Like a prayer (Madonna, 1989)

The controversial video features Madonna as a woman who witnesses the murder of a white girl by three white men, and the arrest of a black man who attempted to intervene and save the victim, but was falsely accused of the crime. After his arrest, Madonna flees to the church for safety, and she prays to Saint Martin de Porres, then she kisses him and he, crying, comes to life. Madonna joins a gospel choir singing and dancing the song and afterward, she testifies for the black man's innocence which ends with him about to be released. In the end of the video, we can tell that it was all a theatre play.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Like_a_Prayer_(song)).

Watch the video in the link bellow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA983t3Rdzs&ob=av2e

Watch the video and answer the following questions:

1. How does the video relate to the lyrics of the song?

2. What religious symbols do we find in the video? What do they represent?

3. Why, in your opinion has the video raised criticism from the Catholic Church?

4. There are two possible interpretation for the lyrics of the song. Which interpretation are these? Which one is portrayed in the video? 

Coat of many colors...

Take a look at the amazing comic strips students have made from the story of the song "Coat of Many Colors", by Dolly Parton. The song tells the story of a poor girl whose mother decided to sew a coat made of rags because she didn't have money to buy her a new one. At first, the girl was very excited about having a coat of many colors, like the one Joseph wore in the Bible. But when her friends in school started laughing at her, she was very disappointed, but she didn't allow it to upset her, because, as she says in the lyrics: "Although we had no money, I was rich as I could be in my coat of many colors, my mamma made for me". What do you say? Would Dolly Parton approve the pictures? Comments are welcome!

Welcome everybody

I’ve been teaching English for a while and something that always called my attention was students’ creativity when doing the activities recquired. Talking to them a few days ago, I’ve decided to create this blog to share some of these activities.

This blog is also the place for students to express their opinion about the process of learning a second language as well as other interesting topics put to discussion.

I hope you enjoy it!