This is a song lesson I used with my intermediate Cambodian students. It worked well because they enjoy the song and it lends itself to a little follow-up discussion. Without further ado...
You will need
One copy of the worksheet per student
Mp3 or Youtube clip of the song 'Rude'
Procedure
- Students listen to the song 1-2 times and circle the correct words 1-10.
- Follow up with True/False questions.
- Students in small groups discuss the question of what the singer should do about the situation (try to persuade the parents? Run away with his girlfriend? Take his parents' advice and find another girl? etc...)
Click HERE to download the worksheet for free!
This is one I often get out at the end of term. It's mellow, relaxing and lends itself nicely to a pleasant discussion. Plus, this song is so perfect that I never get sick of it, even if I use it for all of my lessons over a couple of days. You're going to reap just what you sow repeated at the end - at once reassuring and cautionary. Perfect, bittersweet, the languorous piano, the slightly uneasy strings, the strings, the strings.
I probably like it a lot more than the students do. Well, never mind.
Materials
Mp3 or Youtube clip of the song.
1 copy of the worksheet per student.
Time
Approx 45 minutes.
Procedure
1. Lead in. Write "a perfect day" on the board. Ask the students: what's your perfect day? If you had a day where you didn't have to work or go to school, what would you like to do the most?
2. First listen: gist task. The students listen to hear what activities the singer mentions doing on his perfect day. (Going to the zoo, watching a movie, drinking sangria in the park, going home with someone...)
3. Second listen: minimal response task. Hand out the worksheet. The students circle the word that they hear. Check unfamiliar vocabulary, and discuss the meaning of "reaping what you sow".
4. Productive follow-up: Ask the students to imagine that a foreign friend is visiting them this weekend, and plan a perfect day. Where will they go, what will they do? etc.
(Link opens in Google docs, you can then download, save and print as required)
It's a new year, a new term, and time to teach perfect modal verbs of probability again. What a clunky term for something so straightforward. I usually refer to them as shoulda, woulda, coulda, which is another song, but not the one I've made a worksheet on.
I used to use this song as a warmer or lead-in to perfect modals, which was usually met with a lack of enthusiasm. I was about to stop using it but thought I'd move it to the end of the lesson as a last-ditch attempt at making it work, and this time it inspired singing along and some animated discussions. Well, go figure!
Lesson plan
Time: 35 mins
Resources needed: one copy of the worksheet per student. Mp3 or Youtube clip of the song.
1. Gist task. Write the question on the board:
Is this song about:
a. a happy relationship?
b. a relationship that is going to end soon?
c. a relationship that has already ended?
2. First listen. Students listen and compare their answers to the gist task in pairs before OCFB. Elicit the title of the song "It must have been love" and check that they understand this structure is referring to the past.
3. Second listen - minimal response task. Hand out the worksheet. Students listen again and circle the correct word.
4. Productive follow-up. Discussing in pairs, students imagine the story of what happened to the couple. Encourage them to use could/might/must have etc. Eg: they must have had a fight. He might have cheated on her. They can't have been happy together. Write particularly good examples on the board.
(Link opens in Google Docs, you can then download, save and print as required)
