Lesson Plan (click on lesson plan to open in new tab)
Exit Ticket (Click on Exit Ticket to open in new tab)
The following is a slideshow that I created for a lesson on a young rapper from Venezuela, Lela MC, who has achieved an impressive level of fame in Latin America. The lesson was presented in the style of “Comprehensible Input” using the vocabulary from the current unit which was highlighted in yellow. Words that the student’s would be unfamiliar with were defined in the slides. The images and backstory were borrowed from an online story in The Guardian.
First I read to the students the first slide, translated or asked the students to translate until I was sure that everyone understood the slide, and then explained who Lela is and the gist of the lesson. Then we listened to one of Lela’s songs “Flow que quema”—Flow that burns, to create interest and give the students a sense of who this young woman is. I personally enjoy music in Spanish as a way to immerse myself in the language and culture. I believe that music is a great motivator and a way to truly “feel” the language—to hear the words in connection with emotion.
We then went through the slides as a class. Sometimes I would read the slide and ask a student to translate. Other times I would ask one student to read and another to translate. If a student got stuck, I might translate and then repeat the slide. The idea is to maintain a flow, create understanding through repetition and quick probing questions: ¿Cuántos años tenía Lela cuando su familia huyó de Venezuela? Duke, what does “tenía” mean?
