Workshop on using songs in the secondary classroom

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Workshop on using songs in the secondary classroom

• Language Learning Support Section
• January 22nd 2008

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Why?
Language Arts Network

• to promote the use of Language Arts in teaching
  English.
• to equip teachers with the necessary knowledge
  and skills for using language arts texts and
  activities in their lessons
• to enable them to benefit from each others
  experiences by encouraging sharing among schools.

• There are currently 61 members from 27 schools.
• All members are from secondary schools supported
  by the Language Learning Support Section.

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What?
How to join?

• Workshops and sharing sessions relevant to
  Language Arts
• Two-part workshop on poetry
• Workshop on songs
• Sharing on using TV advertisements for teaching
  and student performance (June 2008)

• Use the form in your pack
• The information is useful for our planning!

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Activity OneBingo Game - Instructions

• You will listen to 6 songs
• When the music is playing, you make new friends
• When the music stops, you talk to one new friend
  and fill in one bingo box

Make more friends and Share ideas
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• Activity 2
• Understanding the Features of Poems and Songs

5 mins
Match the list of terms used in discussing poems
and songs with the definitions
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Terms used in Discussing Poems and Songs
Glossary
assonance The repetition of similar vowel
sounds followed by differing consonant
sounds.
geek
e.g. Im a little boy with glasses, the one
they call a geek, A little girl who
never smiles cos I got braces on my
teeth. from Dont Laugh at Me by Steve
Seskin and Allen Shamblin
teeth
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imagery Use of words to create mental pictures
or vivid sensory experiences for the
reader. Most images are visual, but imagery
may also appeal to the senses of smell,
hearing, taste, or touch. Such images can be
created by using figures of speech like
metaphors, similes onomatopoeia,
personification, etc.
e.g. Longer than thereve been fishes in the
ocean Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than thereve been stars up in the
heavens Ive been in love with you.
from Longer by Dan
Fogelberg
e.g. Longer than thereve been fishes in the
ocean Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than thereve been stars up in the
heavens Ive been in love with you.
from Longer by Dan
Fogelberg
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Activity 3 Analysing a Song

• Dont Laugh at Me
• Written by Steve Seskin Allen Shamblin
• Sung by Peter, Paul and Mary

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Complete the Analysis Form
10 mins
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Understanding Meaning
Topic
Theme/ Message
Voices
Mood
Bullying / Discrimination -- Different victims
of bullying pleading with the bullies to stop
bullying them
We should respect people who are different from
us because we are all equal
Victims of bullying -- a little boy with glasses,
a little girl with braces on her teeth, a kid
being excluded on the playground, a single
teenage mother, the beggar on the corner, the
fat, the thin, the short, the tall, the deaf, the
blind
Serious, sad
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Activity 4B Using songs in English teaching
Work in groups and match the activities with
their teaching purposes
Teaching activities their focuses
10 minutes
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Using songs in English teaching
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• There are many different ways of exploiting a
  song.

• There are many different ways of exploiting a
  song.

• Theres more to using a song than whats
  
• in the lyrics.

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Using songs in English teaching
Identifying assonance
Pronunciation
Phonics ? Spelling
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Using songs in English teaching
Task 3
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Using songs in English teaching
Fluency correct phrasing
Singing along for enjoyment
Listening
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Using songs in English teaching
Meaning pronunciation of the word
Study skills e.g. research
Culture of other countries
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Using songs in English teaching

• Before listening
• Making predictions from the song title / words
  taken from lyrics
• Sequencing jumbled lines
• Guessing missing words in gapped lyrics
• Correcting misheard words in lyrics

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Using songs in English teaching

• While listening
• Completing the gaps in lyrics
• Correcting misheard words
• Sorting out jumbled lyrics
• Ticking pictures of what they hear
• Sequencing pictures/words
• Answering T/F questions
• Matching half-sentences

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Using songs in English teaching

• After listening
• Listening again and singing along
• Focusing on vocabulary/language patterns/literary
  elements, etc.
• Acting out/doing a role play
• Discussion/presentation
• Writing a review/responses to song
• Retelling/rewriting/summarising the story
• Conducting research on the background of
  song/songwriter/singer, etc.

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Que Sera Sera Experience Sharing Session

• The school Stewards Pooi Tun Secondary School
• Level S.1
• Module Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
• Guest speaker Ms. Joanna Leung, Panel Head

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Introduction to the song
Meaning
Language Structure

• Topic Future, Dreams
• Message We dont need to worry too much about
  the future as it is not ours to see.
• Voices 4 voices
• Mood Cheerful, lively

• 3 Verses
• Refrain
• Visual image rainbow
• Rhyme
• Repetition of structure

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Qué Será, Será (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)

• Pre-listening task
• Show pictures of some very well-known people when
  they were young. Ask students to guess who they
  are.

Do you think they knew how famous they would
become when they were small?
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Listen to the song
Understand the song
Voices
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Study the poetic device
Understand the message
Make self-reflection
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• Speaking task
• Fast-forwarding your life
• Imagine that you are now 30 years old. Think
  about what you and your life will be like at this
  age.
• Play the role of yourself as a 30-year-old person
  and introduce yourself in 1 minute.

