elt material – Song Activity Factory

Can We Pretend – P!nk feat. Cash Cash

can we pretend

Description:
This ELT song activity is based on the song ‘Can We Pretend” by P!nk feat. Cash Cash and its Lyric video. Students answer Have You Ever questions with Wheeldecide.com, do a matching exercise with vowel sounds and diphthongs, listen to the song and put the words in order.

Language level: Pre-intermediate (A2+ - B1) and above
Learner type: All ages
Skills: speaking, reading, listening, pronunciation (vowel sounds and diphthongs)
Topic: Experiences and Pretense
Language and Grammar: Vocabulary related to experiences, Present Perfect tense
Materials: Youtube video, worksheet and mp3 file
Duration: 1 hour 
Downloadable materials:  instructions; Vowel sound worksheet; song mp3

PART 1 – Warm Up + Have you ever…? (Is it real or just pretending?)

Important information:

This warm-up uses WheelDecide.com – a free online spinner tool that allows you to create your own digital wheels for decision-making – more info here. However, this can be substituted. (See step 2.).

The teacher must also have a list of possible Have you ever questions and follow-up questions in hand.

Example questions:
– Have you ever been on TV? When? Why?
– Have you ever broken a bone? How did it happen?
– Have you ever ridden a horse or another animal? give us details
– Have you ever forgotten someone’s birthday? What happened?
– Have you ever received a gift that you did not like? What was it?
– Have you ever fallen asleep in class or at work? Did you get in trouble because of if?
– Have you ever been in a car accident? How did it happen?
– Have you ever tried an extreme sport? How did you feel?

Step 1.

A student comes to the board. Explain to him/her he/she is going to answer a question according to what the wheel dictates! If the wheel says yes, he/she has to pretend they really did that activity and invent details. Tell them to do their best to be convincing. After the student answers, the class is going to vote if it was real or just pretense!

Step 2.

The teacher asks a Have you ever question and with the help of a magic pen or the mouse, the student spins this wheel. (in our school we use a white board with a projector connected to a computer with Internet access). The options are just YES or NO. OBS: As an alternative to wheeldecide.com, you can use a die (even numbers meaning yes, odd numbers, no), or a coin (heads means yes, tails means no).

Step 3.

The student answers the question according to the wheeldecide (or coin/die) and the teacher then asks follow-up questions (only if the answer was ‘yes’.).

Step 4.

After the student answers, the teacher asks the rest of the class if they think the student was telling the truth or just pretending.

Step 5.

The student says if it was true or just pretense.

Step 6.

Have another student come to the front to answer another question according to the wheel (or die/coin). This can go on for about 15 – 20 min. or as long as it is still fun for the students to do it!

PART 2 – Vowel Sounds & Diphthongs Worksheet

Step 7.

Hand out the worksheet and quickly review the vowel sounds and diphthongs. Show the symbols on the table and have students repeat the model words.

Tell students that they are going to work with 10 words from the song “Can We Pretend” by Pink and Cash Cash. Their task is to put the words in the box in their appropriate places in the phonetic table:

Answer key exercise A

(see)	*/iː/*	feeling
(go)	*/əʊ/*	nowhere
(my)	*/ɑɪ/*	sometimes
(say)	*/eɪ/*	conversations
(saw)	*/ɔː/*	walked
(cat)	*/æ/*	daddy
(sit)	*/ɪ/*	pictures lips miss
*(two)*	*/uː/*	dudes

PART 3 – Listening

Step 8.

After checking the answers, divide students into small groups. They are going to listen to the song and order the words they worked with in exercise A, according to the order they appear in the song.

Step 9. Play the lyric video for students to watch and check their answers

Answer key Exercise B

Conversations ( 1    )
Daddy (  6 )
Dudes ( 10   )
Feeling (  8 )
Lips (  9 )
Miss ( 7    )
Nowhere (  3 )
Pictures (  2 )
Sometimes  ( 4 )
Walked (  5 )

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

Happy teaching! 🙂

Better Man – Westlife

westlife still

Description:

This short and fun ELT song activity is based on the song “Better Man” by Westlife. Students talk about Music, work in small groups, listen to the song and order a set of words according to the order they are sung. As an optional extension (part 3), students watch the music video and do a speaking exercise.

