Today after going over our academic vocabulary and the practice with the syllable-stress pattern ("There are two syllables, and the first one gets the stress") and after their going into pairs to give each other different sentences of the dictation on music, I used my iPad with the new (and very, very small) speaker for the first time to "do" (as we teachers put it) the song "Because You Loved Me." Luz had told us in her one-sentence introduction that her favorite music was pop music such as Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me," so after introducing them to my favorite genre of music (show tunes), I presented that. When I asked what it was about, Zilia said with total confidence, "She's thankful to her mother." I encouraged the class to consider that as one interpretation--the part about her mother. Certainly it was an expression of thankfulness. Then Zilia offered to sing it, which she did a capella and beautifully. It was hard to ask her to stop. Later Luz sang it, and after we'd all gone over the words (including "baby" as direct address, someone diminishing the likelihood of its being the mother one who made the difference), I asked Luz and Zilia to come up and lead us all in singing it. That was a very nice way to end the class, and now I know I made the right decision when I decided to get the speaker last night after 8:00 at Radio Shack.
They were really helpful and friendly and helped me hear and reject a speaker with static in favor of one on sale for less that did not distort.
So as we say in our show tune songs "Thank you for the music!"
(And later I'll give you other favorite songs and an update on the four new students I have, bringing the class to something like 28 or 29. (Twenty-five is the maximum, when times are better.)
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