Use “Latinoamérica” by Calle 13 in your next lesson!

by Megan Smith | Feb 17, 2012 | Listening, Music, Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssxM5sJAB1c&feature=related

This is one of the latest songs from the Puerto Rican group “Calle 13.” It won 2011 Song of the Year at the Latin Grammys and includes vocalists from Peru, Colombia, and Brazil. This is a beautiful video for students to see real people and real life across Latin America. The song is a tribute to Latinos and exudes pride and love for the hardworking people and their countries. It touches on some social and political issues but shows the viewer… our lives aren’t perfect, but this is who we are and you can’t buy all that we have. It starts in a radio station in Cuzco, Pero and the radio introduces the group in Quechua.
This video is just too good to not show in class! Here’s a few idea on what students could do in the language to challenge their Spanish skills while soaking up the culture.
1.) Write down the words they recognize.
2.) Describe the people they see.
3.) Describe what the chorus is about.
4.) Describe the houses/nature.
5.) Make lists of the weather mentioned.
6.) Write a verse about their own country and what is beautiful to them that cannot be bought.

Have you seen this video? How else could it be used in class to build students language skills?