Loca for Locura

I’ve been seeing so many questions about Locura de marzo that I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t put this post off any longer!

What is Locura de Marzo?

It’s a Spanish music competition that brings language and culture into your classroom. It’s stacks of free resources. It’s my students’ FAVORITE time of the year!

How does it work?

Head over to http://www.senorashby.com/locura-de-marzo-2020.html for EVERYTHING you need to know. Join the Facebook group (link in the top left corner) and scroll through the shared Google Drive where teachers drop all of their created materials.

Voting starts Wednesday, February 26 with a play-in round. Voting on Wednesday and Thursday will determine which song from Sebastian Yatra and which song from Morat move into the competition.

The actual competition kicks off on Friday, February 28!

But what I REALLY want to talk with you about is how I do Locura de marzo in my classroom, step-by-step!

Step 1: Watch the promo video!! And I’m so excited because this year, my students are in the promo video!!! I showed this video in class on Friday and used the sheet below.

While students listened the songs and watch the 25 minute video, they kept track of how many times they saw Billy La Bufanda (Sr. Wooly reference) and students dancing the Renegade (trust me, your students will know what this is even if you don’t!) Just click here and make a copy for yourself!

Next, I recommend displaying the bracket. You can access my materials for this here. A picture of my mini-bracket is below. Last year, I used twice as much space but the bracket was in the back of the room. This year I’m trying out a smaller board in the front. I just scaled my slides to 70% when I went to print.

Third: Print out these sheets for Round 1. I saw a similar sheet the first time I did Locura de marzo back in 2018 and added a few things. I have versions of this sheet from each year. This year, I added the section about instruments because I heard kids talking about which instruments they heard when we were watching the promo video. You can also use these sheets during the play-in round Wednesday and Thursday. In the “Vocabulario” section, students write down words they hear as the song plays. I DO NOT show the videos during Round 1. Round 1 the students LISTEN. Also, this means I only have to screen EIGHT videos for appropriateness instead of 18.

If you school is 1:1 with laptops that students carry around with them, definitely have them vote online HERE during class!! If you don’t have tech in your room, encourage them to vote on their phones or at home! I tally my classroom votes separate from the online voting and my students compare our bracket with the international one. But you could totally ditch that step and just follow the main bracket online! **Some teachers even do a different bracket and voting PER CLASS!**

For Round 2, (starts March 11) students will watch the videos (when appropriate) and vote on a small sheet of paper. (I always do secret ballot to try to get a fair vote, and not students just following what their friends do). **If for any reason you don’t think one of the vids is appropriate for your school setting, there are lyric videos available on the Locura de marzo homepage!**

Round 3 is the semi-final round. Four songs, two days of voting. For this round, I print out the song lyrics and have students highlight words (phrases) they understand. Sometimes we go over the meaning of the song in English, sometimes I skip it.

For the final round, I go back to a quick secret ballot. Last year, I kept the class votes secret until the end of the day and then had my assistant principal play the winning song (Lo Mismo) on the loudspeaker to announce our school’s winner!

I hope this helps you understand how I implement Locura de marzo in my classroom (and only spend about 10 minutes per day!) The sheets I have above (plus SO much more) are available in the shared Google Drive which you can access here.

But please know that this is NOT the ONLY way to do this competition! Lots of teachers have students fill out brackets and give prizes for the student(s) with the bracket closest to the online voting. Some teachers only see their students twice each week and double up the voting, while others have students vote at home.

Definitely join us on Facebook! Ask questions, share resources. Share your success stories and vent when you have problems! You will be greeted by hundreds of teachers who have been enjoying Locura de marzo for years and are happy to answer your questions and point you in the right direction!

Have any specific questions? Email me at tiffanypistole1@gmail.com and I will be happy to get back with you! You can also catch me on Instagram and Facebook.

Curious about how the songs are chosen each year? Check out my blog post about song selection and how YOU can help choose the songs for 2021!

-Tiffany