Lucha Libre

I would love to create a series of lessons around lucha libre.  Carol Gaab tweeted not too long ago that the brain craves novelty.  I think some lessons on lucha libre would be nice novelty in a Spanish class.  I wish I could get paid to sit in front of the computer, travel around some for research, and create thematic units on fun topics like this one.

A few years back Sholastic’s Qué Tal magazine had an easy to read article about lucha libre that I read with students during a unit about sports.  I ask students to decide whether they consider lucha libre to be a sport or not and explain why in very simple Spanish. If you do not have a subscription to the magazines, you can still get 5 free downloads from their website. There is also a lucha libre article for intermediate students. The magazines are a great investment, as they are supplemented with audio and video on the Mary Glasgow website.

I found a lesson plan based on a children’s bilingual book called “Lucha Libre: The Man in the Silver Mask.”  The lesson plan is about superheroes and good vs. evil (técnicos vs. rudos).  I think the lesson plan would adapt well to world language classes.  It would work very well with descriptive adjectives, and also be good for talking about character; whom we admire and why.

The Aurrerá store chain in Mexico has a character called Mamá Lucha based on lucha libre.  She battles high prices; it’s great!  You must see the anuncios comerciales, especially the one where she battles school supplies.  I think it demonstrates how one must be familiar with the target culture in order to completely understand its messages. Since I first wrote this post, it appears that Wal-Mart has bought out Aurrerá, so you will have to find the commercials on youtube.

An extension of Mexican lucha libre would be discussion of the female lucha libre wrestlers in Bolivia who dress in the traditional styles of the cholas.  It might be fun for the sports and leisure theme in IB Spanish.  National Geographic has an article in English and a video:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/09/wrestlers/guillermoprieto-text

Here’s a free lesson to download.  Students find out information about lucha libre from a website in English and design their own lucha libre character.  I think I would have to adapt it to my preferences so that it would be an activity in the target language.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lucha-Libre-activity

Quinta Estación has a music video for their song “Me muero” that features the Mexican wrestler Místico.  The song lyrics do not have anything to do with lucha libre, just the music video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5k2XVKxznc.  The video might make a good lesson opener to get the students’ attention, or a “hook” as McTighe and Wiggins call it.

Here is a reading for advanced learners from Veinte Mundos magazine:

http://www.veintemundos.com/magazines/14-en/deporte/

Perhaps lucha libre would be a good theme for a TPRS story. 😉