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Music and Language
Resources for foreign-language teachers
Teaching and Learning
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We don’t have to forget that, in this case, music is a tool, therefore, music has to be used as a tool, and we don’t have to transform an English lesson into a music lesson. We should be teachers through music not music teachers, and that means that we must use music in a transversal way.
Teaching and Learning Approaches
Musical activities
Ester Noemí Leganés Lavall (2012) proposes us a list of ten musical activities to teach and learn English. They are a good example to put in practice or to take as a reference in order to create your own materials or develop your own new ideas at classroom.
These activities have been thought to be used in Nursery and Primary Education, adapting them if necessary. Each one of them includes a short description, the needed materials, its timing and developing process. These activities present music as a tool when teaching and learning English, because it helps the acquisition of new vocabulary, grammar structures, accent and pronunciation, culture and gives motivation and creates an interactive environment. The main goal is to prompt teachers in order to develop their own activities in a creative and spontaneous way. The activities are easy to adapt to the different levels of difficulty. The activities are plenty of actions, because movement is implicit in what is being said.
As we understand that teachers don't have to be musicians, we stand from the basis that songs can be learned as the same way we learn to talk: miming.
TELL ME, WHAT'S YOUR NAME?
This activity is very interesting for the first days, because it allows students present themselves in a playful way. It is a rhyme with an easy intonation that also teaches actions like roll, bounce and cast. The activity could be worked in Primary Education and also in Nursery. She recommends use only one action with the youngest ones.
Materials: a ball
Timing: 15 minutes.
Developing:
Make a circle. The teacher says the rhyme and the students repeat it. At the same time the teacher shows, using the ball and miming the action, the meaning of the rhyme.
Roll the ball, play the game, when you get the ball tell me, What’s your name?
Bounce the ball, play the game, when you get the ball tell me, What’s your name?
Toss the ball, play the game, when you get the ball tell me, What’s your name?
When the rhyme finishes, the student who has the ball has to answer:
My name is….
HOW DOES YOUR NAME SOUND?
This activity works students’ auditory skills. It is also useful for teaching and learning vocabulary and simple grammar structures. You can use realia.
Materials: any object from the classroom.
Timing: 20 minutes.
Developing:
Ask students look for an object in the classroom. They have to produce a sound with the object that they have chosen. This sound will represent their names. They have to make a circle. Every student will say the name of the object and her/his name while producing the sound with the object:
This is a… My name is….
When everyone has done it, you ask students to close their eyes. You choose a student and he/she will use the object to produce the sound that represents her/his name. The rest of the class should guess the student’s name and the object.
IT'S NICE TO SEE YOU!
It is important to create a context in which language is being used in a meaningful way. One of the most important aspects in nursery and primary is the routines establishment. This rhyme could be used in both educational stages and it results useful as a welcoming routine the first days of the school course. it also allows to make some variations.
Materials: -
Timing: 10 minutes.
Developing:
Every student says the rhyme following an established order (it could be also an original way to list students). The rhyme can be say in different ways: singing, rapping, and so on). The rhyme is:
Hello (student’s name), how are you? It’s nice to see you at school.
WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER AND FALL
It is a poem. Students have to do a different movement according to the Word said. The movement takes part in the learning process, because when movement goes with words, it helps students acquire vocabulary.
Materials: -
Timing: 10 minutes.
Developing:
You have to divide the class into four different groups. Each group will represent a poem’s verse. First of all, each group recites their poem’s verse and, at the same time, they do the suggested miming below. Then you propose students change the miming and the intonation and to introduce an easy melody. Finally, they recite the whole poem together. The poem is:
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall.
I am short and I am tall.
Faster, faster, up and down.
Now sit down and touch the ground.
The miming suggested is:
- Winter: shiver of cold.
- Spring: jump.
- Summer: fanning.
- Fall: slew
- I am short: crouch
- I am tall: raising and putting their hands up.
- Faster, faster, up and down: jump and crouch.
- Now sit down and touch the ground: sit down and touch the floor.
WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY?
This activity combines auditory recognition and movement. It can be used with any songs related to the months of the year. As an example, it presents an easy version to work with Nursery students and first and second-grade-students of Primary Education. It also includes a long version to work with third and fourth-grade-students of Primary Education. The teacher should choose a song according to their students’ proficiency.
Materials: a song related to the months of the year.
Timing: 15 minutes.
Developing:
To Nursery students and first and second-grade-students of Primary Education, Leganés has chosen Months of the year, performed by Michael Finnegan. To third and fourth-grade-students of Primary Education she has chosen Sing through the year, performed by Kim Mitzo Thompson, Karen Mitzo Hilderbrand and Hal. You must teach the song first (you will find how to do it in Singing songs page). You have to ask your students rise up their hand (or another clear and simply movement or action) when they hear their birth’s month. After repeating this action about three or four times, you will ask students to make groups with their classmates. These groups have to be formed by students who have the same birth’s month. They will have to make an agreement in order to do the same action together.
LET'S GO TRAVEL!
