticas y perspectivas expresadas en las canciones con las tuyas?

I created a short worksheet with questions about "La Curandera" and hope to create a cloze worksheet once I find the lyrics (or the time to transcribe them). La curandera has a lot in common with Yerbatero by Juanes. And both will contrast very well with El Niágara en bicicleta, which led me to the next update to the unit. El Niágara en bicicleta is the first song that I use in the unit. It illustrates the deficiencies of the health care system in the Dominican Republic (with some obvious exaggerations). It also leads students to understand why alternative medicine might be a reasonable solution for many people who live in a place where the health care system is not very good and/or available to all.

The song has always been difficult for students to interpret and understand. So when I read a post called "Authentic Resources + Embedded Reading" on  Crystal Barragán's (@srtabarragan) excellent blog, I decided that creating an embedded reading for this song would be the perfect way to get students to understand the song. Crystal also shares a variety of activities that can be done with each version. This is my first attempt at creating an embedded reading, but I think it will make the interpretation of the song much easier for my students.

I have never used embedded readings before, but I am excited about this idea because I think my students will be able to understand and interpret songs in a much better way and with much more confidence! I look forward to creating more embedded readings for other songs this year.

How about you? Have you used embedded readings? Any suggestions?

**Also, if you use the song Azul by Natalia Lafourcade, she talks about the song starting at 9:38 on the LAMC 2013 Artists' Choice Podcast. I use that song in the first unit my Cultura y Civilización class. The unit is called "Los miedos" and it is the perfect way to start the class.**

Unidad Didáctica: Perspectivas de la Inmigración

Upadte 10/15/17: I am sharing part of my unit packet for the latest version of this unit, which does not include "Bandera" or "Pa'l norte." It does include two songs: "Un besito más" and "ICE El Hielo" and the movie "Ladrón que roba a ladrón," with resources from Arianne Dowd.

Update (7/22/17): The song "Un besito más" by Jesse y Joy is a definite addition to this unit! Click here to see free resources.


Update (10/4/15): I created this slideshow to start the unit (it is actually part of a Spanish 1 unit). Some of the language is a bit strange, or forced, because I made it comprehensible for my level 1 students. I will probably adapt it when I use for my Cultura y Civilización class. Here is the slideshow with some of the slides:

We just finished the unit called "Perspectivas de la Inmigración" (UbD curriculm document and unit packet) in my Cultura y Civilización unit. This is the fourth time I have done this unit and it has been a little different each time, but the one thing that has stayed the same is the engagement in this unit. Most students have an opinion about immigration and undocumented immigrants in the United States, so they are interested in this unit.

By the end of the unit (hopefully), they understand how complicated immigration laws and reform really are. They will also understand a little more about the undocumented immigrant experience in the United States and (hopefully) develop some empathy for undocumented immigrants.

These are the Essential Questions for the unit:

1. ¿Por qué emigran ilegalmente muchas personas a los Estados Unidos? ¿De dónde es la mayoría de los inmigrantes indocumentados? ¿Cómo llegan algunos? ¿Por qué vienen ilegalmente y no legalmente? ¿Cuál es el proceso de entrar legalmente en los EEUU?
2. ¿Qué pasa ahora con la reforma migratoria en los EEUU? ¿Qué es el DREAM Act?
3. ¿Quiénes son algunos cantantes que cantan sobre la inmigración? ¿Cuáles son sus perspectivas? ¿Cómo son diferentes y/o similares las canciones y los videos? ¿Qué opinas tú de las canciones?
4. En tu opinión, ¿hay una solución al problema? ¿En qué consiste?

The first Essential Question was the speaking assessment (done about halfway through the unit). In order for them to answer those questions, they had to investigate a bit. Below are some of the links they used to gather information before discussing in class and taking the "speaking test". We did not use all of them, but did use the bolded ones. Some are authentic resources and some are in English. I really liked the infografías because they are excellent differentiated readings.

1. Univisión Noticias: Inmigración
1. Infografía y Artículo: Historia de la población hispana en los Estados Unidos
2. Infografía y Artículo: Ciudadanía vs. Sin Ciudadanía
3. Encuesta: ¿Cuánto sabe de la tarjeta verde?
4. El perfil de un soñador. ¿De dónde son y adónde van?
5. Artículo: Se acaba el plazo para la lotería de visas
6. Artículo: ¿Cuál es el panorama de la inmigración en los EEUU?
2. Podcast: PRI The World: What does getting in line really mean?
3. Visitor Visas: Business and Pleasure
4. More Visas: Temporary Workers
5. Las reglas de visas de los Estados Unidos (en inglés)

Another thing we did at the beginning of the unit was watch an episode of the "reality show" 30 Days. It is English, but students answered questions (see unit packet)  about it in Spanish and we discussed the different (at times extreme) perspectives of immigration in the show. Although it is a "reality show" and a little much at times, I continue to show it to students because I think they enjoy it and learn a lot from it.

