INTRODUCING WINEHOUSE IN THE ENGLISH CLASS

Introduction This teaching unit was designed as the final work for Literatura Inglesa III course. ’s songs approach many issues that I, as a teacher to be, find very important to discuss in class, such as toxic/abusive relationships, romantic disappointments, and drug addiction. Introducing these topics in the class is also following some instructions presented in the BNCC of High School. This document claims that the school must receive and accept students’ different youths, and one way of doing it is by “conhecer-se e lidar melhor com seu corpo, seus sentimentos, suas emoções e suas relações interpessoais, fazendo-se respeitar e respeitando os demais” (BRASIL, 2017, p.466). The BNCC also brings a very important expression, especially when it comes to High School: projeto de vida. The document supports that é papel da escola auxiliar os estudantes a aprender a se reconhecer como sujeitos, considerando suas potencialidades e a relevância dos modos de participação e intervenção social na concretização de seu projeto de vida. É, também, no ambiente escolar que os jovens podem experimentar, de forma mediada e intencional, as interações com o outro, com o mundo, e vislumbrar, na valorização da diversidade, oportunidades de crescimento para seu presente e futuro. (BRASIL, 2017, p.473)

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This teaching unit comes as an attempt of incorporating all these ideas and competences in the English class. Introducing music, Amy Winehouse, and such taboo discussions in High School classes may be one of the most challenging things I have done during my undergraduate course, but I would love to have had these classes when I was at school.

The teaching unit

Class 1

1. T announces Ss they will be studying some songs of a famous English singer. T asks, Ss to try to guess who he/she is. T gives some clues about the singer, until someone finally gets it. If they don’t, T writes “Amy Winehouse” on the board and asks Ss what they know about her. It is important that T brainstorms on the board what Ss already know.

2. T gives Ss Amy’s biography from IMDb. Ss are divided into 5 groups, and each one is responsible for reading a paragraph. Afterwards, each group tells the

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whole group what was read. T encourages Ss to say their impressions and opinions about Amy’s life.

3. T announces the first song they are going to listen to: “You Sent Me Flying”. Before giving the lyrics, T plays it on the speakers and asks Ss to pay attention to the rhythm and the melody. After listening to it, T asks Ss what they thought about it, and whether it reminds them of other songs. It is possible that many Ss

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are being presented to an Amy’s song for the first time, so it is important for them to elicit and think about her music style.

4. Ss are given the lyrics, and it is played once more. T starts a discussion about the song and its lyrics, letting Ss say their impressions and opinions in a very spontaneous way and also suggesting some questions for them to think about, such as:

5. Ss are invited to write a small letter to Amy. T explains Ss should write some sort of advice and comfort words, having in mind what she has been through according to “You Sent Me Flying”. They are collected by T and given back in the following class.

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Class 2

1. T reviews with Ss what was seen in the previous class. T conducts a brainstorming moment, in which Ss say things they remember about Amy’s bio or her song, while T writes them on the board.

2. T announces the song they are going to listen to next: “”. She asks if Ss have already listened to this song. Once again, before giving Ss the lyrics, T plays it on the speakers and uses the video projector to play “Back to Black”’s official music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJAfLE39ZZ8). Afterwards, Ss are asked what they think about it, what they can understand from the lyrics and what their impressions about the video are.

3. Ss receive the song’s lyrics, and it is played once more. T conducts a discussion about the song and its lyrics. She may suggest some questions to be discussed,

such as:

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4. Ss are presented to the last song, “Rehab”. Once again, before receiving the lyrics, Ss are presented to the song and its music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUmZp8pR1uc). T asks some questions:

5. The last part of the class and of the teaching unit is for Ss to think about all they have listened to and read to this point. T asks whether Ss remember how Amy died, back in 2011. Having in mind Amy’s songs and lyrics, her bio, and everything they know about the singer, Ss are asked to write a letter to Amy, in a similar way as the one written in the previous class. However, this time the letter must be longer, and Ss must take into account all their knowledge about the singer. The idea is for Ss to write this letter showing support for Amy (the support she did not have while she was alive) and supposing it would be delivered to her before her death. Ss should try to answer in the letter the following question: “If Amy was alive and you could help her avoid her early death, what would you say?”. After Ss write their letters, they share what they have written by reading them in small groups of classmates. This is also the moment for Ss to make their

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self-evaluation of what they have learned. Ss write down a small paragraph about their impressions and their learning process over the two classes.

6. T invites Ss to keep listening to Amy after these classes and explains the importance of going after some other female singers.

Reference BRASIL. Base Nacional Comum Curricular (versão final). 2017. Disponível em: http://basenacionalcomum.mec.gov.br/images/BNCC_EI_EF_110518_versaofinal_site. pdf Acesso em: 23 dezembro. 19.

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Lívia Majolo Rockenbach é estudante de Licenciatura em Letras com ênfase nas Línguas Portuguesa e Inglesa pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Atualmente é bolsista de Iniciação Científica (PIBIC/CNPq) na área de Sociolinguística.

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