Language level: Basic (A2) and above
Learner type: All ages
Skills: Listening, group interaction, collaboration, teamwork
Topic: Music, simple vocabulary
Language: group interaction
Materials: cut-out worksheet, and mp3 file (youtube video - optional)
Duration: 20 - 30 min (without part 3)
Downloadable materials:  instructions;  cut out worksheet; song mp3

PART 1 – Warm-up – Intro

Step 1. Ask students if they have heard of the band Westlife. They have reunited after a long time and have launched a song written by Ed Sheeran. Get a general count of how many students know Westlife, and who likes the band as well as Ed Sheeran. Tell them they are going to work with one of the songs he wrote for the band.

PART 2 Word Order Competition

Step 2. Tell students they are going to work with a song in a different way.

Step 3. Divide the class into trios (or groups of four, depending on the number of students)

Step 4. Have students sit in a circle, and hand out the word sets you printed, cut and paste in advance (one per group). Students should spread them in the middle of their circle so they can be easily sorted out by any member of the team during the activity

Step 5. Explain the activity to the groups. As they listen to the song the first time, they should put the words in the order they are sung. OBS. tell them there is one extra word which is not in the song. If any group identifies it right, they can get an extra point as a bonus!

Step 6 When the song is over, play it the second time, they should check their work, and make changes to the order of the words if they want to. (sometimes a third play may be necessary for a final check before they show you their word order)

Step 7 check the word order of the groups. The one closest to the right order wins.

RIGHT ORDER:
01 - MOVIE  02 - CRAZY 03 - WHY  04 - THINGS  05- ANGEL  06 - EVERYONE 07 - DREAMS  08 - DOWN 09 - MOUTH  10 - FEEL
MAKE (the extra word for the extra bonus point)

PART 3 Youtube Video (optional)

Step 8. Tell students they are going to watch the music video for “better man” and they must pay attention to what happens in the video.

Step 9. In pairs, students talk about what they understood from the story and later share with the class.

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

Happy teaching! 🙂

Shallow – Lady Gaga (Oscar Awards 2019)

GAGA OSCAR

Description:
This is an ELT video and song activity based on Lady Gaga’s Acceptance Speech for Best Original Song at the 2019 Oscar Awards and also the performance of the winning song “Shallow”, by Bradley Cooper and Gaga herself, in which students talk about winning; find common ideas connecting those quotes about winning and the message in Gaga’s speech; watch the video and do a listening exercise, and finally, read the lyrics and find mistakes in verb forms.

Language level: Pre-Intermediate (B1) and above
Learner type: All ages
Skills: speaking, reading & listening
Topic: Winning
Language: Vocabulary related to winning, expressions to agree, disagree and express opinions
Materials: Acceptance Speech video.mp4 , Acceptance Speech Worksheet, Shallow worksheet and Shallow performance youtube video
Duration: 1h – 1h 30 min

Downloadable materials: instructions; Acceptance Speech video.mp4 , Acceptance Speech Worksheet, Shallow worksheet

Instructions

Part 1. QUOTES

Warm-up. Ask students when the last time they won something was. Have students share they’re winning moments with the whole class

Step 1. Have students read the quotes below (project or write them on the board), choose their favorite and share their ideas with a partner. They have to explain their reasons. (give them 2 to 5 minutes)

QUOTES ABOUT WINNING

“When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less.” Paul Brown
“There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.”Lionel Messi
“The person that said winning isn’t everything, never won anything. Mia Hamm
“You can’t win unless you learn how to lose.” Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
“Winning isn’t getting ahead of others. It’s getting ahead of yourself.” Roger Staubach

Step 2. The pairs share their favorites with the whole class. Have a plenary discussion. Have a vote for the best quote. (optional)

PART 2 – ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Step 3. Tell them they are going to watch Lady Gaga winning the 2019 Oscar for Best Original Song. After watching it, ask them to work in small groups and discuss what she said about winning and which of the quotes is most similar to what she said in the video. Play the video again, if necessary.

