ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
19 Different Ways of using One Song in class.
When you and I and plenty of language teachers think of bringing a song to class to do an activity, we all often think of a really common exercise; yes: listen to the song and complete its lyrics. But, is it the only thing we can do with it. Of course not!!
As you know, creativity, thinking and dynamism must be part of a second or foreign language class and the only individual who is responsible for this is you, my dear teacher. No matter what type of activity you do in class, there is actually a bunch of different ways to carry it out, or at least, variations each time you do it.
As to all this, next time you might want to have in mind the activities that I propose. The idea of all these activities is to improve the grammar point, vocabulary or skill you want your students to improve. You should know that doing only one activity with the song can be boring, useless and a “waste of time” for some students. So make your song a more challenging, dynamic, thought-provoking and better experience in class, trying out these proposals.
All the following activities can be done individually, in pairs or groups. It is recommended to use them with teenagers and adults; however, some of them can also be used with children. Below each description you will find the recommended level for each activity. It is important to have in mind that the song you choose must be appropriate for the course level you are teaching.
ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
List of activities.
1. Listening for known words. Listen to the song and write down any words or phrases students are studying in class or also any word or phrase students are able to recognize on their own so teacher realizes how good they are at listening for specific words.
*You can have the video playing so it gets more entertaining. (All levels)
2. Putting lyrics together. Print the lyrics of the song. Cut its lines or paragraphs so students listen to the song and place them in the order they hear. (All levels)
3. Error correction. Teacher changes some specific words in the lyrics of the song, leaving a blank at the end of every line. Students need to listen to the song and find out what the wrong words and write down the correct word on the blank. (All levels)
4. Written Description. Students watch the video of the song and write down the description of what is happening in it. This (sometimes) will help students have a better idea of what the song is about.
*Beginners can be asked to write only sentences about it. Intermediates are able to write a paragraph. (Beginners-Intermediates) ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
5. Spoken Description. In pairs, one student watches only half of the video of the song, the other watches the rest. Then when the video is finished both students tell each other what they saw on it so that they can practice their speaking skills and be familiarized with the context of the video and can continue with another activity. (Intermediate-Advanced)
6. Biography. Choose a song with which students can write a background-lyric: expressing the author’s idea, the reason why he/she wrote the song, who/what it is dedicated to, and any other interesting fact about the song. (Intermediate-Advanced)
7. Karaoke competition. All students practice the song beforehand and get ready to compete with their classmates. They can be disguised so it gets more fun and entertaining. (All levels)
8. Pronunciation patterns. Choose a number of pronunciation patterns from the song. (e.g. beat/cheat - it/bit - show/push - change/choose) Write them down on the board and have students pronounce them so they can practice singing and pronunciation. (All levels)
ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
9. Synonyms and Antonyms. Print the lyrics. Have a chart on the top with several words written inside it. Students need to read the lyrics and find the synonyms/antonyms of those words. This activity helps students increase their vocabulary a lot. (All levels)
10. Questionnaire. Create some questions about the song. These can be about vocabulary, its main idea, thinking questions, etc. Have students answer them and share to the class
*You can actually have an article with some facts or the background lyric meaning. (All levels)
11. Homophones. Print the lyrics and have students change a word in every line by a homophone or a word that is close in pronunciation. For example: he’s by his / as by ass / bottom by button / etc. The words can also be changed by the teacher so students pay attention to the sense of these words in the lyrics and find out what the wrong words are. (All levels)
12. Pictures. Prepare a PPT with several pictures in it, which have to appear on the song. Play the song along with the PPT; every time a word from the PPT is said on the song, this has to be shown as well. With this, students have a better idea of what the song is about and might learn new vocabulary. (Beginners-Intermediates)
ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
13. A better atmosphere. Play a list of songs while doing an activity. This is so helpful for students to relax, to get more involved with a specific activity, or just to create a better atmosphere in class while working. (All levels)
14. Good listeners. Play the song and pause it every 5 seconds; students write down everything they are able to hear. Do this with the whole song so that students practice their listening-for detail skills. (All levels)
15. Bingo. Prepare a set of cards with 9-12 images printed on them whose names appear on the song. Give a card to every student/pair/team that is previously organized. Students need to listen to the song and put a coin/bean/pea on every image they hear in the song. Whenever a student/pair/team has listened to all the names of images they need to say BINGO. This is when they win. (All levels)
16. Action! Students get in groups (the number depends on the total of students you have) and practice the song. They need to be really familiarized with it since they need to act out the phrases, words and idea that the song expresses. Play the song and have students act it out.
*This activity might work better with young learners or teenagers. (Beginners-Intermediates)
ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
17. Debate. Get a song whose theme can be discussed in class. It can be about love, war, friends, self- esteem, trendy topic, etc., so students can have a good debate on it. It’s also a good idea to prepare some questions based on the theme so it works better. (Advanced)
18. Creative Writing. Have students do one/some of the activities above. After they are familiarized with the song, have them write a poem, an essay, a paragraph or any other type of text in which they express what the song is about, their take on the theme of the song, a story related to it, etc. (All levels)
19. Song writers. So, why not having them actually write a song? Play the instrumental part of the song you want them to write their own lyrics to, or it can also be any other melody/melodies so they come up with their own song.
(Intermediate-Advanced)
ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
Sample activities.
