Following #ELTchat from Jan 12th about Teaching English through songs: activities, resources and benefits of using songs for teaching, this is part 2 on reasons and ideas for using songs.
Why use songs?
- Songs can be very effective to work on supra-segmental features of the language.
- Songs as poetry.
- Songs (and poems) a great way to look at words that share the same sounds.
- Songs provide multiple routes to language retention: rhythm, melody, metre.
- Songs are great for pronunciation practice especially sound linking and reduction.
- Slow songs can help students learn intonation, elision etc.
- Chants are good for pronunciation exercises.
- Songs enable bottom-up/top-down processing simultaneously.
- Songs are for great vocabulary extension / vocabulary themes.
- Songs can prompt discussion *about* the song.
- Songs are a great way to access slang.
- New options to “fill-in-blank”.
Possible tasks
- Organize student presentations: 4-5 lines of lyrics, with translation, then short YouTube clip, then 100+ words on why they like the song.
- Have background music to put students at ease when doing song tasks.
- Have students write a song.
- Use songs to encourage discussions in my literature classes. For ex Animal Farm with Revolution by The Beatles.
- Use songs to prompt discussion *about* the song. Play a clip, students talk (Have you ever heard this, Do you like this, etc).
- Use two versions of songs and get student s to compare them like 2 versions of Candle in the wind .
- Take your PlayStation to class and use SingStar (karaoke) – great fun with teenagers.
- Get student s to write additional verses.
- Play song once, ask students to write down as many words as they can, pair them up, and ask them to create a new song with the words.
- Use screen capture to take pics from a song video, they can then be used for ordering/ prediction(inspired by @cheimi10).
- Have a Skype call with another class. (We sang for them and they sang for us! It was amazing!).
- The usual pre, while and post listening/viewing phases: covers mood, vocabulary and application.
- If there are different visuals to a music video, or advert using a song, it can be interesting to consider the differences.
- Play the song and ask them to design a concept for the video.
- Get Young Learners to mime song, teens to act out a scene of what they think happened. Improvising!
- Get Weird Al’s versions and compare with originals. The videos are also a good idea.
- Play a song as student s come into room at beginning of a class and do nothing with it; can have a great impact on general mood.
- Ask students to participate in song selection too for ownership and deeper engagement! Give them 5 and have them vote on top 3!
- Do a kind of Jukebox Jury with a handful of songs. Students have to vote for their favourite.
- Use instrumental music as a way to frame a guided visualisation.
- Ask students to draw while listening, then talk about what they drew.
- Use a mix of music from the countries of my students. They have to explain similarities and differences in the sentiments of the songs
- Let students choose a song about any global issue… sing along and discuss. When student s choose they feel empowered. They can even gap the songs themselves.
- Get student s to research the singers/ bands and do projects or presentations on them.
- Maybe ask your students to try to recreate this video.
- Write key words on bits of coloured paper – hand out to student s – they have to stand up when they hear their word – usually great fun!
- Look at songs as poetry: form, metaphor, emotion. Working extensively with lyrics post-listening can be very powerful.
- With appropriate groups discussing “inappropriate” lyrics might be very productive.
- When teaching poetry and figures of speech, start with a song…more accessible for teens.
- Lyrics race: teams memorize one line of written song and race across classroom/hall to recorder who writes down. At end all listen.
- Can be interesting to think about using and comparing cover versions with originals.
- Look at different versions of same song and get students to listen out for differences in voice or Instruments as with Hallelujah.
- Use literal songs – they’re so funny! (many on YouTube).
- Get student s to make up new endings or make up their own versions of songs.
- A nice idea with a story song : stop half way through the song and get student s to predict ending.
- Give students half the rhyme and get them to make up the other half- Can be hilarious (careful with teens).
- Scrambled lyrics: give students lyrics but put lines out of order. Students reorder, then listen.
- Have children do their own songs to famous tunes, works really well with rap.
- Play bits of songs / soundtracks and ask students to write adjectives they think of on the board – no repetition allowed.
- Play a soundtrack and ask students to guess the kind of film – good for slightly out-of-date so not too easy.
- Do grammar revision through song titles.
- Use songs/videos as writing prompts. Students listen/watch, then retell or answer questions.
- Eliciting a class story from a song or piece of music (eg Duo de las flores by Delibes).
- Get student s making karaoke files (they learn while doing/sharing).
- Use karaoke versions of songs on YouTube and have an occasional sing off with students.
Hope you enjoyed part 2...more on the way!
