And nothing has helped shape my music more than reading stories to my four-year old son.

NOTE: These video blogs really are intended for teachers, but students are welcome to watch if they’re interested.

Watch this Video Blog

In my second video blog, I talk about ideas that influence the creation of my music and videos. My hope is that this will give you a better idea of where I’m coming from, and also how to better use my materials in your classroom.

Also, in case you missed it, here is Sr. Wooly first video blog: Sr. Wooly VS. Native Speakers!!!

Play the game

As always, the difficulty level of these games is determined by the tempo of the song and its lyrics. Since El Recreo Ha Terminado is one of my slowest songs, that makes this one of the easiest videogames on my site.

My recommendation on difficulty levels:

• If you’re learning the song, play on Fácil.
• If you know the song pretty well, play on Moderado.
• If you’ve completely memorized the song, then you can try your hand at Difícil.

I also highly recommend that both students and teachers read these tips on playing the videogame.

The next videogame will be for La Dentista. It will be completed by the first week in April, but hopefully sooner.

Play La Invitación

Even though the Spanish behind this song is pretty basic, it’s actually one of my harder games. La Invitación a very fast-paced song, with each line of dialogue quickly following the previous one.

As always, I highly recommend that everyone start on Fácil. No matter how well you know the song, no one should be starting at Moderado, and especially not at Difícil.

Also, I highly recommend that you read these tips on playing the videogame. Even if you’ve played my videogames before, it will give you a few tips that might increase your skills and enjoyment of the game.

La Invitación is one of my oldest songs, back from when I was first starting making music for my Spanish classes. In fact, as was the case with a few of my earliest songs, the entire thing was made with GarageBand. If you’ve never used that program before, I highly recommend it. It’s a great way to get started in writing your own music.

The next game will be for El Recreo Ha Terminado, and it should be out within a week.

My newest music video, El Recreo Ha Terminado, is finally complete.

In this new video, a boy sings about the end of recess in the most dramatic way imaginable.

The style of this video definitely harkens back to the mock-serious tones of some of my earlier work, such as Me Duele and La Confesión de Víctor. I just can’t help myself. Angst is funny to me.

The curricular goal of this song is the present perfect. There is a lot of nice and slow repetition of the present perfect structure. Most of the past participle examples are for ‘AR’ verbs, but there are a few important irregulars that get significant exposure like hacer (hecho) and ver (visto).

This is also the first new song that I have released since Amnesia.

This video is restricted to subscribers of SenorWooly.com. At only $19.99 for an entire year of access for you and your students, this is one of the most affordable subscriptions around. Here is more information about what is included in Full-Site Access.

I would love to hear what you think about the video. Feel free to leave comments below. And, as always, thank you very much for watching my stuff.

Added Subtitles to La Casa del Sr. Wooldridge Video

I finally got around to putting subtitles on my house tour video. This video was the first one I ever created for my students (and it shows). Still, despite some moments with less-than-stellar Spanish, there are some fun moments in this one.

Billy la Bufanda Converted to Video

The Billy la Bufanda video has been on my site as a Flash animation since its release. I finally got around to converting it to video, so that it works the same as all my other videos (which means you can use full-screen, and have better control with playing and pausing).

More Fun Facts

I am in the process of adding “Fun Facts” to all the videos. Want to know how I made the Excusas vomit? How about how we got the soup to bubble in Pan?

Currently, you can read Fun Facts about ¿Puedo ir al baño?, La Casa del Sr. Wooldridge, Las Excusas, Pan, La Dentista, and El Banco.

This feature is available to subscribers only. More information to Full-Site Access.

The new versions of Las Excusas and La Dentista are on iTunes

The videos of Las Excusas and La Dentista use new recordings of the songs. Those new recordings are now available for purchase on iTunes.

Purchase Las Excusas on iTunes

Purchase La Dentista on iTunes

Putting aside the ridiculous, attention-getting title of this post, there is of course no doubt that exposing students to authentic, native speaker materials is essential in any student’s Spanish education.

However, is there also room for non-native stuff like mine?

In my first video blog, I share my thoughts on the subject:

 NOTE TO STUDENTS: This video is directed to teachers.  You’re welcome to watch it, but you probably won’t find it very interesting.

Watch the video

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Feel free to leave comments below.

Here are some minor, but interesting changes to my site.

HD Video

I am exploring the idea of adding HD video to my site. However, doing so is expensive for me, and it does not always run well on users’ computers. Therefore, as a test run, I have added high definition to Las Excusas. To try it out, click the “HD” button on the bottom of the video player. NOTE: This feature is only available to subscribers.

Once again, this HD feature is currently only visible to subscribers on the video Las Excusas.

Please email me to let me know how it works for you. Does it run smoothly? Is the audio in sync with the visuals? Does it download fast for you, or does it take way too long? Whether I encode more videos in HD will depend on your feedback. Thank you in advance for your time on this issue.

