I was both inspired and introduced to Kevin Karla y la Banda by EstudiaFeliz blog which always has great ideas. I did Sarah's worksheet for the Spanish version of "Wide Awake" focusing on the preterite in my level 2 class. I wanted to use one of Kevin Karla y la Banda's songs with my level 3 students too. As part of reviewing preterite conjugations, I used their song "Siempre Supe", the Spanish version of "I Knew You Were Trouble". I like that this song uses both the yo and tú form. The music videos for their songs are great because they show the lyrics while it is being sung.
I really enjoy Zachary Jone's worksheets and his style inspired me to include some details about Kevin and Karla as well as some discussion questions that I had student discuss in Spanish first. After listening to the song, filling in blanks and watching the video, we discussed what this song said and we compared it to the original Taylor Swift song and discussed why they thought it wasn't a direct translation.
The students enjoyed this song and throughout the year I played Kevin y Karla's other songs while the students were working on something and they enjoyed guessing which English song it was a cover of.
After the discussion at the beginning of the worksheet, this is the sequence I did:
1. Showed the music video first without students filling anything in – this allowed them to experience the song and watch the words and make connections.
2. Minimized the video window so that the words weren’t visible and played the song again. Students listened to and filled in the verbs. Afterward, they compared their blanks and helped each other with missing blank words.
3. For participation stamps, they said the answers for the blanks and translated the phrases in the song.
4. Discussed why the words weren't exactly the same as Taylor Swift's version.
5. Played music video again so students could sing along.
Could do following for a warmup the following day if didn't do #4:
Have students translate the some of the lyrics from Spanish to English. Then show them what Taylor Swift's version says and they compare what they translated from Spanish to English with what Taylor says in her song. Are they the same? Why do you think they are different?
I really enjoy Zachary Jone's worksheets and his style inspired me to include some details about Kevin and Karla as well as some discussion questions that I had student discuss in Spanish first. After listening to the song, filling in blanks and watching the video, we discussed what this song said and we compared it to the original Taylor Swift song and discussed why they thought it wasn't a direct translation.
The students enjoyed this song and throughout the year I played Kevin y Karla's other songs while the students were working on something and they enjoyed guessing which English song it was a cover of.
After the discussion at the beginning of the worksheet, this is the sequence I did:
1. Showed the music video first without students filling anything in – this allowed them to experience the song and watch the words and make connections.
2. Minimized the video window so that the words weren’t visible and played the song again. Students listened to and filled in the verbs. Afterward, they compared their blanks and helped each other with missing blank words.
3. For participation stamps, they said the answers for the blanks and translated the phrases in the song.
4. Discussed why the words weren't exactly the same as Taylor Swift's version.
5. Played music video again so students could sing along.
Could do following for a warmup the following day if didn't do #4:
Have students translate the some of the lyrics from Spanish to English. Then show them what Taylor Swift's version says and they compare what they translated from Spanish to English with what Taylor says in her song. Are they the same? Why do you think they are different?
| I Knew You Were Trouble - Preterite Student Worksheet |
| I Knew You Were Trouble WS - filled in |
| I Knew You Were Trouble English Lyrics |
| Lyrics in English - compare to Spanish version |
Side note: "Mi Princesa" by Victor Muñoz is an amazing song to use with the subjunctive. Zachary Jones has an excellent worksheet (you can see his style which I love how he includes extra activities) for this song and the music video is so good. My students liked this song and video so much that for the rest of the year they kept asking to hear it and MANY students downloaded the song and several memorized all the lyrics all on their own. I love seeing them being excited and motivated to take Spanish beyond the classroom.
