Grammar Activity

CONTENT N° 3 COMPARISON OF PEOPLE’S PHYSICAL FEATURES AND PERSONALITY TRAITS

Activity for 8 graders 

To encourage your students to learn the different ways in which they can compare people´s physical features and personality traits, play “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson and ask them to complete the gaps.

Here, the lyrics to the song

You know the bed feels __________
Sleeping here alone
You know I dream in colour
And do the things I want

You think you got the best of me
Think you've had the last laugh
Bet you think that everything good is gone
Think you left me broken down
Think that I'd come running back
Baby you don't know me, cause you're dead wrong

What doesn't kill you makes you ________
Stand a little ________
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even __________
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn't kill you makes you ___________
Stand a little __________
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone

You heard that I was starting over with someone new
They told you I was moving on over you

You didn't think that I'd come back
I'd come back swinging
You try to break me, but you see

What doesn't kill you makes you _________
Stand a little ________
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even _______
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn't kill you makes you _______
Stand a little ______
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone

Thanks to you I got a new thing started
Thanks to you I'm not the broken-hearted
Thanks to you I'm finally thinking about me
You know in the end the day you left was just my beginning
In the end...

What doesn't kill you makes you _______
Stand a little _________
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even ____________
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone

[2x]
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I
What doesn't kill you makes you _________
Stand a little __________
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone

(When I'm alone)

After listening to the song, ask your students to complete the fallowing test online:

http://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=2065

Writing Activities

The benefits of background music in class enhances and changes the classroom dynamics. Your students will feel more encouraged to write and they will let inspiration flies. You should choose nothing too distracting, nothing too cheesy, just a few tunes playing in the background make them feel more comfortable.

Students listen to a popular song and write an extra verse for the ending. They could also rewrite some of the song itself.  Let your students choose the song. Ask them to underline the linking words they find; besides, they use at least three more linking words when writing the stanza.

Content N°7 LINKING WORDS IN CONTEXT for 10 graders.

Students listen to these songs:

"Beautiful" by Cristina Aguilera

"Where is the love?" By Black eyed peas

They choose one of these songs and write a paragraph or an easy based on the song´s message.  Useful for 11 grades. Content N° 10: SENIOR CITIZENS AND MINORITY GROUPS.

Reading Activity

Allow your students to feel relaxed while they work in their reading assignments; to do so play some tunes while they working.

Reading Comprehension is a difficult skill to teach, but you can use multimedia resources to make it easier. For instance, this website offers students short passages about different topics. They need to read them and then answer some questions.

This link shows a passage about opera and its respective comprehension questions.

http://www.grammarbank.com/short-reading-comprehension-passages.html

Speaking Activity

Likes and Dislikes and Preferences 8th grade Content N° 8 

You can also use music as a teaching tool topic.  Here there are some conversations questions regarding the topic. Ask your students to discuss the topic and form their own opinions.

Taken from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/conversation-music-lesson-plan.pdf

Conversation Questions

  

• How often do you listen to music?

• Do you play music while you study, or work? If so, how do you concentrate on the other things?

• Have you ever been to see your favorite musicians live? Were they as good as on the CD?

• What is your favorite music?

• Did you like it the first time you heard it?

• Is there any music you can’t stand? What is it, and why don’t you like it?

• Have your tastes in music changed a lot over the last five years? How?

• Do you think music can heal sick people?

• Do you think animals appreciate music? Why (not)?

• Do you like classical music? Why (not)?

• Can you sing? Do you want to demonstrate now?

Retrieved from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/conversation-music-lesson-plan.pdf

Listening Exercises

Talking about sports and Leisure Activities

Here it's an idea to use music and encourage your students to learn vocabulary regarding sports.

Warm up questions

•       What sports do you know?
•        What is your favorite sport?
•         Do you prefer team sports or individual sports?

Activities

Show your students the Power point presentation http://www.mes-english.com/flashcards/sports.php , then ask them to play the fallowing game.

http://eslgamesworld.com/members/games/vocabulary/memoryaudio/hobbies/index.html

This game improves your students listening skills and boots their memory.

