6 Songs to Energize Your Curriculum!

Is your curriculum in need of a musical refresh? I feel it here, too.

As I’m starting at a new school this Fall, I thought it was a good time to survey some new music to throw in to the mix. As much as “Vivir mi vida” is always a hit, I do, um, grow a wee bit tired of listening to the same song 1000x. So, here are SIX songs to shake things up this coming school year– don’t skip #6!

(I should preface: some of these are newer releases… others are quite old but have not yet made my regular curricular circuit. ALSO: always check the lyrics and videos for your level of school appropriateness. Just because I post the music video here, doesn’t mean I would use it in my OWN classroom! The song, yes!)

#1 TQMQA by Eladio Carrión

A Kansas City-Puerto Rican, Eladio Carrión is most famous for songs that could never enter a classroom… but thankfully (as a fan), I’ve found two gems that I can share with students. Enter stage left, TQMQA.

When I’ll use it: Somewhere in SOMOS 12, from the Comprehensible Classroom. I like the reps with Te Quiero, plus by this point in my level 2 class, students will have a LOT of exposure to mañana and ayer via our daily Calendar Talks, so I feel like it fits well here!

Target Structures:

te quiero más
te quiero ver
mañana
ayer
más/menos

#2 Hola como vas by Eladio Carrión *free resource below*

Before you judge (not saying you really would), but I did not miss accents there. I mean, I know I did, but this is the way the song is titled, so I’m sticking with what Eladio wanted. *Now, I typed this out and looked and the Youtube video has it with an accent. No sé pues.

I said two gems from Eladio, so here’s the second one. Hola como vas is a highly comprehensible song with a infectious riff that students will want to listen to over and over. I decided to make a lyric map to have it ready for the school year. You can grab it free here.

When I’ll use it: SOMOS 2, Unit 6 by the Comprehensible Classroom introduces supo, so I’ll pair this song with this a unit as a way to get more 1st person reps of supe and quise in there. Plus, I’ll preface the unit with a MapTalk on Puerto Rico.

Target structures:

irregular preterit: supe, hice, quise
gerunds: levantandome, soñandote
imperfect: decías, sentías, mirabas

#3 Yo No Sé Mañana by Enrique Luis

An oldie now, but goodie. This song carries a lot of nostaglia for me and it’s quite catchy. In the classroom, the reps on yo no sé can’t be beat! I’ve technically used this once or twice before, but I want to make it a regular.

When I’ll use it: After working through the Comprehensible Classroom’s Saber vs Conocer mini unit, in my level 2 class. However, if I was teaching Spanish 1, I would probably do this song in the first semester so they’d get exposure to sé/no sé. Speaking of Saber vs. Conocer, check out an AI addition on this post.

Target structures:

no sé
future: estaremos/serás
se acaba

#4 Me lo merezco by Elena Rose

I’ve been a fan of Elena Rose for a while now and I love this simple, positive song. It would be perfect in a stand alone SEL mini unit or lesson.

I technically taught this one last year as well–when I was in a different school situation and I needed to find a way to get “merecer” in there… Elena Rose to the rescue. I used this in a Spanish 3 class in early September thinking it would be pretty comprehensible to them, with some obvious supports. I had never had this group before and learned the hard way: they really had no idea what was going on, even with a lot of support. Oops. Live and learn. I still stand by this song being a great addition for upper levels, give it a listen!

When I’ll use it: I know it will make its way into my level 4 class, probably paired somewhere with a Huellas unit (curriculum authored by Carrie Toth) that seems to work. TBD, but I know I’ll get in there.

Target Structures:

me lo merezco
body parts are repeated: mano, brazo, ojos

#5 Sígueme by Xiuhtezcatl y Renata Flores

This is probably the song that I am most excited to teach this year. It’s perfect for an upper level or AP course (which I am teaching for the first time this year, eek). The video is visually stunning and the lyrics are thought-provoking and powerful. Additionally, if this is the first time you are hearing the names Xiuhtezcatl y Renata Flores (two individual artists), they are deserving of a google search to learn more about them. Xiuhtezcatl just had an album drop today.

When I’ll use it: I’ll opt this year to use this in AP (products, practices, perspectives anyone?!), probably paired with a showing of the film También la Lluvia for Global Challenges with some identity subtheme mixed in there. This also would be a great addition to Huellas 2.13 La música originaria. All this being said, I think this could be pretty made comprehensible to lower levels if the chorus was the focus!

Target Structures:

sígueme
trae, traemos

#6 Pienso by Simon Grossmann *free resource below*

There’s a story here, but first, this song is pretty comprehensible to level 2 students and it’s got a good chorus. I had heard of Simon Grossmann before, but I wasn’t a regular listener… today, I came across Pienso on Spotify and realized it’d be a perfect fit for my classroom. So, I created a word cloud to do Word Cloud Races with the first listen to the song (I cannot find who I learned about word cloud races from… I thought it was Martina Bex, but her instructions explain a different activity altogether! Hrm). Find it the word cloud and some basic instructions here.

Then, (here’s the story), I pulled up the video on Youtube to embed it in the post…and watched this incredibly surprising video. What in-the-wide-world is this? I think my students will love this… or maybe hate it? I don’t know. But I’m already trying to think of whether we can do a group project where students can create their own Simon Grossmann style music video? I mean I want them to want to do that, is that enough? Probably not. HA.

I was originally worried about the long intro (lyrics start at 1:00), but I feel the students will have plenty to work out visually during that first minute… So, hopefully at this point in the year, we’ll need some comic relief!

When I’ll use it: somewhere in SOMOS 1, Unit 13. I know there is another song in the curriculum, but I tend not to use all of the materials and like to sub in different stuff. So this year, I’ll put in this one!

Target Structures: