Thank you for + ING

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Subject X Object Pronouns

The activity below has been designed for the song "THANK YOU FOR LOVING ME" by Bon Jovi. First, students discuss which their favorite bands are and whether they are still playing. Then, they listen to the song and identify the subject and object pronouns. After that, they engage into a writing activity.

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Guess who?

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Simple Past


The activity below has been designed for the song "SOMEONE LIKE YOU" by Adele. First, students   talk about the author based on biographical information provided. Then, they write the past of some verbs given. After that, they listen to the song and fill in the blanks using the same verbs. Finally, they rank the new words in order of difficulty. 

  

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Happiness

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Vocabulary

The activity below has been designed for the song TOP OF THE WORLD by Carpenters. Students will brainstorm the word HAPPINESS. Then, they will engage into a Bingo activity and finally they will share their idea of happiness. 

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The Fridge Song

Age: Children

Focus: There To Be & Food Items

STEP 1: Students draw what they have in their fridges. (Teachers can use a data show equipment so they can share their drawings with peers)

STEP 2: Students guess what the teacher has in his/her fridge. The teacher projects a photo of his/her fridge, so students check whether they were right.

STEP 3: Students listen to "THE FRIDGE SONG".


STEP 4: The powerpoint presentation provided for the activity allows students to write their own version of the song, so they are arranged in small groups and work on what food items they will use in it. When they finish, they write their version of the song on the board.

STEP 5: Finally, they share their song with all their peers.

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Having a relationship is like...

Age: Adults
Focus: Time Clauses


For the activity below, the song used is "THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL" by ABBA. It's been designed for an adult group that has recently learned TIME CLAUSES. Students engage into a discussion about relationships. Then, they listen to the song and guess the title. Finally, they write a few lines saying what they compare a relationship to, of course by using Time Clauses. 

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Creative Writing

The activity below has been designed for the song "A THING ABOUT YOU" by Roxette. First, the teacher shows students vocabulary from the song and then give them time to write a creative short story using it. Afterwards, they listen to the song and compare their story to the author's. As a wrap up, they list the words according to their difficulty and share them in pairs, explaining their meaning. 

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If I were...

The activity below has been designed for the song "SUPER POP" by Madonna. After having practiced the structure for Second Conditionals in previous classes, the teacher writes a few items on the board (A DRINK, AN ANIMAL, A CAR, AN ARTIST, AN EMOTION, etc...)  students reflect upon and write sentences about themselves (If I were an animal, I would be a _____.) After that, they share their sentences and listen to the song. Then, students compare their lists with the singer's. In the end, they sing their version of the song. 

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Self Image

Age: Teens & Adults

Focus: Reflection & Discussion

The activty proposed here has been designed for the song "UNPRETTY" by TLC. First, students in pairs take some minutes to describe themselves physically. After that, they discuss whether their self-description was positive or negative. They watch the TV commercial for Dove called "Real Beauty Sketches" and tell their peers what impression the video made on them. After that, they listen to the song and identify 10 mistakes. Finally, they engage into a discussion about  how people see themselves. 

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Rules

Age: Children
Focus: Commands


On the first week, students are introduced to the classroom rules. After practicing the commands by doing some written activities and oral practice through flashcards and powerpoint slides, I play the song "RULES FOR THE CLASSROOM", which I found in YouTube. Guess what... It's very cute and catchy.

The City I Love

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Talking about places
Ultimate Goal: Writing

The activity below has been designed for a lesson in which students learn vocabulary used to talk about a place ( BREATHTAKING, SEASONED TRAVELER, OVERRUN WITH TOURISTS, WANDER OFF THE BEATEN PATH, IN YOUR FACE, ISOLATED, REMOTE, HUSTLE AND BUSTLE, etc...) After practicing the vocabulary, students brainstormed words related to New York. Then, they shared the words they came up with and listened to the song "A HEART IN NEW YORK" by Paul Simon. After listening to the song, students engaged into a discussion about the uniqueness of the city. Finally, they were encouraged to write a short poem or a paragraph about a city they enjoy going to and then shared their pieces of writing with their peers.

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Teenagehood

Age: Teens

In our teenagehood, we usually don't want to conform. It is a time of doubts, questioning and anger. The activities below give students the opportunity to share with their peers what they expect from the future. They will also be able to practice the grammar point - future forms (Will, Going to, Present Continuous, Future Continuous and Future Perfect. Finally, they can also write about it. It is up to the teacher what to focus on. Here are three possible ways to work on the song "THE ANTHEM" by Good Charlotte.

1) Grammar Focus: Future Forms
2) Reflection & Discussion
3) Writing

Men X Women

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Reflection & Discussion

The activity below has been designed for the song "WOMAN IN CHAINS" by Tears for Fears. There is a vocabulary presentation with words and expressions from the lyrics and a fill-in-the-blank activity. In the end, students debate about the meaning of the song and watch an interview with the author, who explains what he meant. Students then engage into a discussion about whether they agree with the author or not. 

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Tell + O + Infinitive

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Infinitives / Adjectives for Personality

The activity below has been designed for the song "DON'T TELL ME" by Madonna, which shows a little bit of the singer's personality, as in all her songs. Teachers here can explore that by engaging students into a discussion about their own personality as well. Also, the song has the affirmative and negative forms of infinitive verbs. (Remember that you don't necessarily have to focus on both aspects of the song. In case of time constrains, choose one and adapt the worksheet accordingly.)

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School Items

Age: Children
Focus: School Items


The song below has the tune of "YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE" . I sing it with my little ones to practice the vocabulary learned, which is school items. Initially, I write the words on the board in the sequence they appear in the song and elicit the lyrics from them. Eventually, they memorize it and don't need the words anymore. The cool thing about this song is that the items don't necessarily have to be in the order suggested here. 

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