This activity combines the learning of jobs and transports with movement and creativity. In the first grades you can start only with one stanza and, with teacher’s help, students can develop their creativity adding new jobs and transports.
Materials:
Flashcards including jobs' and transports' pictures.
A pilot flies her plane, plane, plane, song.
(Other option People work song).
Timing: 20 minutes.
Developing:
Teach the song A pilot flies her plane, plane, plane, and using the corresponding flashcards. After teaching the song, divide the class into five different groups. Give each group a specific job. Each group has to invent some actions to each job. Finally, each group will perform their job while the rest of the class sings the song. You can show the flashcards in order to give some backing.
DO YOU FEEL HAPPY?
This song allows students learn and recognize different actions in English, and also create and add new ones. The difficulty level can be adapted to students’ proficency.
Materials: If You’re Happy And You Know It song
Timing: 30 minutes.
Developing:
Use If You’re Happy And You Know It song using mime. Teach the song first. Then, divide the class in groups. Each group has ten minutes to think and invent a new song and teach it to the rest of the class in order to add it at the end of the main song.
WHAT IS YOUR COLOR?
This song works colors and actions in English. It allows students invent as many stanzas as colors and actions there are.
Materials:
Flashcards including the different colors
What Color Are You Wearing? song.
(Other option: The clothing Song)
Timing: 30 minutes.
Developing:
Teach students What Color Are You Wearing? song, and using the corresponding flashcards. Students have to stand up and sing the song and doing the corresponding action according to the corresponding color. For example, students wearing blue clothes have to rise their hand up and sing “If you are wearing blue, raise your hand”. As the original song only has five different colors, the teacher can ask students to invent new stanzas and its corresponding actions. Finally, you can do a worksheet in which students can write down some sentences related to the colors and clothes they are wearing. For example: I am wearing black in my shoes.
HOW MANY?
We can use this song to work Music, English and Math, because it shows numbers in a retrogression way. The song begins with number ten, but it can be adapted if necessary.
Materials: Ten in the bed song.
Timing: 20 minutes
Developing:
Teach the song Ten in the bed including miming. After that, sing and perform the song together. For example, numbers could be represented with the fingers or the action roll over could be expressed slewing. Then, choose then students to perform the song while the rest of the class sings it.
IT IS TIME TO CLEAN UP!
This song is very useful to finish the class. Nursery students can listen to the song while keeping things and Primary Education students can sing it while keeping things too.
Materials:
Class materials and objects.
It's time to clean up song.
Timing: 10 minutes
Developing:
Keep everything while liestening and singing It's time to clean up song.
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Textbook Methodologies
English Through Music
Willis, J. and Paterson, (Unknown). A. Oxford Basics for children.
Its main goal is to give teachers a music guide use in the classroom. It is a book that includes a CD. It has eight different parts: warm-up; listen and feel with sounds; songs, rhymes and actions; rhythm, games and patterns; listen and answer with music; songs, rhymes and actions that reinforce specific language aspects; stories with sound and actions; and, cartoon composition.
Buy it on: http://www.amazon.com/English-Through-Oxford-Basics-Children/dp/0194422704
Shout!
Nolasco, R. (1997). Oxford University Press.
It is an English as a second language course. It has a more traditional approach with the addition of a song every two chapters. The student workbook practices language skills and grammar use. The units cover 19 various topics similar to other basic language texts (sports, free time, family life, etc.), and a song is provided as part of that topic. For example, for the topic school subjects, the song is “Wonderful World” that mentions several subjects (history, geography, algebra, etc.) in the lyrics. Activities are suggested for practice with the song. In this case, students are asked to write down the school subjects they hear. Fill-in-the-blanks and other word activities are based on the printed lyrics of the song.
Buy it on: http://www.libreriaproteo.com/libro/ver/id/183949/titulo/SHOUT-STUDENTS-BOOK-1.html
Enjoy the Music: Crèdit Variable D'anglés Per a L'ESO
Ludlow, k.; Reilly, P.; Rubíes, J. (1997). Heinemann English Language Teaching.
It is designed as a short course using songs as the foundation for second language teaching, English in this case. Each chapter is built around the content of a particular song and includes writing exercises, lyrics, worksheets, cultural information about the singing groups, as well as before, during, and after listening activities. Many songs are easily recognized as American pop classics.
Note: not found on the Internet
Singing Grammar: teaching grammar through songs
Hancock, M. (1998). Cambridge University Press.
It is a program using songs specifically to teach grammatical points. Although based on music, this second language course for learning English dissects each song according to its syntactic structures. Each unit has a song as the basis for the lesson; however, all the songs were unfamiliar to this researcher. Since the songs are not commonly heard in the culture, they do not serve as examples of authentic language use and may not provide catchy popular tunes. There are exercises to practice the grammar in the song, for pronunciation and vocabulary usage, as well as comprehension of the song’s meaning by checking the appropriate drawing. This text did have one unique feature, in that there is a variety of related games provided, one for each unit, which the entire class may play.
Get it through Google Books (you will need a Gmail account).