Ekeko - Day 1

Today I started reading Ekeko: un misterio boliviano with my 8th grade Spanish 1 students. Although I enjoy writing novelas, I'm not a great blog writer, so I'll be keeping these posts concise.  This is the first time I've used Ekeko with students, and I want to chronicle lesson plan ideas I have, students' reactions to the novel and insights I gain.

A bit of background on my classroom. I teach in Meridian, Idaho in a fairly homogeneous, suburban, upper-middle class district. I'd say my students are generally pretty "easy" to teach, although one of the main challenges I face is getting them interested in world cultures and getting them to put themselves in others' shoes. I'm hoping reading El Ekeko will help!  I have 42 minute class periods, and my class counts for high school credit.



To introduce the Andes region, I showed the video for Calle 13's song Latinoamerica. The students first read and translated the chorus of the song, which uses several words from Ekeko, as well as weather words familiar to my students.

"Tú no puedes comprar al viento
Tú no puedes comprar al sol
Tú no puedes comprar la lluvia
Tú no puedes comprar el calor
Tú no puedes comprar las nubes
Tú no puedes comprar los colores
Tú no puedes comprar mi alegría
Tú no puedes comprar mis dolores"

The full lyrics sheet I made is available here: Calle 13 - Latinoamerica

After translating this chorus, the students discussed the meaning of the chorus and predicted what the song might be about. They generally decided the song meant that money can't buy happiness.

Next, we watched the video, which is just gorgeous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkFJE8ZdeG8&

It shows many different beautiful facets of Latin American cultures and geographies, including views of the Andes mountains and the people who live there.  The song and video also feature Susana Baca from Peru, Totó la Momposina from Colombia and María Rita, from Brazil, so it mixes more traditional South American music with the rap/reggaeton style of Calle 13.

The students really loved the video, and most of their discussion afterward was sincere. I was surprised that one of the main themes of their conversation was the poverty of the people in the video. I thought the houses and lives of the people seemed pretty typical, but for kids who've never been out of Meridian, Idaho, I guess they seemed jarringly poor. However, despite their (perhaps a bit blunt) initial reactions, the students had insightful discussions about how sometimes their own lives are not all that great, because everyone's too wrapped up in their cell phones and themselves. Several students mentioned that the Latin Americans in the video seemed proud of their land and their families, and happy with their lives. My favorite quote of the day:
 "Me: So, who do you think she's talking about when she says 'You can't buy my life' and 'My land is not for sale?'
Student: I'm pretty sure it's me. An American. She was staring me down."

I hope I am able to build those discussions throughout our reading of the novel!

After watching the video, we began reading Chapter 1. Since it's the first chapter, I didn't get too fancy - the students followed along while I read, and we paused often so I could check their comprehension. We're only about 4 pages in, so we'll finish Chapter 1 tomorrow. More updates then!