I absolutely love the song, "El burro enfermo" as sung by José Luis Orozco on his CD De colores and so do my second graders and their teachers. ¡Es muy pegajosa! It's very catchy!
wish to share my ideas on how on how I have the children act out the song.
1. At first, I used a large cardboard cut-out of a burro; then I found an extremely adorable plush burro.
2. Next, I went to a used clothing store just for children and found an
infant's yellow jacket "la chaqueta amarilla" to fit the burro.
3. A child actually beat me to it and contributed a black (baseball) cap
"una gorrita negra" that fits the burro's head perfectly (with yarn to hold
it on, just in case).
4. I made a white scarf "una bufanda blanca" out of a remnant of
non-raveling polyester on sale in a fabric store. I cut fringe at both ends
and made it extra long so the child could wrap it around its neck several
times.
5. I got a child's sized stethoscope from an educational toy store for the
"médico."
6. I use a plastic apple and a plastic lemon.
As the song progresses, the "médico" (male or female) points his/her finger in the air to suggest a remedy. One by one, a line of children with the appropriate prop dresses the burro (held by another child) or administers the nutritious "medicine" to the burro ("trocitos de manzana" y "gotitas de limón"). The child just puts the apple near the burro's mouth. Another child will pretend to squeeze juice from the lemon into its mouth.
I have compiled a list of other body parts and remedies to add:
La cabeza – una corbata negra
Las orejas – una gorrita negra
Pezuñas – un emplasto de lechugas, un plato de castañas
Corazón – un plato de lechón
Los dos ojos – una bolsa con ajos
Hocico – un pastellilo rico
Dientes – unas sopas calientes
Nariz – un plato de maíz
La pechuga – un plato de lechuga
Los riñones – unos mejillones
La barbilla - un plato con tortilla
Las patitas – unas papas fritas
Garganta – una corbata blanca
Also, there is an excellent magazine on-line available for elementary
Spanish teachers called De Par en Par published by the Spanish embassy. Look in the June 1998 issue for wonderful extension ideas for this song (with slightly different lyrics).
The remaining URLs here contain sets of alternative lyrics.
