All of this makes what I am about to share even more funny. But, this is all in the name of education, right? In the summer of 2003, I was on staff with Teach for America at their summer institute in Houston, Texas. That same summer, a song called "La Bomba" was very popular on the radio. Being a part of Institute is like being in a teaching incubator. I learned so much from my fellow TFA staff and was so inspired to return to my classroom and try out some new methods for helping my students achieve.
One afternoon, as I heard "La Bomba" for like the thousandth time, the lyrics about moving your body up and down made me think of rounding numbers. I'm telling you...it was HOT in Houston in 2003! I decided to rewrite the PG-13 lyrics and created a song to help my third graders remember the key concepts about rounding numbers. Here are the lyrics I came up with:
BOMBA (una canción para redondear)
Versión
Matemática por la clase de Miss Bounds
(Bomba) Un movimiento inteligente
(Bomba) Un movimiento muy fácil
(Bomba) Un movimiento muy fácil
Y aquí se vienen los alumnos con el baile que es una
bomba
Para estimar esto es una bomba
Para contar esto es una bomba
Para sumar esto es una bomba
Y los alumnos lo bailan así, así, así, así
Todo el mundo
Una línea en la decena
Una línea en la decena
Un movimiento fácil
Un movimiento fácil
Un círculo a la derecha
Un círculo a la derecha
Un movimiento fácil
Un movimiento fácil
Y ahora empiezo a redondear
4 o menos para abajo, para abajo, para abajo
5 o más para arriba, para arriba, para arriba
4 o menos para abajo, para abajo, para abajo
5 o más para arriba, para arriba, para arriba
(Bomba) Un movimiento inteligente
(Bomba) Un movimiento muy fácil
(Bomba) Un movimiento muy fácil
Y aquí se vienen los alumnos con el baile que es una
bomba
Para estimar esto es una bomba
Para contar esto es una bomba
Para sumar esto es una bomba
Now tell me you aren't singing this to yourself and dancing! My students loved it and rounding was truly "un movimiento muy fácil"!
What a great song for reinforcing the basic ideas of rounding in math - and a great way to reinforce the language of math in Spanish. I recently talked about the importance of teaching the language of math at http://widaatwcer.blogspot.com/2012/03/national-day.html
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tammy, and thanks for sharing your post! I love celebrating unusual holidays, too, and am always a fan of ways to discover the language that we often presume.
DeleteI totally caught myself jamming as I read the new (and improved) lyrics to this song! Lol. So cute. I think I'm going to teach this song to my Firsties and make a music video with them! So EXCITED!!!!!!! Thanks for posting! =)
ReplyDelete-Karla @
TheSpanglishClassroom.blogspot.com
(I re-posted due to inadvertently deleting the last one. Sorry.)
Thanks, Karla! I am glad that you were "feeling" my song. I just visited your blog and became a follower. You've also been added to my list of Dual Language Teacher Blogs. I will be paying you lots of visits in the future and would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see that video of your students! :)
DeleteThanks for becoming a follower of my Blog and adding me onto your Dual Lange Teacher Blog list! I'm so excited to have come across your blog. =)
DeleteAs soon as I have the video ready for viewing I will let you know! Thanks again for the great idea!