Using songs in the classroom
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When working with teens and adults, I try to choose familiar songs which they can relate to. Here are some fun exercises:
Go around the room and have each person read one word of the song in sequence. A great way to keep everyone's attention.
Have someone or several people do a dramatic reading of the song.
Stage a video clip of the song.
Write an additional verse to the song.
Many non-native speakers sing along with the radio but mispronounce many words. This is an opportunity to improve their listening and pronunciation skills.
And back to young learners, when one of them tries to remember a word, very often I remind them of a song with a word in it and that helps them remember it.
To contextualise the language ('Where is ....?' and 'Here I am!') in the song 'Where is Thumbkin' (and to learn the names of all my students in the beginning of the year!), I extended it as you saw in the video. I ask for each child and sing it through with them giving them a fun way to practice their greetings. I don't end with 'Go away!' (as is on the original song) but with common greetings such as 'Have a nice day!' and 'Nice to see you!' They love it and use these greetings when they meet me outside the classroom.
Really useful with absolute beginners, I think!
Seema.
I want to share 2 songs I've used recently which also involve social issues and a brief description of activities I used as follow-ups. Both songs can be easily found on the internet.
"Don't Laugh at Me" - I chose this for a class where some children were particularly cruel to others who were less popular. We discussed why children laught at each other, how children feel when they're laughed at, how the children laughing feel and what else they can do to feel good about themselves without making others feel bad. Now we're staging the song with each child playing one of the "misfits" and plan to perform it for the school.
"Who Says" (sung by Selena Gomez) - We talked about why some people try to make others insecure and how they feel about themselves, how the person singing feels and how the person she's singing to feels. They had different ideas about to whom she's speaking in different parts of the song. Then I took out different costumes and told the students to prepare themselves for "auditions", using whatever they need to look and feel their best, thinking about whether they need anything at all. Some, like in the song, were comfortable as they are, some chose to use small accessories and some became someone else completely.
In both cases they learned and gained confidence in their English, but also learned something about themselves.
Hi Vero
Learning a song is a gradual process that can be done over a number of lessons. Very young learners pick up grammar and vocabulary as they sing. Here’s just one way to teach a song:
1) Play /sing the song. Do the actions and encourage the students to join in with the actions as they listen. You can invent simple actions for any song.
2) Play/sing short sections of the song and get students to repeat each part.
3) Play/sing the song and pause (or stop singing) for children to sing the last part, eg,
T: Old Macdonald had a ……….
SS: Farm
You can demonstrate that you want students to sing by cupping your ear with your hand.
4) Everyone sings and does actions together.
It'd be great to hear more ideas on teaching songs. : )
Sally
Hi Chidinma - yes songs can be an engaging and effective learning resource in the teen classroom.
Kevin Thomson suggests some ways of using songs in class in this article. I really like the idea of getting learners actively involved in choosing the songs and helping create some of the activities (it takes a lot of the pressure off of teachers too!). Could that work for you?
Chris
I have been using songs for a long time and I do think this method is very effective.
Not only students get engaged but also learn a lot.
Halina