30 Days: Immigration from MacQuarrie-Byrne Films on Vimeo.

After having focused on the first Essential Question, the next part of the unit was to see three different perspectives of immigration in three different songs:

Perspectiva #1 - Bandera by Aterciopelados - This song questions the idea of having borders and the immigration laws of some countries, obviously the United States being one of them. The lyrics are simple and easy to understand and the music video is excellent for discussion!

*Note*: Some students did not like this video because they felt like it was anti-American (and it might be), but I explained that this is a perspective of some people. A good question to ask then is, why do they have that perspective?

Perspectiva #2 - Pa'l Norte by Calle 13 - This song is about the journey of an undocumented immigrant as he travels North. The journey is described as being very difficult and the undocumented immigrant is glorified for his grit and persistence. The song also has some excellent cultural references and the vocabulary in this poem/song is rich. This video is also excellent for discussion.

*Note*: This song contains some language and phrases that some might not want to use. I skip some parts of the song and focus on the important parts. Also, René might be drunk in the video, I  ignore that part.

Perspectiva #3 - ICE El Hielo by La Santa Cecilia - This song shows the experience of undocumented immigrants in the United States. It is a beautiful song and easy for students to understand. The video is also powerful.

This perspective is particularly important because it is one sung by a band from the United States. It was also interesting for students to hear one of the band members speak here (starting at 10:55) about being an undocumented immigrant.

As with all the units, we sang all of theses songs a lot and students became very familiar with the videos as well. We also illustrated Pa'l Norte as a class and students illustrated ICE El Hielo in groups of 2-3. (I need to get some pictures of those on here!). All of the discussion questions about the songs and the videos are in the unit packet.

This is the  unit test. Students did an excellent job on this assessment. I love correcting them because for many of the questions, there is not one right answer. The questions are so open that students can take many paths to answer them.

There are so many excellent authentic resources for to teach a unit about immigration! Check out Zambombazo's resources here. La Misma Luna is also an excellent movie to show students.

What are some of your favorite resources to teach about immigration? Please share!

Unidad Didáctica: Desafíos Medioambientales

Image Source

Image Source

**UPDATE 2/1/15** I have added the TPRS book Noche de Oro to this unit. I highly recommend it and the Teacher's Guide.

In my Cultura y Civilización class, we just finished a unit called Desafíos Medoambientales. I was very pleased with this new unit and with how well my students did with all of the authentic resources. They have come a long way since the beginning of this course and I am very proud of them! They delved in to some real life issues, thought about opposing forces, and possible solutions to some of environmental problems... in Spanish!

These were the essential questions for the unit:

1. ¿Quiénes son algunos cantantes que cantan del medio ambiente? ¿De qué se tratan sus canciones? ¿Cómo son diferentes y/o simliares? ¿Cómo reflejan la realidad? ¿Por qué son importantes estas canciones?
2. ¿Cuáles son algunos problemas del medio ambiente que existen en Latnoamérica? ¿Cuáles son las consecuencias de estos problemas? ¿Por qué existen estos problemas? ¿Cuáles son algunas soluciones para los problemas?

As with all the units in this course, music and music videos were a focus of the "puntos de partida" from which we explore a theme. Before delving in to the songs, students did the following:

• Reviewed previously learned vocabulary with this Google Presentation.
• Watched a PSA from the Spanish government about desarrollo sostenible (see page 2 here for short wksht with cloze activity and questions).
• Explored some posters and images on Tumblr (hanks to Zachary Jones' Trocitos Gráficos) about the following:
• el medio ambiente
• la hora del planeta
• la megaminería

After doing those activities and discussing what students read, heard and saw, we delved in to the song Río by Aterciopelados (wksht here). Students learned about Aterciopelados and the Río Bogotá. The video for Río is a little strange, but very engaging. The lyrics of the song are also pretty comprehensible for these students. The song emphasizes the importance of water in general with a specific call to save the Río Bogotá. 

Río by Aterciopelados

Next, we viewed this PSA about megaminería in Argentina:

Students did this worksheet to go along with that PSA. They learned a lot from this PSA and were able to interpret it fairly well. The images and the activities they did before helped them to understand better.

