Teaching With Songs: Musical Grammar Pieces!

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This week, the Song Activity Factory features:

MUSICAL GRAMMAR PIECES is an activity that contains short song lyrics extracts which students read and correct the grammar, and then collaborate in groups to reach a final decision about the correction.

Quick Lesson Overview:

In this song-based lesson plan featuring “Someone I Used To Know” by Tom Grennan, students read the lyrics extracts, correct them individually, listen to the extracts to check, compare answers in small groups and decide on the final corrected version for a group competition. This activity focuses on verb tenses (simple present, present continuous), modals, plural nouns, pronouns, possessive adjectives.

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: grammar correction
Language: varied
Materials: genial.ly presentation
Duration: 45 min – 1 hour
Downloadable materials: instructions.pdf

How to Teach English with Musical Grammar Pieces: Instructions

Step 1 (5 min)

Ask them what their favorite kind of music is, etc. Tell your students that in this class they are going to work with songs and correct grammar mistakes in the lyrics.

Screen-share the slide with the first MGP (Musical Grammar Piece) with the grammar mistakes.

Step 2. (3 min)

GIve 2 minutes for the students to correct the THREE mistakes (individually in the main room). But tell them not to give the answers now.

Step 3 (5 min)

Screen-share the second lyrics extract. And repeat step 2

Step 4 (5 min)

Screen-share the third lyrics extract. And repeat step 2

Step 5 (10 – 15 min)

PLAY the lyrics extracts so they can check their work. Play the extracts 2 or 3 times.

Step 6

(10 min) Divide students into small groups, and put them in BREAKOUT ROOMS. They are going to compare their answers and come to a final group decision on the corrections.

Step 7. (5 – 10 min)

Back to the main room. A student from each group (the captain) will send you (privately) the corrected sentences for the first extract in the CHAT BOX. Award points to the right corrections. Then, do the same with the other extracts. The group with more right corrections is the winner.

SEE ANSWERS IN THE INSTRUCTIONS.PDF