Unlock the Power of Music in ELT: Explore Creative Teaching with Songs
Using songs to teach English does not have to be the dreaded gap-fill exercises your students must be sick and tired of! Here at the Song Activity Factory you can always find something interesting to try with your English language teaching groups! Welcome and enjoy this new activity featuring Coldplay’s new hit song: Feelslikeimfallinginlove!
Experience the thrill of this fast-paced activity called SONG PIECES, perfect for injecting a burst of energy and fun into any classroom situation—be it a review, warm-up, consolidation, or just a simple reward.
Description:
In this ELT song-based activity, students WORK in teams (or individually), LISTEN to 5 extracts from the song Feelslikeimfallinginlove by Coldplay and IDENTIFY different things like verb tenses, vocabulary, etc, in each one.
OBS: This lesson plan was made for ONLINE TEACHING, but it can be modified for face-to-face instruction, as well.
Language level: (A2, B1)
Learner type : All ages
Skills : listening and writing
Grammar : Present Continuous, modal verbs could and can, plural nouns, adjectives
Materials : YouTube Video
Duration: 20 - 30 min
Downloadable Materials: none
STEP-BY-STEP LESSON PLAN
Step 1 (5 min)
Divide students into pairs or trios (it can also be done individually, depending on the number of students), and tell them they are going to listen to various extracts of songs and in each one they have to listen to different grammar structures and write them down on a blank sheet of paper.
Before playing each extract, say what you want the students to listen to and make sure they know it. In order to do that, ask them if they can give you examples of the words they must listen to.
Example: Students, in this first extract, you have to listen to a frequency adverb! Do you remember what this is? Give me some examples.
Step 2 (5 min)
Tell them they have 3 chances to try to get the right words or grammar structures. Then, play the first song and pause on the screen to reveal what they are supposed to listen for in the song extract. Make sure they know what they are supposed to identify by asking them to give you examples of the structures and writing them on the board.
They will have 3 chances as each song extract is recorded 3 times in a row before the next one (play more times if necessary). As they listen to the extract, they must write down the answer for the first song
Step 3 (5 min)
Check what the teams wrote down (you can use the chat feature of the application you’re using with your online students. ex: in-meeting chat in zoom , and ask them to use it to send you the answers.
Assign points. (1 for each right comparative, if there is more than 1 item in the recording)
Step 4 (10 – 15 min)
Repeat steps 2, 3, 4 for the next song extracts. The team with more points, in the end, is the winner!
ANSWERS
PART 1
[Verse 1]
I know that this could hurt me bad
I know that this could feel like that
But I just can't stop
Let my defences drop
MODAL VERBS: COULD AND CAN'T
PART 2:
I know that I was born to kill
Any angel on my windowsill
But it's so dark inside
I throw the windows wide
ADJECTIVE: DARK
PART 3:
I know, la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
I know, la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Still I don't let go
And fields of flowers grow
PLURAL NOUNS: FIELDS and FLOWERS
PART 4:
Oh, it feels like
I'm fallin' in love
Maybe for the first time
Baby, it's my mind you blow
It feels like
I'm fallin' in love
You're throwin' me a lifeline
This is for a lifetime, I know
PRESENT CONTINUOUS: I'M FALLING IN LOVE and YOU'RE THROWING
PART 5:
I know that in this kind of scene
Of two people there's a spark between
One gets torn apart
One gets a broken heart
PLURAL NOUN: PEOPLE
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