Got dumped?

Age: Adults
Focus: Simple Past

The song "CRYING" is a song about a broken heart, therefore, not a teenager's cup of tea. The goal here is to practice and memorize the past form of the verbs in the song. First, students do a word search activity. Then, they read the lyrics and change the verbs into the past, in order to once again visualize and memorize the past form. Next, they engage into a written task (either fill in a table with the past form of the verbs, once again an opportunity to memorize them, or write a letter in response to the author of the song).

Activities - Downloadable

Lessons we learn

Age: Adults
Focus: Verb Tenses

"CRASH BOOM BANG" by Roxette is a song about a lesson the author has learned. After having a brief discussion in pairs, students listen to the song and identify the verb tenses presented. In the end, students guess what lesson the author has learned.

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Past Modals

Age: Adults
Focus: Past Modals


The song "I COULD HAVE DANCED ALL NIGHT" by Frank Sinatra offers students a good opportunity to practice past modals. First, students play a guessing game to guess who the author of the song is and then they listen to the song as the read the lyrics. After that, students work on a short written  task, in which they individually write sentences about themselves and finally share them with a peer.

Activity - Downloadable

What I wanna do is...

Age: Adults
Focus: WILL for intentions


The activity below has been designed for the song "COME AWAY WITH ME" by Nora Jones. Simple and short task. First, students list the things they are planning to do today or this week. After sharing what they will do, they listen to the song and afterwards, engage into a brief discussion on the author's intentions.

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This town is great

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Writing

"CHICAGO", originally performed by Frank Sinatra, is about the city and its qualities. It's a great opportunity for students to reflect on the qualities of their own city and what makes it a special place. Simple task: First, students engage into a brief discussion about the city and after that, they listen to the song and identify the qualities the author thinks the city has. In the end, students write about the qualities of a city they like.

 Activity - Downloadable

Simple Past

Age: Adults
Focus: Simple Past


The song "BECAUSE YOU LOVED ME" by Celine Dion is a very good opportunity for students to practice the Simple Past of the verbs. Younger students don't like this song, so I only use it with adults. You can give this song as a wrap-up activity after they have practiced the verb tense for some time. First, students are introduced to the vocabulary in the song and then they engage into a brief discussion. After that, they write down the past form of the verbs provided. Then, they sing the song and finally play a concentration game.

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Are you an optimist?

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Reflection & Discussion


Short and simple activity: The song "BEAUTIFUL LIFE"  by Ace of Base gives students the opportunity to reflect whether they are optimistic or pessimistic about life. First, they discuss and share what they think and why. Then, they listen to the song and identify elements that represent being optimistic about life. Finally, they engage into a discussion about their attitude towards life in general.

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Creative Writing

Age: Adults
Focus: Writing


"A THING ABOUT YOU" is a song by Roxette and gives students the opportunity to use their imagination in a piece of writing, based on three words from the song. First, they use the three words to write a story. After that, they are introduced to the lyrics and compare the two stories. Finally, they categorize the words in order of difficulty. (They are allowed to use the dictionary to find the definitions of any word they don't know). An option for a wrap-up activity is to illustrate the song.

Activity - Downloadable

Present Perfect

Age: Adults
Focus: Present Perfect


The song "A SONG FOR YOU" is very old and cheesy, however it has sentences in the Present Perfect. I would only use it in one situation: If students had told me they enjoyed listening to the Carpenters. Even so, I would rather show them the version performed by Michael Bubblé, which is more updated, even classy, I might add. Feel free to show the original one, though.

It's a very short and simple task. First, students share in pairs what they might know about The Carpenters. Then, they answer a quiz and after that, they are showed the lyrics with the Present Perfect highlighted. Next, a slide explains what the Present Perfect is and finally, students engage into writing sentences about themselves.

Activity - Downloadable (The Carpenters)

Activity - Downloadable (Michael Bubblé)

Word Functions

Age: Adults
Focus: Word Functions


The activity below was made for the song "AT LAST" by Etta James. The focus is word functions. First, a list of words is showed as the song is played. A fun element could be lipsink the song while it's playing. Then, the students categorize the words into verbs, nouns and adjectives. In the end, they fill in blanks in the lyrics. Activity - Downloadable

Can I marry your daughter?

Age: Teens and Adults
Focus: First Conditionals

The activity proposed here is for the song "RUDE" by Magic. Although the song doesn't have the first conditional, it can be used for that purpose, so you can show students the slide with the lyrics but you don't necessarily need photocopies.

TEENS 

First, students fill in speech bubbles in pictures taped to the wall. Then, they are assigned a role in a group of three.

Student 1: The boyfriend
Student 2: The girlfriend (or the girl's mother)
Student 3: The father

Assuming students have been exposed to the first conditional and practiced for some weeks, in groups of three, they engage in a conversation in which the boyfriend asks his girlfriend's father to marry her. In case the girls in class don't feel comfortable playing the girlfriend, they can play the girl's mother.

