Wednesday, July 4, 2012

I love this song...but how to teach it?



Songs are awesome! And I have seen SO many gap fill assignments (which are nice) but let's look at how else to use songs. I like to use videos students haven't seen, so this works well because even if they know the song my Mexican students won't know the K-Pop visuals, and if my Korean students recognized the bands they won't know the lyrics.
1. Make your own songs: So for this one instead of: "All the rowboats in the paintings they keep trying to row away, and the captains' worried faces stay contorted and staring at the waves." you could change it so something to review parts of speech, "All the nouns stay in the paintings they are objects or things. Without verbs they have no action there is no moving." or whatever. Songs are a great way to review concepts you have learned or just give students something to humm during tests.

2. Use songs to describe grammar points: This would be an easy song to use for prepositions (and you
could follow up by asking about the people in the video: they are on the table, under the fence etc). One person however did a really good example of this (using a different song) below. I wouldn't show the whole thing to my students but it is a very complete example.
:

3. Practice Punctuation Lyrics are hardly ever punctuated properly as they are arranged by rhythym and rhyme rather than syntax. Have your students avoid comma splices and run ons by punctuating a song,
 "First there's lights out, then there's lock up
Masterpieces serving maximum sentences
It's their own fault for being timeless
There's a price you pay and a consequence
All the galleries, the museums
Here's your ticket, welcome to the tombs"

"First there's lights out, then there's lock up: masterpieces serving maximum sentences. It's their own fault for being timeless; there's a price you pay and a consequence. All the galleries, the museums, here's your ticket; welcome to the tombs."

4. Describe music videos! I LOVE music videos.
  • Write ten sentences describing the video. Have five of the sentences be incorrect. This can be any grammar point. Participle phrases, appositives, tense, proper modifiers, etc. Examples:
      • The owls eyes, looked right at you, are scary.
      • The people attacks the fence trying to destroy it.
      • There are much people dancing at the party
    • Students should correct the five wrong sentences 
      • The owls eyes, looking right at you, are scary.
      • The people attack the fence trying to destroy it.
      • There are many people dancing at the party.
  • Use the  grammar point. Tell students that they need to write ten sentences using participle phrases / adjectives / adverbial clauses / whatever to describe what is happening. They get really specificand soemtimes funny!
5. Mess up the lyrics Write the lyrics incorrectly and have students try to fix them.
  • You can mess up the words for minmal pairs/homophones "Thirst their's lights out," instead out "First there's lights out." Depending on the level on your students you can either have them do it without listening (and then let them listen to check), have them listen without the paper and then pass out the paper and have them work from memory, or have them do it while listening.
  • Mess with the tenses:  "First there's lights out, then there are lock up" have students read messed up lyrics and fix the verbs. Then listen to the song to check. To differentiate tell some students how many mistakes are in each collumn, and don't tell others. Or, give one student a worksheet with more/more difficult mistakes.
6. Work the Paragraph Have students find a Topic Sentence in the song. It can be literal (Tequila makes her clothes fall off) or deeper "This song discusses immigration policies" "This song is about how people don't appreciate art" "This song is about a holocaust museum" Then have them find support in the lyrics. This really makes students follow paragraph structure using evidence from the song and then explaining it in their own words.
7. Spice up a song Take lyrics out of a song and have students make them better
  • Remind them to use synonyms. She says, "all the rowboats" a lot, what else could she say?
  • Have them add adjectives or clauses to make better sentences.
  • Underline phrases that could be changed to phrasal verbs or phrasal verbs that they have to change to phrases "First there's lights out, then there's lock up" --> First everyone has to make the rooms dark, then everything gets closed.
8. Make it active! TPR doesn't have to just be for kids! Give each group a chunk of the song and have them make up a quick dance/collection of hand movements WHICH MAKES SENSE with the lyrics. This really means they ahve to focus on meaning and think outside of the box to prove comprehension.
There we have 8 easy ways to get songs into the classroom. How do you like to incorporate music? How else would you use this song? (Check out more from Carissa here: http://eslcarissa.blogspot.com/)

