Music in Spanish Class

With the wide variety of tools and discussion about implementing CI/TPRS in the world language classroom, I decided I will focus on various aspects of my classroom and how it works for me.

Music

Music is a go-to tool in my classroom. Most of the music in my class is streamed on YouTube. Music provides my students with: cultural points, different sounds of various Spanish accents, authentic vocabulary and grammar, and the ability to understand what power music truly holds.

I use music as guided listening activities, background noise during projects, rhythms in dancing brain-breaks, and as a formative assessment.

Listening Activities

Cloze listening is a "fill in the blank" format for students to follow along. The lyrics are printed out and you can strategically blank out some of the words. It is helpful to pick out words of a certain verb tense, vocabulary grouping, or words of cultural significance. I try to find at least one song every two weeks that applies to what we are studying. Always study the words in advance or make sure student are familiar with the topic. *Side note: remember that lyrics repeat and if you don't want students to "cheat", make sure you blank out all of the same words in both choruses.

Background Noise

During creative work time I play a current play list from YouTube. I keep the volume low. If students want to hear it, they have to stay quiet. This is providing them with valuable listening... for their mouth. Hearing sounds and the way words are pronounced has really helped my students acquire the "Spanish sound". I contend less and less with que pronounce "K-uE".

Brain-Breaks

I teach classes in 83 minute blocks, every other day. I can't focus that long, how can I expect my students to... after lunch... in a chilly room? I make them move. I have salsa dance lessons (basics) that we work on in class at the beginning of the year and they dance during breaks to whichever song I play.

Oral Assessment

You read correctly. Oral assessment. For out of class work (the only "homework" I give), they can choose a song and listen to it and try to identify lyrics (or just words). Without asking, students will start singing during the creative work time music, or even in the halls. I use the cloze listening time to watch which kids are "lip reading" or trying to shout out the words they do know.

Last year, Bailando was the song for my Spanish 2 kids. I had it playing when they walked in, played it as they walked out, kids were making up "chair dances" they could do in their seats whenever it came on. If I wanted their attention (a group of 27 very rowdy, strong-willed high schoolers), I played the song. Every single student sang along. Every single student sang along. Even the quiet ones. I could hear how they were working the works, where they stumbled, and how it increased their aural reading abilities and confidence.

I would give them one point for participation in the song if everyone truly sang. I would make a dot in my book for any student I needed to work with a little more on whatever sound I was listening for. I would hang around their group work a little longer and give that group more input. Doing this, I could see who consistently struggled and who was "always" okay.