Fun Facts

I am in the process of adding “Fun Facts” to all the videos. Want to know how I made the Excusas vomit? How about how we got the soup to bubble in Pan? Over the next few weeks, I will start adding interesting tidbits about the film productions. Currently, you can read Fun Facts about Las Excusas, Pan, La Dentista, and El Banco.

Once again, this feature is available to subscribers only. More information to Full-Site Access.

Videogame Fix

I have finally patched a bug in the videogame that prevented a small percentage of users from being able to play it. If it did not work for you, I really encourage you to give it another shot.

Play the Sr. Wooly videogame.

I also recommend reading tips on how to use the videogame.

My newest video, Las Excusas, is complete.

Las Excusas is about a girl who does not have her Spanish homework.  To placate her teacher, she gives eight excuses for not doing it.

If you already know the song, the first thing you’ll notice is that I re-recorded it so I could use a female lead.  I was originally looking to cast a male actor, but Emma was so perfect for the part, that I knew I had to redo the song.   I think you will agree that she does a phenomenal job in this video.

Las Excusas teaches a couple of things very well:

1) Ordinal numbers.  If students learn anything from this song, they will learn ordinal numbers (at least through octavo).  Many of my students have told me that, after this song, they have never forgotten them.

2) El Pretérito.  Like El Banco, this song is great practice with the preterit.

3) In addition to the above, Las Excusas also gives good practice with direct object pronouns and possessive adjectives.

For those of you who were disappointed in the intense nature of La Dentista, I think you’ll agree that this video is much lighter and safer.  The whole video just makes me chuckle, so I hope you find it as amusing as I do.

Las Excusas is available only to subscribers to Senorwooly.com.  At only $20 for the year, the website is one of the cheapest educational sites you’ll find.  Buy  Full-Site Access.

In addition to the video, subscribers also receive access to:

• Las Excusas Lyrics Page
• Las Excusas Videogame and Karaoke
• Downloadable Lyrics and Cloze Activities

You should know about this redesign for a couple of reasons:

1) The new video player uses both HTML5 and Flash, which means it should run smoother on most computers (including the iPad and other devices).

2) For each video, I have added teacher tips.

This new video player is a fundamental change to the architecture of the videos.  Therefore, even though I have tested it quite a bit, there may be unforeseen problems.

If the video player does not work for you, there is a link directly beneath the video to that will revert it back to the old player. 

I would love your comments on how well it runs on your machine (at home or at school).  Shoot me an email and let me know how it goes. 

By the way, the Las Excusas video is basically done, and I’ll be releasing it very, very soon.

My music video, El Banco, was inspired by an activity that I created to practice the preterit tense. The activity is very educational and entertaining, and I’d like to share it with you.

Here’s how it goes:

You, the teacher, are a police interrogator. A crime was committed yesterday, and you have two suspects. The crime can be anything from robbing the bank to stealing a candy bar.

Two students volunteer to be the suspects. They go out in the hallway for 30 seconds to 1 minute. During this time, they have to very quickly get their stories straight:

• Where they went yesterday afternoon
• What time they got there
• What time they left
• Who they went with
• What they did there
• How they got there and back
• Any other details they can think of

While they are out in the hallway, you need to prep the rest of your students on their jobs. More on that in a minute.

At the end of the allotted time, you bring one suspect back into the classroom, leaving the other one in the hallway. Do not give them extra time!

You begin the interrogation and ask questions such as:

• ¿Adónde fuiste ayer?
• ¿A qué hora llegaste?
• ¿A qué hora saliste?
• ¿Con quién fuiste?
• ¿Qué hiciste allí?
• ¿Cómo fuiste?  ¿En carro? ¿En tren?

Any other questions that are relevant (¿Qué ordenaste en el restaurante? ¿Cómo se llama la película que viste?)

Then, that first student goes back into the hallway, and the other one enters.

You continue the interrogation, asking the same questions. Your goal is to trip them up and find details that don’t match.

Of course, it’s not an effective activity if only two students participate. The job of the other students is to silently observe and ultimately determine the innocence or guilt of the suspects. I always give them a sheet of paper that contains a list of the major questions where they can take notes.

Download a sample of the note-taking worksheet that I use.

If the suspects have managed to keep their stories identical, students should vote them as not guilty. If there are significant holes in the story, they should judge them as guilty. However, before we do a class-wide vote, I ask them to write a quick paragraph explaining their judgment.

And that’s the activity.

Of course, the more the teacher can jazz it up as the interrogator, the more entertained the students will be. I tend to scream a lot and throw things, but obviously that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But there are easy things you can do in order to crank up the excitement. Turn out the lights. Put a desk lamp on the table and twist it so that it shines into the suspect’s eyes.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write me. Also, if you try this activity, please let me know how it goes.

Last but not least, if you haven’t yet had a chance to watch El Banco, please do. I think you’ll enjoy it.