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Followers

Teaching Topics

A1 (1) AAFLT (1) AATG (15) About LTT (1) Abroadways (1) Accusative Prepositions (1) Achievement Gap (1) ACTA (1) ACTFL (18) Activities (1) Adjectives (3) Advanced Learners (11) Advanced/intermediate Learners (4) Adventskalender (2) Advertisements on TV (1) AEPE (1) Afghanistan (1) African-American English (1) AITLA (1) Alabama Immigration (1) Algeria (1) All Languages (11) Alphabet (2) Alsace (1) Amazing Race (3) Anglicisms (3) Animals (1) Animoto (1) App-Gap (2) Applied Linguistics (1) Apps (11) Aprendizaje Movil (1) Arabic (4) Argentina (1) Argentine Culture (1) Armored Penguin (1) articulation (2) Assessment (5) Asterix (1) Audacity (1) Audio (1) Augsburg (1) Australia (1) Avatar Software (1) Aventa (1) AZCALL (1) Baalbek (1) Bairisch (4) Ballet (1) Ballinstadt Museum (1) Balloons (1) Battleship (3) Bayerischer Rundfunk (1) Bayern (7) BBC (1) Beginners (4) Belgium (2) Berlin (5) Berlin Wall (2) Berufe (1) Bier (1) Bilingual Education (3) Bilingualism (11) Bing (1) Bingo (4) Birthdays (1) Blancanieves (1) Blended Learning (3) blog (2) Blog Carnival (1) Board Races (1) Body Parts (2) Bolivia (1) Brazil (1) Budget Cuts (24) Bundesländer (1) Bunny (1) Business (5) BYOD (1) Cafe Press (1) CALL (1) Call for Papers (7) Caperucita Roja (1) Carissa (18) Carissa Peck (19) Carnaval (1) Carnival (2) CELE (1) Cell Phones (1) Cenicienta (1) Cheating (2) Chicago (1) Child Foreign Language Acquisition (2) China (28) Chinese (56) Chinese Culture (1) Chinese Grammar (9) Chinese Music (1) Chinese Video (1) Chinese Vocabulary (8) Christmas (1) Chronicle of Higher Education (1) CIEFE (1) Cities (1) CIVTRALFE (1) Class Size (1) Classroom Management (1) CLEAR (1) Clipart (1) Cloud Computing (2) Cloze Activities (1) CLTA (1) Club Digital (1) Cognates (2) Collaboration (2) Colombia (3) Colors (4) Commands (1) Commas (1) Commercials (5) Common Core (1) Condicional Simple (1) Conditional (1) Conferences (279) Confucius Institutes (1) Conjugation (7) Conjunctions (1) Content Language Integrated Learning (1) Conversaçãos (4) Conversaciones (8) Conversation (3) Cooking (1) Corpus linguistics (1) Counterfeit goods (1) Cousteau (1) Crime (1) Crossword Puzzles (4) Cuba (1) Culcha Candela (1) Culture (17) Current Events (2) Curriculum and Instruction (1) Curriculum Innovation (3) Currywurst (2) Da- Compounds (1) DAAD (3) Dalai Lama (1) Dance (1) Das Erste (1) Dative (1) Dative Prepositions (1) Days of the week (1) DDR (1) Delaware (1) DELE (1) Denglisch (1) Description (2) Deutsche Welle (63) Dialects (10) Dias de la semana (1) Dietrich (1) Digital Classroom (6) Digital Content (1) Digital Curriculum (1) Digital Leadership (1) Digital Literacy (2) digital tools (2) Directions (3) Discover Languages Month (2) Discussion (3) Documentary (5) Don Quixote (1) Dos dias en la vida (1) Downloads (25) Drawing (1) Dresden (1) Dual Language Programs (12) Duolingo (1) E-reader (1) Easter (2) ebook (1) ECLL (1) Ed-Tech (48) Education (2) Education Issues (14) Education Reform (3) Educational Technology (5) EFL (43) EFL Video (11) Einstein (1) El Reino del Revés (1) ELE (7) Elementary Levels (4) ELL (22) ELT (12) Emotions (1) Enfoque (2) engagement (1) England (1) Engleutsch (1) English (42) English Grammar (8) English Vocabulary (22) ESL (94) Esskultur (1) Estar (4) Être (1) Events (3) Expressions (1) Fairy tales (5) Fall (1) False Cognates (6) Family (1) Farsi (1) Faust (1) FCLM (1) Feelings (2) Festival Cine Latinoamericano (1) Films (4) First Day (1) FLAME (1) FLE (3) FLENJ (1) Flipped Classroom (1) Flipped Instruction (5) Fluency (2) Focus Online (1) Food (5) Forbes (2) Foreign Languages (9) Foreign TV (1) France (28) France Cuisine (1) France Region (6) Frankfurt (2) Free Speech (1) Freebies (2) Freiburg (1) French (270) French Accent (6) French Art (5) French Chic (5) French Cuisine (8) French Culture (48) French Documentary (11) French Expressions (2) French Fashion (1) French Film (2) French Food (5) French Grammar (15) French History (2) French Humor (11) French Karaoke (1) French Lifestyle (14) French Music (37) French Politics (1) French Slang (1) French Soccer (1) French Songs (3) French Video (106) French Vocabulary (33) Funny (1) futbol americano (1) Futur II (1) Future (1) Games (25) Gangnam Style (1) General Education (3) ger (1) German (691) German Art (2) German Commercial (7) German Culture (62) German Dialects (4) German Food (10) German Grammar (63) German History (10) German Idioms (5) German Linguistics (1) German Literature (1) German Movies (4) German Music (45) German Philosophers (1) German Politics (1) German Proverbs (3) German Science (1) German Slang (1) German Soccer (4) German States (1) German TV (4) German Video (109) German Vocabulary (125) German World (2) Germany (14) Gespräche (14) Getränke (1) Ghetto Culture (1) Global Kidz Lab (1) Globalization (2) Glogster (1) Goethe-Institut (6) Good Grade Pills (1) Google (4) Google Docs (1) Google Input (1) Google Translate (2) Gossip Game (1) Grammar (10) Grammar Exercises (2) Greece (1) Grimm (1) Group Activities (35) Guessing Game (2) Gustar (3) Halloween (2) HALT (2) Hamburg (5) Hashtags (1) Heidelberg (1) higher education (4) Hispanic (7) History (2) History of the Mediterranean Countries (1) Hoja de Coca (1) Holidays (1) Hong Kong (1) Houston (1) http://jalt.org/conference (1) iBooks (1) Ice breaker. EFL. Beginner (2) Icebreakers (6) ICL (1) ICLCC (1) ICLDC (1) ICLEHI (1) ICLEI (1) ICLLA (1) ICLT (1) ICoLLT (1) Idioms (6) IFLTA (3) IICLL (1) Illegal Downloading (1) Immersion Education (2) Immersion Programs (25) imparfait (1) Imperative (3) Imperativo (3) Imperfect (2) Imperfecto (1) Indiana University (1) Inferencing (1) Infographics (3) Intensive Language Programs (1) Intermediate Learners (6) International Education Week (1) International Exchange (2) Interview Activities (6) Intonation (1) Introductions (2) IOLC (1) iPad (10) IPhone (4) IPhone App (4) Irregular Verbs (7) ISeLT (1) Isla de Pascua (1) ISLC (1) ISLS (1) Italian (30) Italian Geography (1) Italian Grammar (5) Italian Idioms (2) Italian Music (4) Italian Video (1) Italian Videos (1) Italian Vocabulary (14) Italy (1) J (1) J-SLA (1) Japan (18) Japanese (162) Japanese Culture (22) Japanese Dialects (1) Japanese Food (2) Japanese Grammar (21) Japanese History (2) Japanese Music (22) Japanese Soccer (2) Japanese Video (21) Japanese Vocabulary (40) Japnaese (2) Jarabe de Palo (1) JLLL (1) Jobs (555) Jorge Drexler (1) Kaffee (1) Kaffeestunde (1) Kaiwa (6) Kaleidoskop (1) kanji (4) Karneval (1) Keigo (1) Khan Academy (2) Kiezdeutsch (1) Kindergarten (1) Knowmia (1) Koenji Awa Odori (1) Köln (2) Konjunktiv I (1) Korea (2) Krampus (2) Krashen (1) L2 (1) L2 writing (7) L3 2013 (1) La historia de Juan (1) La infidelidad en la era de la informatica (1) Lang-8 (1) langchat (1) Language Acquisition (2) Language Advocacy (25) Language Certification (1) Language Change (3) Language Development (5) Language Diversity (1) Language History (6) Language Immersion (13) Language Learning (32) Language Policy (26) Language Radio (1) Language Teaching (15) Language Teaching Technology (41) Language Testing (6) Language Training (1) Latin American Spanish (2) Latvia (1) Le Mot Du Jour (2) Learner Age (1) Learning Apps (1) Learning Myths (1) Learning Styles (4) Lecture Series (1) Leipzig (6) Les Guignols (1) Lesson Plans (4) LFLTA (1) Life in London (1) LILA (1) Lineas de Tiempo (1) Linguafolio (1) Linguistics (23) Listening (12) Listening Comprehension (25) Literacy (2) LLC (1) Local Events (8) LOL (1) Loopster (1) Lyon (1) MadLibs (1) magazine (1) Make Me a Story (1) Mandarin (8) Manga (1) Maps (2) Märchen (2) Marrocco (1) Marseille (1) Matching (1) mathematics (1) MATSOL (1) Mauerfall (1) Mayas (2) Me gusta el futbol (1) Media (4) Media Markt (2) Medical German (1) Mercedes (1) Mexican Culture (2) Mexico (2) MIAM (1) Microsoft (1) Military (1) MindSnacks (1) MIT (1) Mnemonic (7) Moai (1) Mobile Devices (2) Mobile Learning (1) Modal Verbs (2) Monsters (1) MOOCs (3) Morocco (1) Movies (3) Mozart (2) Multilingualism (2) München (6) Museumsinsel (1) Music (9) Names (1) Nertherlands (1) Netflix (1) New Releases (14) New Year (1) News (787) NICCIELTL (1) NNELL (1) Nook (1) Number Bingo (2) Numbers (5) October (1) OFLA (1) Oktoberfest (3) Old English (1) Olympics (1) Online Activities (1) Online Alternatives (6) Online Courses (5) Online Language Learning (4) Online Languge Learning (2) Online Translators (5) Oral Evaluation (1) Otaku (1) PALA (1) Paris (2) parts of speech (2) Passé Composé (2) Passiv (1) Past tense (1) pbl (1) Pen Pals (1) phonetics (1) Photos (3) Phrasal Verbs (1) Phrases (1) Pictures (14) Piñatas (1) Pinterest (5) Play (1) Playing Dice (1) Podcasts (2) Politics (1) Poll (1) Portuguese (7) Portuguese Videos (4) Posadas (1) Possessive Pronouns (1) Pre-school (1) Prepositions (3) Present Perfect (1) Preterit (2) Preterite (5) Preterito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo (1) Priming (1) Processability Approaches (1) Productivity (1) Products (3) ProfELE (2) Professional Development (1) Program Development (2) Program Funding (1) project-based learning (3) Pronouns (3) pronunciation (6) publication (1) Publishing (1) Pumuckl (1) Purdue (5) Puzzles (1) Qatar (1) Quest-Based Learning (1) Question and