Teaching With Songs: Bon Jovi – Story Of Love [a song-based lesson plan for ELT]

I hope YOU and your students have a BLAST with it!

Description:

This song-based STEP-BY-STEP LESSON PLAN  for ENGLISH language TEACHING features the lyrics and music video for “Story Of Love” by Bon Jovi. Students DISCUSS quotes about parents and children, WATCH a vocabulary video with words and phrases from the song, MAKE sentences/narrative using the new vocabulary and pictures, READ the Lyrics and MATCH Quotes to the Verses, TALK about the lyrics and WATCH the music video.

OBS: This lesson plan was made for ONLINE TEACHING, but it can be modified for face-to-face instruction, as well.

Language level: B2+C1
Learner type: All ages
Skills: speaking, reading and writing
Topic: Parents & Children
Language/grammar: reading comprehension
Materials: YouTube video, genial.ly presentation and interactive worksheet
Duration: about an hour
Download your free teaching resources:  instructions

STEP-BY-STEP LESSON PLAN

Step 1 (7 min) 

Show slide 1 of the genial.ly presentation with the following quotes and ask students to choose their favorites and why.

“Children need more presence than presents.”
“Parents aren’t the people you come from. They’re the people you want to be, when you grow up.” 
“Treat your family like friends and your friends like family.”

Step 2 (8 min)

Tell your students that you’re going to work with a new song, but first, you are going to play a video with some vocabulary from the song. Play the vocabulary video 2x (or send the link via chat box for your students to watch on their devices)

Words and phrases on the video: Pride, advice, ignorant, arrogant, evidence, confidence, walk down the aisle, tuck someone in bed, forgiveness, anguish, heartache

Step 3 

OPTION 1. (10 min)

Show slide 2 with the words and the pictures. Students make sentences connecting the words and the pictures, and send them via chat box. Tell them to make crazy connections!

OPTION 2. (15 – 20 min)

In pairs (breakout rooms), students write a paragraph connecting the four pictures in a short narrative using ALL the words from the vocabulary video. They must save this to a doc or note pad, to paste to the chatbox later. 

When the time’s up and students are back to the main room, have the pairs paste their paragraphs in the chat box. Have students read, correct the mistakes and vote on the most imaginative.

Step 4 (20 min)

Interactive Worksheet (lyrics) LINK  Matching Exercise (quotes, verses).

Students Read the Lyrics to Story of Love by Bon Jovi and Match the Quotes to the Verses. They must Write the letter of the quote in the correspondent verse. One of the quotes will not be used.

QUOTES: 

A)“You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, 
but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your
 stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.”
B) “Friends are God's way of apologizing for your family”
C) “Love your parents and be ready to care for them. Many adult children are so
 busy growing up that they forget that their parents are growing old at the same
 time.”
D)“You are a wonderful daughter and I know you will make a great wife. I am
 happy to be your Dad. All the best to you and your husband in this new stage of
 their lives. “
E)“You should not do something just because everybody’s doing it. 
“IF ALL YOUR FRIENDS JUMP OFF A BRIDGE, WOULD YOU JUMP OFF TOO?”
F)“I don't remember my father reading to me, but I remember him telling me
 bedtime stories. I got to pick what was in them, and then he'd make them up. 

To check their work, students must click FINISH!!! and then CHECK MY RESULTS!

Answers: verse 1(E); verse 2 (D); verse 3 (F); verse 4 (C); verse 5 (A)

Step 5 (10 min)

Have a mini discussion on the meaning of the lyrics. Ask students what they thought of the song and why, if they agree with it, etc.

Step 6 (5 min)

Play the music video and have students comment on it to close the activity.

This song-based lesson plan is sure to spice up your classes! However, would you like to think, feel and act more creatively on your own to be able to turn ANY song you want into an engaging lesson plan?
HERE are TIME-SAVING ideas that do the heavy work so you can focus on the most important: INSPIRING and MOTIVATING YOUR STUDENTS to learn CREATIVELY!

KNOW MORE IDEAS FOR ENGLISH ACTIVITIES WITH SONGS HERE

That’s it for this week! I hope this activity is helpful and enjoyable! 

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Happy teaching!  🙂