Inside: Using Sr. Wooly in Spanish class. How to teach using Señor Wooly in Spanish Class. Señor Wooly activities and teaching advice for Spanish class.
Author – Allison Wienhold
Published – May 17, 2017 & most recently updated on November 5, 2024
What is Señor Wooly?
Señor Wooly is a website for Spanish teachers with comprehensible music videos. It also has tons of ready-to-go worksheets and online activities. Sr. Wooly is a great Spanish class sub-plan or supplement to an acquisition-based curriculum.
How to get started with Señor Wooly
This year I tried a few new (to me) things. The one that I honestly can not believe that I had not used before is Sr. Wooly. Sure, as a Spanish teacher, I had heard of Sr. Wooly and seen a couple of his videos on YouTube, but I had not yet drunk the Kool-Aid. I did not get what the fuss was all about.
Last year when I had curriculum money to spend and asked what to buy on Twitter and some Facebook groups, many people mentioned a subscription to Sr. Wooly Pro. We only get money every six years, so I went all-in with a six-year subscription. I AM SO GLAD I DID!
*Updated note, you have to email ask to be able to pay for multiple years in advance. I ended up getting a steal, since during my subscription they added a Ton to the site & the price went up to reflect that.
Trying out Sr. Wooly in Spanish Class
Even though I had the subscription, since I had no idea yet how to use it in class, it was not a part of my curriculum plan. I started the 16-17 year on maternity leave and felt like I was playing catch-up all year to make up for my students missing ten weeks of CI.
The opening for Sr. Wooly came in my 8th grade exploratory class last fall. I did not want to move ahead, since the other section had the sub for 8 weeks. So we were freestyling, spending most of the class on Special Person Interviews.
To mix it up one day I pulled up Sr. Wooly and the song ¿Puedo ir al baño? We watched the video as a class and I had them try out the “nuggets,” since we were 1:1 with Chromebooks. They loved it and started watching the other videos on their own and recommending them to me.
*Update you can find a few of the Sr. Wooly songs on YouTube such as ¿Puedo ir al baño? below. But, the real value comes from the ready-to-go activities and plans found on the official website. Also, this video is old & does not reflect at all the currentstyle and quality of videos.
For the last couple of weeks of class each day, we spent the first half of class doing Special Person Interviews and the other half doing little Sr. Wooly units. In that class, we also did Es una Ganga, Las Excusas, and Guapo.
Señor Wooly Week
With that first class, I did not fully utilize the supplementary activities, puzzles, games, or readings that come with the Teacher Pro subscription. I also kind of forgot to try it out with any more of my classes.
Fast forward to early February and I was bombarded with Wooly Week on social media. I showed my first hour of Spanish 1 the brand new No Lo Tengo song to participate in the Wooly raffle and then decided to drop my original plan for the week and go all-in with Wooly week.
We watched the three new videos that came out and completed tasks for the raffle. Also, we set up their Pro accounts and did a unit with No Lo Tengo. They loved the catchy song, differentiation, and change of pace from stories and novels.
Update – In a full-circle moment, below is the 1st class that participated in Wooly Week during their freshman year. But, this was actually the last unit of their Senior year. As you can see on the board the date is March 9, 2020. They were doing the Vibra Viral Wooly week plans. They finished the rest of their Senior year online.
A Typical Señor Wooly Unit
Spanish 1 begged for more and ended the year doing units on Es Una Ganga and Guapo. Now that I am more familiar with the site a typical Sr. Wooly unit is as follows:
- Do some pre-activities from the supplementary packet and maybe a Quizlet Live or Blooket or GimKit with vocab (I just search for pre-made sets)
- Read a couple of versions of the lecture-embedded reading story.
- Watch the video as a class
- Students complete video nuggets
- Once done they have the option to complete a puzzle or do another post-viewing activity that I have printed, or assigned on Google Classroom
- Do a small assessment
I typically plan for about a week for a unit, but it also varies with song and level. For example, Es una Ganga has very little vocab and is a very quick unit. (It is also a favorite with the creepy Ganga girls).
For more ideas, especially ready-to-go slides for distance learning, make sure to join the collaborative Woology Facebook group.
*Update* Now there are intense lesson plans in the style of the Wooly Week lesson plans for many of the Sr. Wooly videos. These have tons of activities to choose from to mix up your Sr. Wooly unit. Below is a student reading an embedded reading to the class.
Spreading the Señor Wooly Love
Spanish 4 was late to join the Wooly party and did a unit with the new song Amnesia as an introduction to their La Calaca Alegre unit. It worked great with the theme of Identity. They are sad they missed out on Sr. Wooly in their past years and are always caught singing it in the hallway.
Last week Spanish 2 finally got their chance and also did Amnesia. To say they love it is an understatement. I have been told by other teachers that my students are obsessed with this black-and-white Spanish song. I caught one blaring Amnesia on her Chromebook down the hall during passing time.
Señor Wooly Music Bracket
One year for fun we did a Sr. Wooly May music bracket with their favorite songs. Learn more here Sr. Wooly music bracket
Señor Wooly Books – Update
There are also now great books and graphic novels in comprehensible Spanish from Sr. Wooly. I only ever had them as choice free reading. The comprehensible graphic novels from Señor Wooly were always a hot with FVR.
The digital version of these books has been added to a Pro subscription as well if you do not have funds for physical copies. Read these blog posts to learn more.
- La casa de la dentista
- Me llamo Víctor (parte 1) Spanish graphic novel
- No Somos Amigos – Señor Wooly Children’s Book
Sr. Wooly Units in a Curriculum
As I worked on my curriculum plan, I worked to intentionally plan Sr. Wooly units throughout the year. I think of these fun and comprehensible units as a nice break between other heavy units. I would not use Señor Wooly as a stand-alone curriculum. It is not intended to do so. These ear worms can help teach language in a fun way and make class enjoyable.
A Sr. Wooly unit can be a great pause for one level if you teach many preps as a tool for Sustainable Spanish Lesson Planning. For a week, you can spend the first half of class teaching or doing activities with the song. Then the 2nd half of the class period can be the students completing their personalized nuggets on their devices. Also, it was perfect for when we were Hybrid Teaching.
Or if needed, you can assign one Señor Wooly song for a multi-day sub-plan. Just leave a slideshow of activities and nuggets for one song. Or I had the Spanish 3/4 students who were not taking the AAPPL test do a Wooly unit on computers in the library.
The Facebook group, Woology–Sr. Wooly Teachers & Fans, has been an awesome resource for all things Wooly. If you are on the fence and wondering if it is worth the money, try it out.
Do you use Sr. Wooly in class? How? What are your favorites and how do you use them?
Spanish Music Freebie
If you prefer authentic music, grab these slides below.
More Spanish Music Resources
- What to do with a song in Spanish class
- Música miércoles
- mania musical – March Music Madness
- Hispanic Heritage Month Music Bracket
