Shakira's Octavo Día is in my iTunes Music Library and on my Música playlist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Jfqcmteh0 Octavo Día was my favorite song from Spanish 5 with Señora Gates--the same class in which I actually had a higher grade than my superstar brother, convincing me that the Spanish language was my calling in life. Shakira was sooooooooo cool--way cooler than I was!--and Octavo Día was soooooooooo edgy. I thought I was soooooooo cool too when I memorized every single word and practiced singing it until I could keep pace with ms-hips-dont-lie-herself. Seventeen years later, I still love the song. There are many benefits to using music in your language classes. Not the least of these are the connections that music creates: connections between your students and the song, your students and the language, your students and music, your students with each other, your students with the class, your students with you, your students with that moment in time. Music strikes a chord with your students; a chord that may resonate through the rest of their lives.
SONGS THAT STRIKE A CHORD
This last week, I joined with some teacher-authors that specialize in using songs as a source for comprehensible input to bring you ideas for how to strike a chord with your students in the coming year. If you missed their posts, catch up on them here:
- Songs as a culture hook by Kristy Placido
- A musical path to proficiency by Arianne Dowd
- Beyond the CLOZE: Acquisition through Narrative by Carrie Toth
- The story in your heart by Nelly Hughes
- Strike a chord by...me!
You can also follow our board on Pinterest to find ready-to-go activities for using your favorite (and soon to be favorite!) songs in class: https://www.pinterest.com/martinabex/strike-a-chord-songs-for-spanish-classes-with-song/
WHO ARE THE WINNERS?
As part of the post series, we ran a giveaway! Together we are offering $200 in gift cards to Teachers Pay Teachers to help teachers get the materials they need to feel confident generating comprehensible input from songs. To help you stay CONNECTED with these great teacher authors, you're going to have to go on a little scavenger hunt to see if you are one of our NINE lucky winners! The winners will be posted at random times throughout the day on Sunday and Monday, August 5-6 (there might be a slight delay because Kara is currently exploring Colombia with her hubby...#sojealous...so be patient if there is a delayed announcement!).
FOLLOW the following blogs and facebook pages....
- Comprendes Méndez SpanishShop (Facebook)
- Placido Language Resources (Facebook)
- Somewhere to Share (blog)
- CE Authres (blog)
- Discovering CI (blog)
- The Comprehensible Classroom (Facebook)
...and look for the posts announcing the winners! 
IF YOU ARE A WINNER
Contact me to claim your prize! Any prizes that are unclaimed as of 8/15 will be re-raffled! Here's to an impactful school year!!