After having a bit of knowledge about megaminería in Argentina, students were able to understand this song:

!Basta Ya! by a collective of artists and produced by Conciencia Solidaria

Although a bit cursi (and with some interesting singing voices), the song is informative, catchy and engaging. Students may not have liked the song, but they learned from it! (wksht here).

We also did some of the activities on this wksht (from Zambombazo). related to the song Agua by Vuelo Adentro. This song is good because it has a good message of hope and change. I particularly like this line, "Veo una luz que se enciende en los niños de hoy" 

I would have liked to have spent some more time on this song and some of the others on the class website, but we only had so much time and I did not want to rush through the unit. 

At the end of the unit, students (individually or with a partner) explored an environmental program and created a presentation to share with the class (see below for detailed description). The projects were good and most were presented to the entire class. The interpersonal assessment had to be about one of the environmental problems that they learned about from someone else's presentation.

These are the assessments for the unit:

 EXAMEN - (INTERPRETIVE) (click here for more details) (writing) OR  Make a video for ¿Qué beberé? or Agua.

PROYECTO - (PRESENTATIONAL) (Click here for details) (speaking) - Make a presentation describing an environmental problem in Latin America. Describe the opposing forces in relation to the problem. Describe the benefits and consequences of the situation. Describe some (2-3) possible solutions and choose one that seems fair and reasonable.

INTERPERSONAL Writing (click here for details)(writing) - Write a short letter (8-10 sentences) to one of parties involved in the environmental problem, and do one of the following: express sympathy, offer a solution, express opinion, ask questions, offer help. 

Unidad Didáctica: El Movimiento Estuidantil en Chile

**Update 2/7/15** I have changed this unit a bit to include the movie Machuca and the song "Somos Sur" by Ana Tijoux. 

At my school for re-certification, we have to do an Action Research Project during a three year period, mine is the development and improvement of a course that I created called Cultura y Civilización. Technically it is a Spanish 4 class, but it is open to anyone after level 3. It was developed to encourage our non-AP students to continue their study of Spanish, but in a more engaging, more communicative, more interdisciplinary, non-grammar way. 

As my three year cycle ends this year, I am going to be posting a summary and reflection of each unit that I teach. I will also be sharing this with my administrators and department head. So, these posts will be lengthy and detailed. This is my first detailed post about a unit. (Here is the first "starter" unit that I blogged about)

We just finished a unit called "El Movimiento Estudiantil en Chile". I thought maybe the unit might be a little outdated, but the essential questions are still poignant, the song is still very engaging to students, and the authentic resources are rich and varied. 

These are the Essential Questions for the unit:

1. ¿Qué está en el otoño de 2011 en Chile? ¿Por qué están protestando los estudiantes?
2. ¿El gobierno debe tener la responsibilidad de proveer educación gratis para todos los estudiantes en todos los niveles de educación?
3. ¿Quién es Ana Tijoux? ¿Cómo refleja la realidad su canción "Shock"? ¿Es la música una buena manera de protestar? ¿Por qué?
4. ¿Con cuáles otras protestas se puede comparar esta protesta en Chile?

The focus of the unit is the song Shock by Ana Tijoux. We sang this song and saw the video everyday during this unit. The daily homework was also singing the song and watching the video. This song is the hook to engage the students.

The first day of the unit was actually a "Blizzard Bag" day, so students did these activities the first day. They watched this video for an older song called "Me gustan los estudiantes" by Mercedes Sosa (written by Chilean Violeta Parra). The images in the video are from the 2011-2012 student protests in Chile. We did not spend a lot of time with this song, but there was a option to compare and contrast the two songs on the written assessment at the end of the unit.

From there, students learned about Ana Tijoux using these authentic resources:

• Wikipedia article
• Article about how Ana Tijoux was inspired to write Shock because of the student movement in Chile
• These three interviews. In the first one, she is speaking English, but it is great to show students that you don't have to speak a second language perfectly and you can still get a message across!

Some of the things they learned (and were able to talk about) from there are the following:

• how to say 1977 (using that is song is the fastest, most enjoyable way to teach students how to say numbers over a thousand, particularly useful when talking about history!)
• that there was a dictator named Pinochet in Chile
• that people, including Ana Tijoux's parents, went in to exile because of Pinochet
• Ana Tijoux is a really cool, very political, strong female, pregnant rapper ;)

Part of the speaking assessment was to talk about all that they learned about Ana Tijoux. Within this class there is a very wide range of abilities, probably ranging from novice-mid (students who took Spanish 3 CTP) up to intermediate-mid (students who took Spanish 4 Honors). The speaking part involves very basic questions: ¿De dónde es? ¿Cómo es? ¿Qué es algo interesante de la cantante? among other questions. 

