Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Magdalena Dygała University of Technology and Humanities
in Radom, Poland
TEACHING ENGLISH THROUGH MUSIC AND SONGS
‘MUSIC PRODUCES A KIND OF PLEASURE WHICH HUMAN NATURE CANNOT DO WITHOUT.’
MUSIC AND LEARNING
Music stabilizes mental, physical and emotional rhythms to attain a state of deep concentration and focus in which large amounts of content information can be processed and learned’
Chris Brewer, Music and Learning
- improves concentration
- stimulates students’ brains
- helps students absorb the material
- motivates learning
- brings sense of community to a group
- brings lots of joy
STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THAT MUSIC:
BEFORE YOU PLAY ANY MUSIC:
• Start with a survey to find out students’ favourite types of music• choose a well known song• with children try to use songs with
repetitive verses• pre-teach new vocabulary
MUSIC AS A NICE LEAD-IN TO THE LESSON
• use, for example Michael Jackson’s ‘Earth song’ to provoke students to discuss some issues of natural disasters
TECHNIQUES FOR USING MUSIC
• use music to affect your students’ mood• guess the title• show some pictures connected with the
song • make students guess the name of the band
or the title of the song
’ENGLISHMAN IN NEW YORK’ BY STING
• before listening to the song, you can show some pictures of a man with Big Ben in the background and another photo presenting the Statue of Liberty and make them guess the title of the song.
TEACH GRAMMAR THROUGH SONGS
• ask your students to look through the lyrics and find some examples of a grammar structure
• if you practice, for instance the Present Perfect tense, take out the verbs and ask students to fill in the gaps
• the example of the song: ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’ by U2.
LET’S ROCK GRAMMAR – SECOND CONDITIONAL
Use music while introducing new grammar structures to your students (00:00–4:00)
Divide students into groups and make them compete with each other (9:57- 15:05)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaydrAQhjUU
ENJOY WATCHING
ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHING NEW VOCABULARY:
• play some soft classical music and ask the students to write down the adjectives that come to their mind, next students share the words with the rest of the class
• you can ask them to discuss the difference in meaning between some of the words
• play some different type of music like reggae, rock etc. and elicit some other words from students
‘MUSIC IS THE SHORTHAND OF EMOTIONS’ LEO TOLSTOY
• Music serves as a great source of inspiration for your students, evoking wonderful memories and emotions
• ACTIVITY: play, for example, ‘Over the rainbow’ by Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole and ask your students to close their eyes and imagine the best day in their life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fahr069-fzE
• Next students can draw a picture of what they’ve just imagined, share it with their partner and write a story.
MAKE STUDENTS SPEAK
• after listening to a song by a well-known singer or group, ask your students to work in groups and prepare an interview with the singer or band members
• students role play the dialogues in front of the class.
… AND MOST IMPORTANTLY …
Make your students ENJOY MUSIC AND SONGS
RESOURCES:
• Super Simple Songs
• Music and learning by Chris Brewer
• Reasons for using songs by Kevin Schoepp
• Etpedia by John Hughes
• Oxford Learner’s Pocket Verbs and Tenses by Jon Hird (Let’s Rock Grammar lesson)
• Songs resources / downloads