Elvis Presley In the ghetto (Lyrics)
As the snow flies man On a cold and gray Chicago mornin' Face down on the street with a gun in his A poor little baby child is born In the ghetto hand In the ghetto And his mama cries Cause if there's one thing that she don't As her young man dies, need On a cold and gray Chicago mornin', It's another hungry mouth to feed Another little baby child is born In the ghetto In the ghetto And his mama cries People, don't you understand The child needs a helping hand Or he'll grow to be an angry young man someday Take a look at you and me, Are we too blind to see, Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way Well the world turns And a hungry little boy with a runny nose Plays in the street as the cold wind blows In the ghetto
And his hunger burns So he starts to roam the streets at night And he learns how to steal And he learns how to fight In the ghetto
Then one night in desperation A young man breaks away He buys a gun, steals a car, Tries to run, but he don't get far And his mama cries As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
Based on the previous lyrics, do the following activities. Follow your teacher’s instructions.
a) Antonyms. (Activity 9) Read the lyrics again and find the opposites of the words 1-5; and the synonyms of the words 6-10.
1. Hot ………………. 6. Mommy ………………… 2. Wealthy .………………. 7. Assisting ………………… 3. Laughs ….……………. 8. Just ………………… 4. Happiness …..…………… 9. Close ………………… 5. Get together ……..………… 10. Mad …………………
b) Debate or Writing. (Activity 17) Discuss the following questions with a classmate.
1. Do you see any grammatical mistakes in the song? Which ones? 2. Why do you think this happens? 3. Why do people get poor? 4. Do we need to do something for them? 5. Do you help poor people? How? 6. Who’s the responsible of so much poverty in the world: the government, the people or the poor themselves?
c) Pronunciation Patterns. (Activity 8) The following words appear on the song. Pronounce them out loud so you can be familiarized with their pronunciation. Check the pronunciation pattern.
1. Flies-cries-dies 8. It-in-his 2. Child-blind- 9. Chicago-child 3. Night-fight 10. Baby-face-gray 4. Feed-needs-street 5. Hungry-runny-gun 6. How-crowd-down 7. Another-with-the ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
d) Homophones. (Activity 11) Listen to the song and identify the words that aren’t said in some lines below; then write the correct word on the blanket.
Elvis Presley In the ghetto
As the snow fries …………………… On a cold and gray Chicago mornin' A poor little baby child is corn …………………… In the ghetto
And his mama tries …………………… Cause if there's one thing that she don't need It's another hungry mouth to fee …………………… In the ghetto
People, don't you understand The child needs a helping gang …………………… Or he'll grow to be an angry young man someday Take a look at you and me, Are we too blind to sing, …………………… Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way Well the world turns And a hungry little boy with a runny pose …………………… Plays in the street as the cold wind bows …………………… In the ghetto
And his hunger burns So he starts to roam the streets at fight …………………… And he learns how to steal And he learns how to fight In the ghetto
Then one night in desperation A young man breaks away He buys a gun, steals a bar, …………………… Tries to run, but he don't get far ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
And his mama cries As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man Face down on the street with a gun in his band …………………… In the ghetto
As her young man dies, On a cold and gray Chicago mourning, …………………… Another little baby child is born In the ghetto And his mama fries ……………………
e) Questionnaire. (Activity 10) Read the following facts about this song. Then answer the following questions.
This song is about poverty, describing a child who can't overcome his surroundings and turns to crime, which leads to his death. It was the first song Elvis recorded with a socially- conscious message. He was reluctant to do it for that reason, but knew it would be a hit.
This was written by Mac Davis, who entered the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2006. At the ceremony, Davis explained: "It's a simple matter of growing up with a little boy whose father worked with my father. He lived in a part of town that was a dirt-street ghetto. I grew up in Lubbock, Texas, and it was a ghetto in ever since of the word, but we didn't use that word back then. I was trying to come up with a song called 'The Vicious Circle,' how a child is born, he has no father, and the same thing happens. The word 'Ghetto' became popular in the late '60s to describe the poor parts of town. A friend of mine, Freddy Weller, who used to play guitar for Paul Revere And The Raiders, showed me lick on the guitar one day. I went home and fiddled around with it, I wrote the song and called him up at 4 in the morning and sang it to him. He knew I'd written a hit with his lick, but that's the way it goes."
Davis wrote this as "In The Ghetto (The Vicious Circle)." RCA Records got Davis' permission to drop the subtitle before presenting it to Elvis. ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8
Davis had written some songs for Elvis that were used in his movies, including "A Little Less Conversation" and "Clean Up Your Own Backyard." When Elvis was making his comeback and recording in Memphis, his management asked Davis if he had anything they could use. Davis sent them a tape with this and "Don't Cry Daddy," as the first 2 songs, and Elvis recorded both of them. This was Elvis' first Top 10 hit in 4 years. If Elvis turned this down, the song would have gone to Rosie Grier, a minister and former football player.
Memphis was Elvis' hometown. It was the first time he recorded there since 1956. This was the first release from those sessions. In 2007, Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie Presley recorded tracks that were composited with Elvis' original version to create a duet with this song - similar to what Natalie Cole did with her father's song "Unforgettable." Some proceeds from the sale of the song went to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina.
As part of a series of re-releases of Elvis songs in the UK in 2007, this re-entered the UK chart at #15.
(The preceding paragraphs were taken from: http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=469)
Questions.
1) Why did Elvis sing this song? ……………………………………………………………………………………… 2) Who was this song dedicated to? ……………………………………………………………………………………… 3) Who actually wrote the song? ……………………………………………………………………………………… 4) What are some other songs the writer wrote for Elvis? ………………………………………………………………………………………
ISBN: 978-607-9136-88-8 f) Bingo. (Activity 15) Listen to the song. When you hear any of the things that appear on the following images put a coin. When you get all, cry out: bingo!!