Teacher Discussion Forums

I need some serious lesson planning help. I'm in a certification program and am frustrated at how much is assumed...for one thing, it's assumed that all of us have backgrounds in education and therefore know how to design a lesson plan.

I do not know how to do this.

I'm to design a lesson plan based on a song; the 'class' that I'm designing this for is an upper-intermediate level. The song I've been assigned is A Bridge Over Troubled Waters....so, i was thinking I could focus on metaphors and contractions?

This is supposed to be a lesson that's for an entire class period, 1-2 hours and is therefore supposed to incorporate several mini-lessons within it.
One thing I do know I'll do in a fill-in-the blanks while listening to the song activity.

Other than that, I'm blank. I don't have anything to model this from and I'm stressing out because lesson planning isn't second nature to me like it is for most of the folks in this class. :/

Help, please? I'm so scared that I'm going to fail this class....

Just a few ideas:

1) You could focus on pronunciation by showing stress in words:
You could start with what a syllable is: part of a word containing 1 vowel sound. If you're iffy on syllables, google it...

First, show the one-syllable words from the song, highlighting the vowel sound each word has:

small
tears
eyes
dry
side
times
rough
...

Then, the 2-syllable words from the song:

weary
feeling
troubled
water
comfort
darkness
around
silver
sailing
behind
evening

Finally, you could move on to intonation, where the stress is within the "sentences" of the song:

"When you're weary, feeling small"
"When tears are in your eyes"
...

Throughout this part of the lesson, you could pre-teach each part, do a few examples from the lyrics, and then have the students work on the rest in pairs/small groups, reviewing at the end.

2) Meanings: You could have students match vocabulary from the song to definitions/synonyms in a handout you prepare before-hand. This could also be small cut-outs, pieces of paper that the students have to match. You could make it into a memory game, where students flip a piece of paper over to reveal what's written on it, and then flip another piece of paper to find the match...
Example: weary -- tired/tiring or tedious
shine -- excel/emit light
etc...

3) Expressions/Idioms: You could point out some expressions from the lyrics which are not entirely literal. Perhaps you could either have them match to meanings, or you could have groups debate what they might mean.
Example: feeling small = probably means something along the lines of "discouraged".
times get rough = difficulties/problems in your life.
...

You could, for each expression, give choices of what the expression could mean including the correct answer.

Example: What does "feeling small" mean?
a) When someone is short, not tall
b) When someone feels discouraged
c) When someone has very little feeling
d) When someone feels a small object with their hands

4) Crossword: Make a crossword with the words from the song (you could use www.eclipsecrossword.com) where students are put in pairs and given half the words (all the 'across' words to half the pairs in the class, and all the 'down' words to the other half). The pairs work together to make definitions/clues for the words they have. Once all pairs are finished, one person from each pair or 'across' words works with one person from the 'down' words. Students say their clues and their new partners must figure out what the word is based on the definition/clue they are given. pm me for more details on this if you need.

5) Making new sentences with the words from the song: Cut out all the words from the song, one paper for each word. Students must work together to make new sentences (a new song?) from the words.

Hope this helps...

When you're weary, feeling small
When tears are in your eyes,
I will dry them all, all
I'm on your side
Oh, when times get rough
and friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down


When you're down and out, when you're on the street
when evening falls so hard,
I will comfort you, ooh
I'll take your part
Oh, when darkness comes
and pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will lay me down


Sail on silver girl, sail on by
your time has come to shine,
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
Oh, if you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water,
I will ease your mind

You've offered some great ideas....thank you.