Job Discussion Forums

[doreenp]

I've been following these wonderful postings for months, maybe years, you tend to lose track of time here in Davespace.

I finally have a query to put forth to one and all. We are making up lesson plans this month based on Songs and have had an amazing and fun time.
Some lyrics i've been singing for years have turned out to be totally wrong or the jist of the song really wasn't what i had originally thought it was!
My question to everyone is this. What's your favourites? Good and / or Bad. and if anyone can ever find out the true meaning to McArthurs Park, good luck !

thanks
D.

[Dr.J]

I used to think the chorus to the REM song sidewinder was 'call me in jamaica'. But it wasn't.

[Laura C]

I once thought the chorus of the Velvet Undergrounds's 'Femme Fatale' ('she's a femme fatale') was 'she's a filthy cow'...

L

[doreenp]

I used to think that "Hold me close tiny Dancer" was Tony Danza, and still sing it that way today.

But what i'm looking for is , what songs made for a really good class, and what songs have you used that really bombed.

I personally like the "oldies"

d

[leeroy]

I've never used it personally, but I hear that the Beatles one that goes "You say goodbye, and I say hello... hello! hello! ...." (Is it called "Hello Goodbye"?) is really good for Elementary students.

[denise]

I've given up trying to do a whole lesson on a song--invariably, the students (or I) get sick of hearing it over and over and over, and the follow-up activities feel forced.

Now I just bring in a song and spend maybe the first ten minutes on it--enough to listen to it twice and do some sort of activity (often a gap-fill--I really must find something else!). Then I move on with the "lesson." I do try to find some sort of connection--on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, I played U2's "MLK" ("Pride" would have been too difficult to understand, I thought), and during our unit on stress, I played Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds." I am desperately trying to find a valid reason to play Bowie's "Space Oddity" this Friday, but so far no luck...

d

[Dr.J]

Hm, the activity that works best for me is when the students line up the lyrics cut up into strips. There is less pressure and at least equal listening practice to a gap fill.

Also, with gap fills you should make sure there is a relation between the words; e.g. blank out all the adjectives or proper names. It makes it easier to do pre or post-song activities.

[arioch36]

I think Denise's post points to a problem we must recognize in ourselves; are we playing what is good for us, or our students?

What age are your students? What is their english ability?

I now do songs more often because I find it to be good for the students. We have a part of our brain that works with lyrics and songs. So I like to pick ones they can sing

Yesterday is one of the first songs I use because it is easy and simple. Good for a lesson plan? I don't know. For a lesson plan I might use Seasons in the Sun ( originally by Terri Jacks? now you can download it from the net in karaoke done by Westlife) Life relationships, dealing with hardship death, etc.

Blowing in the wind. You can download this in karaoke. Easy to sing, lots to talk about.

Puff the Magic Dragon (Talking about child toys, friendships, and more, not about smoking stuff ) Lots of good adjective material

[kaw]

I've used a number of songs in the class with a variety of ages and levels.
Popular ones I can think of off the top of my head:
Every Breath you Take - Police (used as a gap fill)
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton - (also to be found in Headway Elementary I think)
It's my life - Bon Jovi - a bit of Rock always gets them going

Have loads more but am about to rush off for a lesson - pm me for more ideas.

K

[Capergirl]

In Taiwan, we did a lot of the Carpenters' and Beatles' tunes with them. For some reason "Yellow submarine" was always a huge hit with the students. We even did "YMCA" (Village People) with the actions and all. They loved that.

My adult students in Canada wouldn't go for that kind of music, so I play stuff from artists like Billy Joel and The Police. I even went so far as to play the tune "Russians" for my Russian students. I also like to play some local artists' music (The Rankins, the Barra MacNeils, Great Big Sea).

I think if you are going to incorporate songs into a lesson, there has to be some educational value and some entertainment value.

[Kurochan]

I used the songs "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Lemon Tree" because they helped the students practice sounds they had trouble with (for example, th in the).

Here's a fun idea for really advanced students: Play them one of the famous impenetrable songs, like "Rock Me Like a Hurricane," or "Rock the Casbah," and have them write down what they THINK are the words. Then, go over some of what the students have written, talk about if their interpretations are valid English or not, and then reveal (& explain) the real words to the songs. This could be fun for a light lesson, just before the holidays or something.

[richard ame]

Hi
In the past I used to plan whole lessons around one,two or even three songs and generally they were well received by the kids ,I got past the usual gap fill exercise after about a year and then started to get them to write what they thought the singer was trying to say in the song,usually got a lot of strange replies to that one .
Stuff like the Cure's" it's Friday I'm in love "was a good one for doing days of the week and Beautiful South's "Ilove you from the bottom of my pencil case was a hoot . Even did" Walk on the wild side " by Lou Reed with a Lise 1 class and had the females in the class doing the coloured girls routine,what a gas . No wonder they thought I was great most of the other teaching staff were dead from the neck up, still are by all accounts .Its all about taking a risk sometimes it turns against you ,and you just say Oh well lets try that again when you are about 20 years older ,other times you sit back and watch the show and they sing the song for weeks after ,because its the only English they know .

[FGT]

I recommend Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" as a dictogloss and discussion with higher level classes.

[shmooj]

If you yourself are musical you can play the song to/with the class. I play guitar and on the rare occasions I have done a song like this in class, I whip out my guitar and do the song instead of hit play on some audio device. It certainly focusses them on listening and usually, the whole class joins in singing the song.

I'll never forget the look on one particular business man's face when I turned up to his private class in his office in my suit with by guitar strapped to my back. Within 30 mins the two of us were having an impromptu Beatles karaoke session - it was hilarious. His secretary never forgot it either!

[shmooj]

BTW, a recommedation for a song that is good for teaching future plan functions along with present simple for states and routines:

Rocket Man, Elton John