If you took a vacation under a rock then maybe you have not heard of Bomba Estéreo’s AWESOME song “SOY YO”

In fact, I know I am late to the game creating plans for this song

Sometimes I start the year with the same lesson plans for 6th-8th grade with little modifications between classes. It is unifying for them across classes and makes an easier beginning of the year for me. This year I choose to start the year with the song “SOY YO.”

So what did I do?

First few days:

I projected Niki Tottingham story of the music video. 

• I went through each slide. If I had a new student with NO SPANISH experience then at the end of each slide we translated the whole slide into English. Otherwise, I would spot check a few words here and there. I focused on the phrases:
  • soy yo
  • no se preocupa

I didn’t get through the whole story in one lesson because I had administrative beginning of the year stuff to do with them. Also, I didn’t want to rush it. They started to lose interest after 5 slides so I would stop and move to something else.

• At the end of each story reading session, I would show the video (and to avoid mutiny.)
• When I finished the whole story we watched the video again.
• I passed out the lyrics to the chorus. One side had the lyrics in Spanish and the other side was blank. As a class, we translated the chorus into ENGLISH and wrote it in the blank box. I started translating with what they knew. Then I translated the rest for them.
• We listened to the video again. Students had to sing along during the chorus OR follow along with their finger on their sheet as they listened. (I sang…loudly…with dance moves)

PDF version of the image above HERE

• Lastly, I had students discuss in groups how they would translate the phrase “SOY YO” into English not literally but in the message, the artists wanted to communicate. We discussed these translations and wrote them on cards for my bulletin board later.

 

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NEXT…

• I had students draw their name on a half sheet of cardstock. They had to incorporate 2-3 things that described them. It could be a hobby, interest, or a favorite food/book/movie. It could be ANYTHING they wanted their classmates and me to know about them. (Learned this from Ben Slavic And Tina Hargaden- CARD TALKS)
• I showed them my example first. (I quickly explained what I choose to incorporate but I didn’t do a long presentation in Spanish. That is for later.)

• Then the class got to work on their own drawings while we listened to music. I walked around asking questions and commenting on their work. Students could use technology to look up how to draw different things if they wanted.
• ON THE BACK- they had to translate (using an online dictionary- after a quick lesson of how to use a dictionary for good and not evil) their 2-3 things. They could write it in complete sentences -I like sushi.- OR just the important part –videojuegos = video games- (This made my job easier when we discussed the cards later.)

 

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What now?

• Then we discussed the cards one by one. (I started with my own to give them an example.) I chose one student at a time and asked them questions about what they drew. I had 2 student jobs during these interviews
  • Summarizer- This student wrote down the information that we discussed in class in English, Spanish OR a mix of the two.
  • Quiz Maker- I had a student write True/False statements with the answer at the end of the statement. I had the student write 10-12 person knowing I wouldn’t use all the statements.
• The day after we finished an interview I either…
  • had the students read independently or in partners, the information typed up in Spanish by me beforehand.
  • OR I had groups write in English or Spanish what they remembered about that person’s interview then I wrote/typed up the information in Spanish to then give them to put in their folder.
• I am trying something new this year. Not sure yet if I will like it. I have groups pick 3-5 vocabulary words/phrases from the information to add to their dictionary in their folder. It has to be IMPORTANT words/phrases to the student interview reading AND words/phrases that we don’t know well or are brand new. I use Martina Bex’s dictionary page on TPT HOWEVER I use it differently than her plans.
  • The students write the word/phrase in SPANISH and ENGLISH
  • In the first box, they write a sentence from the student reading that uses the word/phrase.
  • The second box is an illustration of that sentence.

** See Martina’s blog post with FAQs for more information on her approach)

• I gave them a TRUE/FALSE quiz after every 2-3 student interviews.

Finally – OPTIONAL Bulletin BOARD

• I make color copies of the students’ name drawings and staple to the bulletin board along with the cards the students used to describe their group’s translation of the phrase “SOY YO.”
• Here are the large SOY YO letters from my bulletin board which I printed on card stock, cut out and laminated.

** These interviews were inspired by Bryce Hedstrom’s “La Persona Especial”