This song was a tribute to Obama sung by Maria Muldaur, with Bonnie Raitt, and the Women’s Voices for Peace Choir at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. It is the perfect follow up for a unit about the Civil Rights movement. It has lots of photos of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. You could just have the students see how many civil rights leaders, presidents and famous people they recognize. The visuals are very inspiring and the song is hard not to dance to! The students love it. For an intermediate level, you might ask students which images are the most memorable for them. Then do a fill-in-the-words activity for the students to listen for missing words in the lyrics. For homework, I always tell the students to practice singing this song in the shower. A higher level class could discuss what makes this such a successful music video.
This song was written by Allen Toussaint. It became a hit when the Pointer Sisters performed it in 1973 on TV on Soul Train. Ah , what memories! How the world has changed.
Here are the lyrics >> YES, WE CAN song student’s copy <<
>> YES WE CAN song T’s copy <<
and the You Tube video: Enjoy and sing along!
I started teaching EFL in Mexico in the 1970s and stayed for 11 years! My BA is in Latin American Studies, which I did at La Universidad de las Americas in Puebla, Mexico. After moving back to the U.S., I got my Master’s at SFSU in TESOL and American Literature. I’ve taught ESL in to refugees and in community colleges in CA since 1987. I’m currently teaching at ARC, WCC and Davis Adult School.