MUSIC IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASS
Bringing music to the class has always been a great idea. Many of our early language classes we still remember after a long time included songs and singing. There is no age restriction for a good relaxing class planned around a song. Besides, the possibilities for listening comprehension activities, as well as speaking, and even reading and writing activities are endless; you just need to be creative.
SAMPLE OF ACTIVITIES FOR A SONG – INTERMMEDIATE LEVEL
You’ll need: official lyrics, sound recording, video (optional). For these activities you can find the video at http://www.youtube.com/JarabedepaloTV
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SONG: AGUA (Jarabe de Palo) |
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Cómo quieres ser mi amiga Razón y piel Cómo quieres ser mi amiga Pasión y ley |
Cuando uno tiene sed Qué hacer Cómo vas a ser mi amiga Cuando uno tiene sed |
VIDEO:
1.
Play the video for only one and a half minutes.
2.
Then, ask the students three questions about the
images in the video to test their memory.
E.g.: ¿Qué palabras en inglés hay en
el vídeo?, ¿Qué instrumento toca la muchacha?, ¿Cuál es el primer instrumento?
3. Play the beginning of the video again for them to check their answers.
LYRICS:
1. Divide the class in pairs.
2. Give each pair a set of cut off lines of the lyrics and ask them to put them together in the right order by listening to the song.
3. Play the song three times giving them time in between to arrange the lines.
4. Invite students to take turns to come to the board and write up the lines of the song in the right order.
5. Finally, play the song once more to sing along!
SOUND
AND LYRICS:
1.
White out some words from the song and provide
two choices for each missing word.
E.g.:
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SONG: AGUA (Jarabe de Palo) |
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Cómo quieres ser mi (amiga/chica) Razón y (piel/sed) Cómo quieres ser mi (chica/amiga) Pasión y (café/ley) |
Cuando uno tiene sed Qué hacer Cómo vas a ser mi (amiga/chica) Cuando uno tiene sed |
2. Give a copy of this listening exercise to each student. Let them read the lyrics for a moment and ask them to choose a word for each choice by listening to the song.
3. Play the song twice while students make their choices.
4. Let them compare their choices with their neighbor’s and encourage conversation in the targeted language as much as possible.
5. Play the song once again, pausing after each choice to check the correct answers with the whole group.
6. Finally, sing the song with them!
LYRICS:
1. Once you have the completed lyrics, write up a few questions about the story of the song. Make sure the last one links the song to their personal experience.
2. Present these questions as topics for conversation and give them just a few minutes to get ready.
3. Pair them up and let them talk in the targeted language for about 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Finally, invite your students to either write sentences about the song, or a short narrative, depending on their writing skill level. You can give this assignment as homework, too.
The activities described here fit almost any song, and I’m sure most languages as well. I noticed that after each class of this kind, students want to get the song translated in their first language. If your class is monolingual, you could include a translation activity. However, if that is not the case, have them look for a translation or translate it themselves in their own language as homework, and create a poster with many versions of the song. Have fun!