Step 4. Have the groups share their conclusions, and check if they got to the same conclusion.

Part 3. LISTENING ACTIVITY (Acceptance Speech worksheet)

Step 5. Give out the Acceptance speech worksheet. Have the students listen to the video again and write down the missing parts. Play it 2x. Have them check in pairs. Them play the video one more time and pause at the gaps to check as a class.

Answer key: 1. Wonderful 2. Person 3. My sister 4.on the planet 5.believing 6. Hard work 7.Have a dream 8. Brave 9. Acts

Part 4: SONG ACTIVITY (video and lyrics)

Step 6. Tell students they are going to watch Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s performance of Shallow at the Oscars. Ask them what they understood about the meaning of the song.

Step 7. Give out the Shallow Worksheet. Tell students to read it find 5 wrong verbs in the lyrics. After some time, play the song so they can check.

Answer key:

1- Say - tell me somethin’ girl  2 - Or do you needs - need   3 - And in the bad times I fearing fear  4 - Aren’t you tired tryin’ to filled fill that void?  5 - I’ll never to meet the ground

That’s it for this week! I hope your students enjoy the activities!

Happy teaching! 🙂

Big Love – The Black Eyed Peas

blackeyedpeas

Description:

This ELT song activity is based on the song Big Love (The Black Eyed Peas) and it does NOT make use of the official music video (some scenes it portrays may be shocking for most students, however if you consider it suitable for any specific class you have, use it at your own discretion.)

In the activity, students talk about bullying, gun control, smart phones and war, read and share opinions about those topics, listen to the song, do listening exercises with a worksheet and the lyrics, scan QR codes, read and write a text for homework,

Language level: intermediate (B2) and above

Learner type: All ages

Skills: speaking, listening, reading & writing

Topic: current controversial issues

Language: Vocabulary related to bullying, guns, smartphones and war, expressions to agree, disagree and express opinions

Materials: cut out opinion + topic sheet + song activity Worksheet – smartphones or other digital device (tablet, laptop, etc) with a qr code reader app installed. Internet connection, wifi available for part 3.

Duration: 1 hour (or 1h and 30 min if you have time to do step 9 in class + HW)

Downloadable materials: Big Love- instructions; cut-out opinion/issue sheet; song worksheet; song audio mp3

INSTRUCTIONS

Preparation for the activity:

Download and print the cut-out opinion/issue sheet; cut out as indicated and laminate it to make the sets. Make 1 copy per pair or trio of students. Download and print the song worksheet. 1 per student.

PART 1

Step 1. Warm up – WHOLE CLASS:: Write/ project the following issues on the board:

BULLYING – GUN CONTROL – WAR – SMARTPHONES

Ask students if they think there is a connection between the four topics and what it is, or ask them which of the four is the most important for society right now and why. Have a vote and write the number of students in front of the issues on the board. (about 5 minutes)

Step 2. IN PAIRS or TRIOS. Hand out the opinion+issue set, one for each pair/trio of students.

There are 4 pairs of opposite opinions for each of the four issues (bullying, gun control, war, smartphones).

The students’ task is to match the topics with their correspondent opinions.

Step 3. after the pairs or trios have finished matching the opinions and the topics, they are going to talk about the opinions they agree more or disagree and give their reasons. (about 10 minutes – step 1+ step 2)

Step 4. After discussing in pairs/trios, the students share their opinions with the whole class and have a short plenary discussion.

PART 2 – LISTENING ACTIVITY WITH LYRICS

Step 5. Individual task. Hand out the song worksheet. It has two exercises: in exercise one, students have to listen to the song and number the verses, lines of the song as they listen to it.

