Korean Job Discussion Forums

[The Hammer]

I will be teaching at a winter camp next month, and I need some ideas for how to make a music class fun. I will meet 7 different groups of university students for 6 hours each. The classes will be one hour long. The purpose of the class is for the students to have fun.

Here is my current plan for a typical class during the camp, but I think it is a little weak. Therefore, I would like some advice about how to make this class a success.

Listen to three popular songs at the beginning of class.
Lyrics for all songs will be provided.
After listening to each song I will answer students questions about difficult words or phrases.
Have the students choose one song to discuss in detail.
Listen to that song again.
Sing the song.


What can we do in class that students will enjoy?
What works?
Which songs are good to use?

[katydid]

I'm not sure if it's only m experience, but to have the students choose a song to discuss as well as openly answer questions about words they don't know, whenever I have done something like that "Any questions?" and "What do you want to do?" I get blank stares.

[OiGirl]

Maybe you could teach them some generic "discussing music" questions to start with. Like,

Have you ever felt this way?
What words does the singer use to show how he feels?
Where do you imagine this song taking place?
What's your favorite line from this song?

[peppermint]

I've used music as a listening exercise. . but it's gotta be a very slow clear song. I print out the lyrics and leave out a handful of words. The students have to listen to the lyrics and try to fill them in.

A warning though. Most university students like dismal pop groups like Westlife and N'Sync.

[The Hammer]

[katydid]

Might be the natures of the beasts I had been teaching, too.

[Eunoia]

When you say you are teaching a "music class", why limit yourself to just listening to songs and analyzing lyrics? Why not discuss different types of music (jazz, blues, rock, punk, rap, hip-hop, pop, the different eras of "classical" music...) and the differences between them? Talk about favourite composers / artists. Provide instrumental pieces to listen to, and then have students write about the images or emotions the piece evokes. Explore and discuss world music - African, Caribbean, Asian, Eastern European, Latin, etc. Ask students if anyone plays an instrument and have demonstrations. Discuss the history and development of various instruments. Have students choose a composer and do a report (written with a short oral presentation) about that person. Try some dance or rhythm exercises. Teach them to sing a "round", it doesn't have to be a fancy song - even kids' songs (One Bottle of Pop, or Row Row Row Your Boat, for example) can sound good when sung by a group of adults in harmony - trust me, I know.

Anyway, just some ideas to think about. I have a little experience in this kind of thing, so PM me if you want. Whatever you decide to do, just make it fun and enjoy yourself.

[pet lover]

Where the hell is the delete button when you want it? Why do some posts have it and others don't?

(post deleted)

[Honeybee]

I did a "Music from around the world" quiz that worked well:

I made a tape with 20 -30 seconds of music from diff countries. On a map of the world the students had to listen to the piece and decide which country it came from. The countries usd in the quiz were highlighted on the student map, so they knew which countries were being represented,

Here's what I came up with
England - a beatles song
Scotland - Scotland the Brave
Germany - beethoven Symphony 9
Russia - Tchaikovsky
Africa - A traditional piece from The Power Of One soundtrack
Brazil: The Gypsy Kings,
Japan: A J-pop song
America: M&M
Austria; Mozart
Others I forget, endless possibilities

I also used songs that had country names in their lyrics, students had to listen for the country name.


Also a feelings exercise, How does this piece of music make you feel:
scared, calm, happy, sad, etc ( I never used it, but heard about it)


Forget the rest,

[Harvard Material]

Do you read music? Are you into performance?

[mithridates]

I use music in my songs all the time. I generally choose songs that are good (!), as well as easy to listen to. If I use the Doors it's People are Strange or Riders on the Storm. With the Beatles it's Yesterday, Eleanor Grimby, Nowhere Man, etc.

It's best to use a song with a lot of repetition, or they won't be able to remember it. I first go over the words and tell them the meaning of some words I doubt they would know. Ie, with Riders on the Storm I would tell them the words toad and squirming (His brain is squirming like a toad). Other words that they already know should be easier to pick up.
After arming them with the meaning of a few difficult words, I get them to take out their pencils and I play the song once, telling them to write down what they hear. Most of them won't have heard anything. That's when I play the song over and over again, bit by bit.

Into this house we're born...

What did he say?....didn't get it? Listen again.

Into this house we're born...

That's right, into! All right, into something something something something. Into plus four words. Listen again.

Into this house we're born...

And then once they get it written down I explain the sentence.

"You see, in English poetry it sounds cooler to put the verb on the end and turn things around. If he had said 'We're born into this house' it would have sounded just stupid. On the other hand, if you try putting the verb on the end when talking on the street, you'll sound stupid. If you say 'This afternoon a car I drive!' you'll likely get made fun of..."

And then we go on to the next sentence. It usually takes them some 40 minutes to get a whole song written down, and it's great dictation work. After that we listen to the song again and do some free talking about the band itself.

It doesn't work well with big classes in big rooms though.

[The Hammer]

[The Hammer]

Thanks for the great ideas! I appreciate all of the posts.


BTW-

Students: There will be 10 to 12 students per class.
Facilities: 1 classroom with a stereo.