After that, ask your students to listen to this song http://www.dreamenglish.com/sports.

Finally, ask them to cut up pictures from magazines and do a poster with them.

This activity is useful for 9 level: Sports and Leisure Activities 

Topic: DESCRIPTION OF PEOPLE’S PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
This activity works for eight graders. 

http://musicenglish.co.uk/  is a great website because students and teachers can find videos to learn the words to songs. Songs are organized either by artist or by title. You can also find song quizzes and information about your favorite singers. 

What I liked the most about this website is that students can find different songs according to their English level. They can also review important topics like phrasal verbs, modals, adjectives and some others in an entertaining way.

For example, as a teacher you can use “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele to teach parts of the body.  Here, it is the worksheet.

I let it fall, my (1)_________________
And as it fell, you rose to claim it
It was dark and I was over
Until you kissed my (2) ____________ and you saved me
My (3) _______________, they're strong
But my (4) ____________ were far too weak
To stand in your (5) ________________
Without falling to your (6) ____________
But there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true
And the games you play, you would always win, always win
But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your (7)_______________
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name
When I lay with you
I could stay there, close my (8)_____________________
Feel you here, forever
You and me together, nothing gets better
But there's a side to you that I never knew, never knew
All the things you'd say, they were never true, never true
And the games you'd play, you would always win, always win
But I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your (9)________________
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name
I set fire to the rain, and I threw us into the flames
When I felt something die, 'cause I knew that
That was the last time, the last time
Sometimes I wake up by the door
That (10)_________________ you caught must be waiting for you
Even now when we're already over
I can't help myself from looking for you
I set fire to the rain
Watched it pour as I touched your (11)____________________
Well, it burned while I cried
'Cause I heard it screaming out your name, your name
I set fire to the rain, and I threw us into the flames
Where I felt something die
'Cause I knew that that was the last time, the last time, oh
Oh, no, let it burn, oh, let it burn, let it burn

Retrieved from:

http://worksheets.musicenglish.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2014/01/adele_setfiretotherain_e.pdf

Using Songs to Teach English

Sing Along

Listening to songs, singing them aloud and trying to remember phrases and words help your students to increase their vocabulary and intonation.

In this website http://www.lyrics.com/, for example, you can find lyrics and watch popular videos.  The good thing about this website is that you can sort the songs by country so that you can also know what has caught on in each country and get to know more about their culture as well.

http://es.jango.com/  is a free radio where you can listen to any song and watch the corresponding video.

In smart lyrics http://www.smartlyrics.com/  students can listen to popular songs and keep an eye on the lyrics. 

Music is always fun to listen to, so why do not use it as a tool to improve one student’s skills. Here is a website where students can listen to their favorite songs and fill in the blanks the missing words. 
http://lyricstraining.com/ This tool is actually very entertaining; besides, the student will improve his or her listening skills while having fun.  

Technology and Music

The Use of Music and Sounds in an English Classroom

Music is fun, touching and inspiring. Taking advantage of these features English’s teachers can guide their students to a better comprehension of the target language.

Here, there are some reasons why using music can really help students to learn English in an effective way:

·         First of all, music boosts people’s minds. The combination of sounds and harmonies prepare the brain to work out and retain knowledge.

·         Secondly, when learning a foreign language the student needs to get used to the sounds, intonation patterns, pitches, tune and rhythm used by the native speakers.

·         Through music and songs students get in touch with the target culture. Popular singers are famous for using contractions and slangs which are quite important to understand a country’s culture.

·         Songs also help students to learn new vocabulary. Words and phrases are easier to remember through the use of sounds and music.

The Use of Technology in an English Classroom

The use of technology makes the process of learning interactive, interesting and dynamic and helps the student to overcome the challenges they face.

In the classroom, for instance, the teacher can use different approaches, methodologies and strategies if some of the topics are difficult for the students to follow and understand.

Technology also promotes critical thinking and production. Graphics, videos, chats and others technological tools stimulate students to learn vocabulary, idioms and a better comprehension of the target culture.