Vaina loca: Some surprises and imperfect subjunctive!

Have you seen Ozuna and Manuel Turizo's video for Vaina loca yet? 

It has a few surprises in it and the song is really catchy! 

I wrote up a story for upper levels that focuses on the structure quería que + imperfect subjunctive. 

You can see it in the slideshow below or click here to make a copy for yourself.  And here is a cloze activity for the song, along with the translation of it.

One reason I like this video is that it has a gay couple in it. Almost all of the relationships that students see in my class, and probably school, (in books, movies, music videos, etc.) are hetero relationships. I often think about gay students (out or not) and how that must feel to almost never see any gay relationships represented in school, so this is one example of how to show that in class. 

Intermediate Perú unit... with a Carlos Vives hook!

I love Carlos Vives! He has a new video out and it is a promotional video for tourism in Perú. I love the song and the video! So, I wrote up a story (more of a video description) about the video and highlighted some of the cultural aspects of it. You can see it below (or click here to make a copy for yourself!)

Then, I went down a rabbit hole of related resources (including three articles, videos, tourism websites, a Chifa Express commercial, and a menu)  and created an entire unit for Intermediates. You can find the unit packet here (for free). If you find this (or anything else that you have found here) consider supporting my work on Patreon or consider having me for a workshop.

Here are some of the cultural products, people, and/or places in this unit:

• Historical and contemporary figures: José de San Martín, Atuahualpa, and Natalia Málaga
• Comida: La Comida Chifa, Lomo saltado, Pachamanca, cebiche, causa, café del Perú, Superfoods Perú, Frutas, Súper granos
• Monuments and places in Lima, Perú:  la playa de Miraflores, MALI, el Parque de las Aguas, el faro de Miraflores, el malecón de Miraflores, Astrid y Gastón, Huaca Huallamarca

If you would like a past tense version, click here and make a copy.

And, of course, Arianne Dowd, is also helping me out with this one! She has created a reading about Atahualpa (including a glyph!) and an AP-style simulated conversation between Carlos Vives and his wife.

You can see the Essential Questions, "I can" statements, and Evaluaciones in the unit packet here (for free). This unit is best for Intermediates with lots of AP preparation-type tasks and focus on authentic resources.

Also, if you just want the story and the song lyrics, click here and make a copy. 

And here is the YouTube playlist for the unit:

Vídeo: Gastón Acurio: conoce al ícono de la cocina peruana 
en un dibujo de 1 minuto

Cuento/Canción de la semana: Bajo el mismo sol

This song is three years old, but I am brining it back to my Spanish 2 students. They loved
"Ella" by Álvaro Soler and the story, "Un hombre un poco obsesionado", that went along with it, so I figured another song by him will be a hit as well.

We have been doing not only song of the week, but story of the week, so I wrote up a story to go along with El mismo sol. I also created a list of the vocabulario importante (and on Quizlet too) and a link to review the story on Textivate.

If you are interested in trying out story/song of the week, here is what I suggest -----> story script, vocabulario importante, cloze activity, and song translation can be found here:

• Day 1 - Play a quick game of Quizlet Live to introduce some of the vocabulario importante. Do a listen and draw activity and then watch the video.
• Day 2 - Do the cloze activity with the song. Go over the translation of the song. Review the story with student drawings. Start the Textivate sequence (could be homework).
• Day 3 - Try to sing the song. Continue the Textivate sequence (could be homework).
• Day 4 - Try to sing the song. Continue and finish the Textivate sequence (could be homework).
• Day 5 - Try to sing the song. Do a cierto/falso quiz about the story.

OR if you want to do extend the song for more than a week (these would take 5-15 minutes of each class):

• Day 1 - Play a quick game of Quizlet Live to introduce some of the vocabulario importante. Do a listen and draw activity and then watch the video.
• Day 2 - Do the cloze activity with the song. Go over the translation of the song. Review the story with student drawings. 
• Day 3 - Try to sing the song. With partners or as a class, read the story together and translate it. Start the Textivate sequence (could be homework). 
• Day 4 - Try to sing the song. Play the marker game with the cierto/falso statements (below). Continue the Textivate sequence (could be homework).
• Day 5 - Sing the song. Play around the world with song lyrics or sentences from the story (say a Spanish chunk and students have to translate) Continue and finish the Textivate sequence (could be homework).
• Day 6 - Sing the song. Play Quizlet Live with the sentences. 
• Day 7 - Sing the song. Divide students into groups of 2-4. Give them sentences from the story. They need to act out the sentence(s) and take a "Freeze Frame" picture. Have students send all pictures to you.
• Day 8 - Sing the song. Use the pictures from the previous day to retell the story.
• Day 9 - Sing the song. Share favorite lines of the song. Play this Kahoot Jumble.
• Day 10 - Sing the song. Do a cierto/falso quiz (see two options below) about the story.

I am looking forward to presenting about story/song of the week this fall at TCI Maine, MaFLA, and NHAWLT!

And if you found this (or anything else that I have shared here) helpful and/or useful, consider supporting my work on Patreon.