Teaching With Songs: Musical Destination with Nick Jonas

WELCOME to the SONG ACTIVITY FACTORY!

Here is the place to be if you believe in the power of songs to teach English!

The place to find Creativity, Inspiration, Teaching Ideas and Resources to bring Musical Innovation to your English Language Teaching Practice!

Whether you teach English online or not, teaching with songs has a wider scope than you might think, and it does not only mean gap-fill!. Check my older posts and don’t be afraid to try something new!

This week, the Song Activity Factory features Nick Jonas’s THIS IS HEAVEN!!

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 for “This is Heaven” by Nick Jonas. Students TALK about music genres, WATCH a video in which people at an airport talk about their favorite music genres and COMPLETE a table with info, TALK about countries they’d like to visit, LISTEN to a song and decide which person would like it and why, WRITE a paragraph in pairs, explaining why the person is traveling, and DO a preposition exercise with the lyrics (interactive worksheet).

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

Language level: B1 and above
Learner type: All ages
Skills: speaking, reading, listening and writing
Topic: Music genres (likes and dislikes)
Language/grammar: likes dislikes, prepositions
Materials: YouTube video, genially presentation, interactive worksheet 
Duration: about an hour
Download your free teaching resources:  instructions

STEP-BY-STEP LESSON PLAN

Step 1 (5 min)

Review music genres by asking students to give you examples. Write them on the board. Add more genres (make sure to include: classical, pop and rock).

Ask them which one is their favorite and give examples of singers or songs

Step 2 (10 min)

Tell your students that they’re going to watch a video in which 3 people who are at an airport talk about their favorite music genres. Screen-share slide one (genial.ly presentation) with the table below and have students read it.

Ask them to take a print of the table, so they can write the answers on a sheet of paper to check later.

Play the video What kind of Music Do you Like? 2x (or send the link via chat box for them to watch on their devices, if there is poor Internet connection)

Answers:

NAME:	MIRAI	JONAS	SUSAN
AGE:	X	35	20
NATIONALITY:	Indian	American	Canadian
DESTINATION:	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Brazil	Australia
FAVORITE MUSIC GENRE:	Classical	Rock	Pop
LEAST FAVORITE MUSIC GENRE:	Pop	Classical	Rock

Step 3 (10 min)

Check the exercise by asking individual students. Also ask random students what they know about those countries (nationalities, destinations) and if they would like to visit them or not and why.

Step 4 (5 min)

Play the song. Ask students to imagine which of the three people from the previous exercise would like that song and why.

Step 5 (10 min)

Pair work. In pairs (breakout rooms), students discuss and compare their answers. They have to agree on one person and come up with reasons why that person is traveling to that specific destination, and write a paragraph explaining it (minimum of 50 words). Tell them to use their imagination!

Step 6 (7 min)

Back to the main room, have the pairs share their ideas. Have other students agree, disagree and comment. Have a mini discussion.

Step 7 (10 min)

Interactive worksheet. LINK

Send the link to the interactive worksheet via chat box. Students complete the gaps in the lyrics with the list of prepositions. Then, listen to the song to check. To see their results, tell students to click FINISH!! And then CHECK MY ANSWERS.

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!