Song activities in the efl classroom

RACHEL TSATERI

Song activities

How can you use them to

practise skills?

Do songs have a focus on

vocabulary or grammar?

Learners develop their listening skills, as the main task is usually to find missing information by listening to the song. That can be vocabulary or grammar structures.

They also practise reading skills. At times they can guess what is missing by working out the context.

Speaking can be included as a post activity. Teachers can use the topic of the song to practise high order thinking skills and intrigue conversation.

We can use the text to stretch students' creativity by asking them to write an extra verse.

What types of activities can we create?

PRE, WHILE AND POST-LISTENING ACTIVITIES.

Pre- listening

ASK SS TO PREDICT CONTENT FROM TITLE, PICTURE, VIDEO.ELICIT MEANING OF SOME DIFFICULT WORDS BY SHOWING A PICTURE

ASK SS WHAT THEY KNOW ABOUT THE SONG. ( LYRICS, ARTIST, TYPE OF MUSIC, ETC.

What do you think the song is about?

Treat you better. What does it mean?

What is happening in the picture? What is the verb? SinkCan it happen to people, objects, or both?

When you feel you're sinking , are you feeling happy or sad?(Song lyrics, Justin Bieber, Cold water)

While-listening activities

So many activitites can be used…

Circle the right option. Underline the extra words and find the secret message! Fill in the gaps (no help provided) or fill in the gaps using words

from a table. Complete the gaps with the right form of the verbs. Find the anagrams. Focus on phonology and sounds. Order the sentences. Match the sentence halves.

Complete the gaps using the right form of the verbs.

Complete the song with the words missing. You are given the phonetic transcription of the words!

Listen and underline the extra words!

Listen and circle the right option!

Find the anagrams!

Order the sentences!

Post-listeningSPEAKING- HIGH ORDER THINKING SKILLS.HAVE YOU EVER..HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL?WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

CREATIVE WRITINGWRITE AN EXTRA VERSECHANGE THE END OF THE SONG

RAISE PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS SING THE KARAOKE VERSIONPRACTISE DIFFERENT SOUNDS

/i:/

Knees

/I/

Stitches

Start creating your own song activities!

Ask your students to make a list of their favourite songs!

Create your own great song worksheets! Add pictures and

colours and make them interesting!

It is fun and engaging! Good for a warmer, cooler or back-up

activity!

Enjoy!