Next, students translated the song. This song is very challenging to translate! It is like translating a poem with many analogies and references to politics and history.  Many might not agree with doing translations, but it does fit under the Comparisons strand:

• Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language studied and their own
• Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures studied and their own.

After students translated the song, I explained (in extremely basic terms) what the Shock Doctrine is. I am fortunate to have a husband who is an Economics teacher and he explained it to me!

From there students investigated what the Movimiento Estudiantil en Chile was all about. They learned about why students were protesting, what their demands were, and how they protested... and they were able to talk about all of those things. These are the authentic resources they used to find this information:

• Wikipedia article
• The video for Shock has lots of information about how students protested, including: la toma de varias escuelas, protestas masivas, and una huelga de hambre
• These videos also showed different ways that students protested:

1800 horas - Estudiantes corriendo La Moneda

En protesta, estudiantes bailan Thriller de Michael Jackson

Cientos de estudiantes chilenos particpan en beso masivo

There is so much to talk about with these videos. (*Note: we briefly watched the last one and read the headline) In the first video, it actually sounds like an American student doing the interview. In the second video, the newscaster is talking very fast, but we viewed it a few times and some students were able to pick out words. Even if students cannot understand what is being said, that is ok, as long they can talk about what they see. The second part of the speaking assessment was to answer questions about the student movement in Chile and about how they protested.

From there, we did this worksheet from the amazing Zachary Jones: Mensajes sociales en los grafitis de Shock. I love this activity and how it teaches Media Literacy. The language in the graffiti is rich and varied, and students of all proficiency levels can do this activity. Analyzing graffiti is not something students do in class everyday and it is an engaging way to get to students to read, think, and analyze. 

Students did a variety of speaking and short writing assignments during the unit. Here is the unit packet. We even compared these protests to protests in the United States. There was a lot of class discussion and then breaking off in to pairs to repeat the same conversations... repetitive, yes, but students were speaking and able to talk about real things.

Overall this unit was excellent for these basic reasons:

• It was engaging to students! This is one of the most important points for me in this course. I developed this course with one of the main goals being getting students engaged and excited about learning Spanish. I decided that using songs and music videos to do that was the best way... and it seems to be working.
• Students learned about something relevant to their lives. They are juniors and seniors and will be paying a lot of money very soon for education.
• Students were exposed to a wide variety of authentic resources. Some might have understood very little, some might have understood parts, and some may have understood a lot... but whatever they were able to understand, they were able to to talk about what they saw.
• Students learned about economics (a little), history, and government.
• At the end of the unit, students spoke and wrote about facts and their opinions related to the facts with much greater fluency.

I love correcting the "tests" at the end of the unit. Students have the link to the test during the entire unit, so it is not a surprise when they get it. They know the learning goals and know what I want them to know and be able to write about at the end of the unit. I also feel that the speaking part for this unit is excellent. These students are of a very wide variety of abilities, but all of them showed growth and were able to explain things in Spanish. They used the present, preterite and imperfect tenses, but didn't even realize it. This course is so refreshing to teach and truly interdisciplinary. I love teaching it!

This unit is for a non-AP Spanish 4 class, but this would be a perfect unit for AP Spanish. There would have to be some more readings added, but the essential questions, the base of the unit and the authentic resources could all be used. These are some of AP themes and recommended contexts that this unit touches upon:

Theme: Global Challenges / Los desafíos mundiales

Recommended Contexts:

• Economic Issues / Los temas económicos
• Social Conscience / La conciencia social

Theme: Contemporary Life / La vida contemporánea

Recommended Contexts:

• Education and Careers / La educación y las carreras profesionales
• Social Customs and Values / Las tradiciones y los valores sociales

Theme: Personal and Public Identities / Las identidades personales 

y públicas

Recommended Contexts:

• National and Ethnic Identities / La identidad nacional y la 
• identidad étnica
• Personal Beliefs / Las creencias personales

Theme: Families and Communities / Las familias y las comunidades

Recommended Contexts:

• Customs and Values / Las tradiciones y los valores
• Education Communities / Las comunidades educativas

Theme: Beauty and Aesthetics / La belleza y la estética

Recommended Contexts:

• Defining Creativity / Definiciones de la creatividad
• Language and Literature / El lenguaje y la literatura
• Visual and Performing Arts / Las artes visuales y escénicas

Also, if you are interested in seeing more related authentic resources, go to Zambombazo ---> panorama temático ----> and ctrl + f "reformas educativas"

Any suggestions or comments? Please share your thoughts and/or additional resources.