Answer key exercise 1: 4 b. 2 c. 1 d. 3

Step 6. Individual task. In exercise 2 they have the complete lyrics of the song with 10 words removed. Their task is to listen to the song and fill in the blanks in the song lyrics with the words given.

Answer key exercise 2:

Leaders 2. Fire 3. Americans 4. Young 5. Hands 6. Hope 7. Life 8. Global 9. Believe 10. Violence

Step 7: Back to their original pairs/trios, the students identify which parts of the song in exercise 1 correspond to the issues they discussed in part 1 (bullying, gun control, war, smartphones) and what opinion the song expresses.

Step 8. They share their opinions with the whole class

PART 3 – READING / WRITING

OBS: If there is no time available in class, steps 9 and 10 can be done for homework and handed in the following class.

Step 9. Students choose the issue they want to read about, scan the correspondent QR code on their worksheet and read an article about that issue on Newsela. This is an excellent Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject. Your students will be asked to make a profile there to read the whole article, it is free and fast.

blog song 2 codes

Urls for the articles

Bullying https://newsela.com/read/schools-bullying/id/1155/

Guns https://newsela.com/read/overview-guns-in-america/id/19146/

War https://newsela.com/read/lib-convo-just-war-theory/id/29945/

Smartphones https://newsela.com/read/lib-convo-just-war-theory/id/29945/

Step 10. Homework. Students write a paragraph or two with their opinion about the article they read in the previous step for the following class. (word limit 50 – 80 words)
That’s it for this week! I hope you enjoy this ELT song activity.

Feel free to leave some comments if you wish, and let me know how the activity worked out in your classes.

Happy teaching! 🙂

Happier – Marshmello ft. Bastille

SAF HAPPIER 001

Description:

This ELT song activity is based on the song Happier (Marshmelo ft. Bastille) and its official music video. Students talk about pets, watch a video, retell a story, write a text, listen to the song and do a listening exercise with the lyrics

Language level: Pre-Intermediate (B1) and above

Learner type: All ages

Skills: speaking, writing & listening

Topic: pets

Language: Vocabulary related to pets, expressions to agree, disagree and express opinions

Materials: Youtube video and song activity Worksheet

Duration: 1 hour

Downloadable materials: Happier- Instructions; worksheet

INSTRUCTIONS

PART 1- WARM – UP

Step 1. WHOLE CLASS:: Why do people have pets? (write students answers on the board, help with some vocabulary)

Step 2. IN PAIRS. Students talk about the following questions, for about 2, 3 minutes:

How can pets help us?
What animal makes the best pet? Why?

Step 3. WHOLE CLASS: (students share what they discussed in pairs with the whole class. As each pair shares their answers, the teacher asks other students if they agree/disagree and why, so everyone gets the chance to participate and get practice with interaction and using the language of opinions/agreement/disagreement.

PART 2 – MUSIC VIDEO

Step 4. DIVIDE THE CLASS into two groups: the ‘A group’ and the ‘B.group’.

The students in the A group stay in the classroom and watch the music video, while the students in the B group go out and wait.

Step 5. Tell the students in the A group to watch the video attentively because they are going to tell the students in the B group the story in the video.

Step 6. Students watch the video (3:53 min)

Happier – Marshmello ft. Bastille (official video)

Step 7. The students in the B group return to class and pair with the A group and IN PAIRS, the Student A tells the story of the video to Student B and Student B writes it down. Allow 10 minutes for the writing of the story.

Step 8. After the time is over, have the pairs share their stories, have a quick vote for the best account of the video, and also ask students (A and B) what they thought of the story depicted in the video.

Step 9. The whole class watches the video and students compare and comment on the differences and details that may have been left out in their written stories.

PART 3 – LYRICS

Step 10. Students receive the worksheet with the lyrics. They listen to the song and circle the words they hear.

Answer key:

Cold
Word
Way
Smile
There
Our
From

That’s it for this week! I hope you enjoy this ELT song activity.