What to do with a song in Spanish class

Inside: What to do with Spanish songs for class. Ideas for what to do with a Spanish class song. Ideas for música en la clase de español. Easy Spanish songs for Spanish learners and Spanish students.

Author – Allison Wienhold

Published June 14, 2017 & most recently updated on January 13, 2025

If you have been reading Mis Clases Locas for any length, you know I love to use authentic music in my Spanish classes. I love using music so much that I have weekly routines built in to incorporate what many students have told me is their favorite part of Spanish class, music. But, what if you want to mix it up beyond just a great song? Here are some ideas of what to do with clean Spanish songs in Spanish class.

Video – Music in Spanish Class – Why Use Music & How to Find the Best Songs

Use a Spanish Class Song as a small part of your day

Música miércoles (class starter with song in Spanish)

In my classes with high school students, we typically start class on Wednesday with music. I do this by having a projected slide with the artist, title, and task, with an embedded music YouTube video playing as all classes enter. We watch the video, discuss it briefly, and usually move on with our day. This may include rating the song, telling if they like it, or being a critic. It is a great way to help students hear native speakers in a new language.

If you would like ideas for songs, here is my newest slide show with 22 new videos. Also my growing music bundle, 1 song from each Spanish speaking country, or music bracket.

Some days we spend the entire class period doing talks with the song, but usually, it is just a para empezar class starter.

On Friday we dance, or baile viernes, or dance Friday. These are usually easy Zumba or Just Dance Youtube Videos in Spanish that are played during passing time and once again at the start of class. Get my newest Baile viernes 2025.

How to do música miércoles & baile viernes – Video

Cantaninja (brain break with Spanish Song for Class)

My friend Emily Huff reminded me of something I had been meaning to try for a while from Martina Bex, Cantaninja. You can get the full info here, but basically, a student gets to yell “cantaninja” at some point during the class. (We decide in advance who will be the cantaninja for that week or day & they also get to wear my headband I got while in Japan). At that time everyone stops what they are doing and watches or dances to a music video in Spanish. This is just for pure enjoyment and a brain break using their most popular Spanish songs. Students just pick from my huge list of songs or dance play list.

Time Filler (end of the class song in Spanish)

Do you ever have five to ten minutes left at the end of class that you want to fill with something worthwhile? You can always show an appropriate music video to expose students to new music or let them request a class favorite as a reward. Play Spanish radio stations or some of your best music as a language teacher.

Getting students hooked on authentic music is always worthwhile for language learning. My favorite is when they come back to class telling me they added music from class to their Spotify playlist. If you have a lot of time left, watch a video & pull out music question cards, and let students chat.

Use Song in Spanish as your lesson

Movie talk a Spanish video

Use the Movie talk or Chip Chat technique with a music video as a short film. This can be done by muting the audio, and describing what is happening using comprehensible Spanish while pausing many times. You will want to warn students that you will be pausing, so they are prepared for the interruptions.

It is also helpful to first do a reading using what you will be saying, as well as describing using screenshots from the video. In Spanish, you can then discuss student predictions of what they will see and hear during the song. Finally, watch the music video with sound, and see if the class predictions were true.

Chat about the Spanish Class Song!

Last year I added music question cards to help support students chatting about music. I have a ready-to-go resource that includes 56 different questions related to music. You could use them in a variety of ways to extend your music activities with more speaking. The music task cards include the following types of questions.

General personalized questions chatting about music.
Basic and intermediate questions to discuss any 1 song in Spanish. (great to extend Música miércoles)
Questions to compare songs for a music bracket.

Question Cards Music from Mis Clases Locas

Or chat about music using the NEW Music Find Someone Who!

Dig Deep with a Song in Spanish

There are so many ways that you can use a song as the basis for an entire class period, or even longer. For example, Kara Jacobs has an entire awesome unit using the song “Soy Yo” as well as many other upper-level units that have a large basis on authentic music. Here are a few ways you can go deep with a song:

Ideas BEFORE watching a music video in Spanish Class

Watch the video without any sound and predict what it is about
Read and analyze the lyrics
Have students draw what the song is about based on the lyrics
Story ask using key target vocabulary
Do a Quizlet or Blooket to introduce key vocabulary
Listen to just the audio before watching and predict what the video will be like
Picture talk a still from the video for advanced level predictions

WHILE watching a Spanish Class music video

Smash doodle (draw graffiti style) what is going on is a fun way to mix it up.
Highlight single words that they hear using a pre-made word cloud of the song lyrics using language skills
Just sit back and ENJOY the catchy tune, cool vibe & learning process by LISTENING
Have different students tally how many times they hear a specific target word or phrase or new vocabulary
Have chunks of lyrics that can be manipulated to be put in order in the Spanish language

Ideas AFTER watching a Spanish Song music video

Have “judges” who critique the video and song
Have language learners write a review including the meaning of the song and new words
Rank videos you have seen in order of how much they like them
Have students do more investigation on the artist, genre, song, or meaning of the lyrics
Individually students can play the song on lyricstraining.com or SpanishPlaylistParty.com
Have students suggest future songs from their research
Use music question cards to chat about the song & video
Have students do an activity with a song on Roxxem using the entire song
If you have to teach verb conjugation, do it in new ways & different ways with examples from the actual song.
Use the past tense and simple vocabulary to describe what happened in the video.
Have students make a playlist of the most popular songs, current songs, all time favorites, favorite songs, those with a great video, etc.

More ways to mix it up with music in Spanish class – Music Bracket!

Hispanic Heritage Month Music Bracket in Spanish class is always a fun activity

mania musical de marzo – March Music Madness in Spanish class

Get the Spanish Music freebie at the bottom of this post for lots of ideas.

See the video below to learn more ways to mix it up with music in Spanish class.

More Latin Music & Spanish Class Songs

Valentine’s Day Just Dance Songs blog post
Spanish Love Songs – Best Love Songs – el amor – with romantic lyrics
Days of the Week Songs
Simple song for Spanish classroom greetings
Music from all Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America
Teach at a Christian school? You might like my Spanish Music slides & activity pack for middle school/ younger/conservative schools or NEW Spanish March Music Bracket 2025 YOUNG mania musical

Get the Spanish Music Freebie

Want to try out using diverse music in Spanish class? Sign up for Mis Clases Locas news & the slides will be sent in an email. To prevent school filters blocking, I suggest a non-school emailSend me the slides

**If you want the best deal possible on all of Mis Clases Locas music resources altogether, check out the Mega Music Bundle.

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Allison Wienhold

Allison Wienhold of Mis Clases Locas has a decade of experience as a #deptof1 secondary Spanish teacher in Iowa. She enjoys creating curricula using novels, films, and music. Allison provides professional development to World Language teachers, including being the keynote speaker at MALT and Comprehensible Iowa, and workshop presenter at dozens of state & regional organizations, school districts, AEAs, and virtual conferences.