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Why is the song used in this module?

• Modular Design
• Theme
• Wonderful things Yesterday, Today,
• Tomorrow
• a) Yesterday Old buildings
• b) Today Famous / successful
• people
• c) Tomorrow Dreams and plans
• Tasks
• A letter to the Chief Executive
• Interviewing people
• b) Profile writing

• Motivate learning interest
• Cultivate positive attitudes
• 3 tenses covered
• Talks about future dreams
• Develop extension activities

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Did students like the song?

• Good melody
• Enjoy singing the song
• Easy to understand the words
• Can understand the meaning behind the song under
  teachers guidance
• The pre-listening task can draw students
  attention successfully

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Understand the message

• Provide choices for No.7
• Class discussion on No.8
• Guide students to think about the questions
  together
• Encourage students to give different answers to
  the questions
• Choose the most sensible answer to the question.
• Positive value and attitude education
• Think independently for No.9

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Understand the poetic devices

• Whos talking?
• (voices)
• Work out one or two verses with students
• Guide students to think about the questions

• Repetition
• Students can find out the repeated lyrics
• Encourage discussion for the key message of the
  repeated lyrics.

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Oral Presentation

• More able students
• Focus a lot on sharing their future career
• Feel shy to talk about their family planning or
  lovers

My family Friends
My Job

• Less able students
• Interested in sharing their family plans
• More creative ideas

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Adaptations

• The mind-map could widen students ideas
• Good for them to do planning
• There were too many points and the presentation
  is not focused
• Students did not do enough to elaborate their
  ideas
• Questions were given to prompt the students give
  elaboration
• Suggestions
• Provide an example to demonstrate how to
  elaborate ideas
• Ask students to focus on 1 or 2 bubbles only

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Extension activities

• My future dream
• sharing ideas about their future
• Mr Donald Tsang
• a reading task on one of the famous people from
  the pre-reading
• Interviewing a teacher
• from reading to speaking
• develop students questioning skills
• Profile writing
• writing activity based on the interview

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My Future Dream

• Speaking skills
• Pair work
• Form questions using Will you have / be
• Note-taking skills

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Reading TaskMr. Donald Tsang

• Good timing - Chief Executive Election (current
  issue)
• Students would like to know more about Donald
  Tsang
• Fill in Tsang Yam-Kuens profile

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Interview a teacher

• Teachers appreciated their performance
• The interviews were conducted smoothly and
  systematically
• Suggestions
• Less able students Class interview
• More able students Group interview

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Facilitating factors

• Choose the right song
• Good planning
• Good collaboration among team members
• Flexibility at implementation stage

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Practical Session
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Instructions

1. Read the analysis of the song assigned to your
   group .
2. Complete Parts A B.
3. Choose ONE teaching objective from Part B and
   design an activity for your target students.

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Instructions

1. Form a NEW group according to the NUMBER on your
   label.
2. In the new group, tell each other the activity
   you designed on your song earlier.

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Suggested activities My Heart will Go
on

• Pre-listening
• Widen students perspectives about love
• Love can be sweet, bitter and painful
• Love needs patience, mutual trust, support and
  care

• While-listening
• Have a general idea about the song
• Whos speaking?
• What is the song about?

• Post-listening
• Guide students to understand the main theme of
  the song
• Interviewing the elderly Rose
• Writing a song review

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Suggested activities Jamaica Farewell

• Pre-listening
• Objectives
• Developing listening skills Making predictions
  about the song
• Task
• Reading a poster about the song

• While-listening
• Objectives
• Developing reading skills Understanding the main
  idea of each verse
• Task
• Drawing pictures to show understanding

• Post-listening
• Objectives
• Developing writing skills Understanding the use
  of different senses in writing descriptions
• Pre-task
• Identifying details from the lyrics that use
  different senses in describing the place
• Task
• Rewriting the lyrics or writing a description of
  H.K. using senses

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Hints for choosing songs

• Can you hear the words?
• Will students like it?
• Is the level of difficulty suitable?
• Is there any useful language content?
• Is the content suitable and relevant to students?
• Will it produce a response?
• Does the language/content fit your teaching
  purpose and/or theme?
• What can you do before, during and after
  listening?
• Warning! Check carefully for unsuitable language
  and content!

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Useful Resources

• Websites
• lyrics
• www.metrolyrics.com
• www.lyrics007.com
• www.lyricsfreak.com
• video
• www.youtube.com
• music download
• www.music.download.com
• worksheets and lesson ideas
• www.musicalenglishlessons.org
• www.isabelperez.com/songs.htm
• www.esl-galaxy.com/music.htm
• www.songsforteaching.com (written for teaching
  purposes)
• http//www.eslprintables.com/printable.asp?id1495
  5
• http//www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/listentry/us
  ing_songs.shtml (British council - ideas for
  tasks)

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Useful Resources

• Books
• Music and Song (Oxford English Resource Books for
  Teachers) by Tim Murphey OUP
• Heinemann Hits (photocopiable) by K Ludlow and P
  Reilly Macmillan Education
• Singing Grammar (photocopiable) by Mark Hancock
  Cambridge ELT