The boyfriend is supposed to use the first conditional in the conversation and convince the girl's father (or mother) that their marriage will work out.  IF YOU GIVE ME YOUR PERMISSION, WE WILL… / IF WE DON'T GET MARRIED, WE WILL… etc. (The same with the adults below)

ADULTS

First, male married students share with everyone how they proposed to their wives and female married students share how their husbands proposed to them. Then, they are assigned a role and engage in the same conversation proposed above.

NOTE: For both age groups, teacher monitors students and provides them with vocabulary and feedback.

Activity Downloadable

Hazard - Creative Writing

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Creative Writing

The activity below has also been designed for the song "HAZARD" by Richard Marx. First, students work on a word search task. Then, they listen to the song and fill in the blanks with the simple past form of the verbs given. FInally, they create a story using the verbs suggested. 

Activity - Downloadable

Super Women

Age: Adults
Focus: Reflection and Discussion/ Simple Present (Routines)

The activity that follows has been designed for the song "SUPER WOMAN". Unlike other activities from the wiki, two songs sung by two different performers are used in this one. Because they coincidently have the same title and, of course, are about strong women, we decided to put the two together in one single activity. First, students list and share in pairs what qualities a woman must have to be a super woman. Then, they listen to the song and compare the two. After that, they have to say which of the two women portrayed in the songs is a real super woman and why. This activity is super simple for there is no writing but some reflection on the message presented in the song and some speaking practice. 

Activities - Downloadable

In case you choose to work with Alicia Key's version only, here is our suggestion for an activity. 

Family Issues

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Reflection and Discussion / Modals of Speculation

The activity below has been designed for the song "FAMILY PORTRAIT" by Pink. It's suitable for a group of older teens or an adult group. First, students speculate about what the singer was like as a child  and her family based on a picture. Students are supposed to use modals of speculation (I think she may have been rebellious), although they might use Would/Used To (I think she used to be funny and talkative) or Simple Past (I think she used bad language). After they discuss, they will listen to the song and find in the lyrics information that describes her family and how she feels. In the end, students say what they think they would do in her shoes. 

Activity - Downloadable

I love Paris

Age: Adults

Focus: Writing

The activity below has been designed for the song "I LOVE PARIS", performed here by Frank Sinatra. I recommend this song for adults only for teens are not big fans of old songs. As for the activity, it's very simple and its ultimate goal is to engage students into writing. First, students talk about Paris based on a list of words provided by the teacher. Then, they listen to the song and work on some vocabulary. Finally, they write about their city and what they like about it. 

Activity - Downloadable

Hazard - Narrative Writing & Trial

The two last activities proposed for the song HAZARD are the ones that follow. I hope you like them. I'd be glad to know what you think, so leave a comment.


HAZARD (OPTIONS 6)

NARRATIVE WRITING

Here, students will first reflect and discuss about a few questions provided by the teacher. Then, they will watch the video of the song and finally engage into a writing task, in which they will narrate what happened. They will write an introduction, a body and a conclusion. In the end, students read their narratives to their peers. Here is an opportunity for them to use their writing skills and also their imagination since they are to come up with an ending for the story.

HAZARD (OPTION 7)

 TRIAL

Students are arranged in two groups. Then, based on the video, they reflect and discuss in order to find evidence for determining whether the man is innocent or guilty of the crime he's being accused of.

Activities - Downloadable

Hazard - Tic Tac Toe

Age: Teens & Adults

Focus: Simple Past & Passive Voice

HAZARD (OPTION 5)

Another possible activity for the song "HAZARD" by Richard Marx is Tic Tac Toe. There are also a few other tasks to be performed. However, they don't have to be done ALL TOGETHER. They're just suggestions. Choose whatever you think is appropriate for your group. The focus here is the Passive Voice, so first students look at some pictures and discuss what the items can be used for. After that, they listen to the song/watch the video and underline the verbs in the past. Then, they play Tic Tac Toe by answering questions about the song/video. When they finish, they work on an activity in which they will practice the passive voice and finally, they write a short piece of news using the Simple Past and the Passive Voice. 

Activity - Downloadable

We are more beautiful than we think

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Reflection & Discussion

The activity below has been designed for the song "BEAUTIFUL" by Christina Aguilera. First, students describe themselves to the person sitting next to them and then they listen to their partner's description. After that, they watch a TV commercial by Dove and say what aspect of the video they found interesting. Then, they listen to the song and find 10 vocabulary mistakes. Finally, they engage into a discussion about beauty. 

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What did the author mean?

Age: Teens & Adults
Focus: Modas Of Speculation


The activity below has been designed for the song "APRIL COME SHE WILL" by Paul Simon. First, students talk about their favorite season of the year. Then, they listen to the song and fill in some blanks. After that, they speculate what the author meant when he wrote the song. 

Activity - Dowloadable

Hazard - Rhyming

HAZARD   (OPTION 4)

Another possible activity for the song "HAZARD" by Richard Marx is Rhyming. First of all, students will have some minutes to guess what the song is about by choosing from 3 options in 5 different items.  Then, they listen to the song and fill in the blanks with words that rhyme other words in the song. After that, they discuss what they think happened.

Activity - Downloadable