Links to sites that use music for teaching

Hello everyone:


This is a list of sites that might be of interest to you, since they use music for teaching:

• http://www.bradleymurphy.net/page5/files/5a0cc25187d26d002f1fa8c978d69115-0.html
• http://www.ehow.com/how_4966707_use-music-teach-english.html
• http://www.esl-galaxy.com/music.htm
• http://www.nancymusic.com/active.htm
• http://www.songsforteaching.com/index.htm

Some of the sites offer advice on how to prepare lessons using music. Others offer a description of activities the students can do. It is hard to find sites that have the actual music, but there are several that at least include the lyrics.

The purpose of this list is just to "wet your appetite" and open up a door for your own exploration….

Happy trails!

A video lesson plan with Weird Al Yankovic

Hello everyone:

During the class I´m taking on the use of technology applied to teaching, I had to create a video lesson in order to improve my student's oral communication skills. I went ahead and tried it in one of my classes (7th graders), and we had a great time.

The students were able to follow the spoken words, and the visuals helped them key onto the emotions generated by what was happening. I'm posting the link and the lesson plan, in case you want to also give it a try!

Lesson Plan:

Selected video: "Weird Al" Yankovic - Trapped in the Drive-Thru
URL: www.youtube.com/watch?hl=pl&v=qmGVYki-oyQ
Length of video: 11:08 mi
Creators (or published by): UTube
Target group: EFL students of 7th, 8th or 9th grade levels
Total class time: Two 40 mi periods (total time 80 mi)
Previewing: activating schemata

Activity (or activities):
Pre-viewing: Warm up
Time: 15 mi

Teacher writes on the board 3 themes that can be inferred from the video (relationships / communications / social habits).
Students are grouped into teams of no more than 4 and are asked to create a graffiti art piece based on one of the themes (their choice) in no more than 5 minutes.
Students and teacher view and comment each of the team´s creation.

While-viewing: Comprehension
Time: 20 mi (11 mi for viewing the video and 9 minutes to answer the comprehension items and discuss results with classmates and teacher)

Students list 6 of the key actions of the movie in the correct sequence, then they complete 5 single selection items, based on what happened in the video, and results are chared with the class.

Post-viewing: Critical Thinking
Activity (or activities):
Time: 45 mi (15 mi to create the rap and 30 mi to perform and score performances)

Students go back to their groups and are asked to create a 2 minute rap song based on the video and the theme that they chose for their graffiti.

They perform the rap for their classmates and everyone scores the rap according to a rubric provided by the teacher.

Is slang useful?

While searching for authentic language context, I encounteres a site dedicated to slang, which I thought would be useful, since teenagers are constantly wanting to know what some words used in songs mean, if they can use them, and under which circumstances.

So this is a place you can use at your discretion, to guide them through "street talk"

Hope you find it useful!
http://www.ezslang.com/

A Webquest for improving listening, talking and critical thinking skills

Hi everyone:

My partner Jason and I created a webquest in our class (Elaboración y Uso de Tecnología de Instrucción) to help students improve their oral communication and critical thinking skills.

We decided to take advantage of something most people (specially young ones) love, that´s why we chose music.

Since the Webquest is not posted on the Internet yet, I'm posting just the profile, and if you are interested, please send me a note at cnoguesc@gmail.com and I'll e-mail you the full document.

______________________________________________________________

Lyrics Quest, a WebQuest for 9th Grade English Learners

Introduction

When you listen to a song do you understand the lyrics?
How good are you at deciphering the meaning of the lyrics when you first hear them?
Is there more than just the beat in a song?

OK, this web quest will help you find out a few things about you that you might not even know that you knew, or maybe that you were good at…

For example, how good are your listening skills?
How much do you understand the first time that you hear something?
Do you get it at once or do you need repetition?

Lyrics Quest will help you compare and also find out how good you are at deciphering stuff.

The Task

Think about this questions: What’s in a song? Is there more than a beat? Do songs have meanings that cross the boundaries of nations and languages?

The lyrics of songs tell us a lot about the people and the culture that created them, but also about those who listen to them and sing along.

You are to prepare an oral presentation for your classmates that deciphers the meaning hidden behind the words of a song, attempts to infer the purpose of the author, and compares it with a couple of songs in your culture that deal with the same subject.

Your presentation must be supported with an 8 slide power point, and optional audio and/or video of the songs for emphasis, and will include 3 simmilarities and 3 differences between the song in the webquest and the ones from your culture.