Answer (2) Quizzes (1) Rabbit (1) Radio Bilingue (1) Raytheon (1) Reading (4) Reading Activities (7) Reading Comprehension (5) Reading practice (3) Recuerdos (1) Recycling (2) Reflection (1) Reflexive Pronouns (5) Reflexive Verbs (7) Refranes (7) Relative Pronouns (2) RELC (1) Research (1) Retire in Morocco (1) Review (1) Riddles (6) Robin Williams (1) Role-Play (8) Role-Playing (1) Role-Plays (7) Romance Languages (1) Rosetta Stone (2) Russian (4) Sachsen (1) Salzburg (5) Sanskrit (1) Sapporo (1) SCFLTA (1) Schwarzfahrer (1) Scientology (1) Scotland (1) Second Languages (2) SecondLife (1) Sentence Builder (1) Separable Prefix Verbs (1) Ser (4) Service-learning (1) Shakira (1) Shanghai (2) Short Films (3) SIUS (1) Skype (3) SLA Methods (3) Slate (1) Soccer (3) Social Media (6) Sociolinguistics (2) Song (28) Songs (23) Songs for Children (7) Sony Virtuoso (1) Soo Meta (1) Spain (1) Spanish (258) Spanish Culture (21) Spanish Dialects (5) Spanish Grammar (33) Spanish Idiom (1) Spanish Idioms (1) Spanish in Contact with Other Languages (1) Spanish in the US (1) Spanish Music (23) Spanish Song (1) Spanish Songs (6) Spanish TV (1) Spanish Video (83) Spanish Vocabulary (22) Speaking Activities (18) Spelling Bee (1) Spring (1) Spring Break (1) Staatskongress (1) Standards (2) Stationen (1) Statistical Tests (1) Step Into German (1) Stereotypes (4) Stories (2) Stories for Children (12) Story Chains (1) Streaming (1) Study Abroad (10) Subjunctive (6) Subjuntivo (1) Subordinate Clauses (1) Superbowl (1) Surrealist (1) Sushi (1) Switzerland (5) Symposium (8) T-Test (1) Taiwan (1) TALGS (1) Tanger (1) Tangier (1) Task Based Learning (1) TCCRISLS (2) Teacher Tip (2) Teaching Approaches (4) Teaching Challenges (2) Teaching Commands (5) Teaching Issues (4) Teaching Materials (3) Teaching Methods (4) Teaching Skills (1) Teaching Strategies (17) Teaching tips (12) Teachnology (5) Techlandia (2) Technology (125) Telenovelas (1) TELL (1) Templates (1) Tener (1) Tenses (2) TESOL (23) Test-Taking (1) Texting (3) tipping (1) TL Variations (1) TOEFL (5) Tongue Twisters (10) Total Physical Response (1) Tourism (3) TPR (7) TPRS (1) Trabant (1) Transition Words (2) Translation (8) Travel Opportunities (2) TSLL (1) Tübingen (1) Tunisia (3) Twitter (9) U-Bahn (1) Understanding (1) UNESCO (1) University of Montana (1) Urban Architecture (1) Urlaub (1) Useful Websites (186) Vacations (1) Verb of the Week (41) Verbling (1) Verbs (12) Video (45) Video Games (1) Video Lesson Plans (1) Video Star (2) video-bilinguisme- enfants (1) Videos (9) Vienna (4) Visas (1) Vocabulary (25) Voz Pasiva (1) VW (1) Wartburg (1) Webcams (1) Webinars (12) Welcome (1) Werbe-Deutsch (1) Wetoku (1) Whiteboard (1) Wien (4) Will Ferrell (1) Wine (1) Wo- Compounds (1) word (21) Word Acquisition (3) Word Engine (1) Word Lens (1) word problems (1) Word Searches (7) Wordle (6) Wordle™ (1) Workshops (13) World Cup (3) World Englishes (5) World Languages (1) Wort der Woche (1) Wortschatz (1) WOW (1) Writing Activities (7) Yabla (1) Youtube (1) Zungenbrecher (3) Zürich (2)
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...