Using songs in the classroom is not only fun but students can
learn a lot of new vocabulary such as idioms, verbs, nouns, and even slang by
listening to their favorite music. It’s very simple for us teachers to create a
short exercise and choose a song that you think is appropriate for the class
you are teaching.
It’s important, to start with a Pre-listening activity.
By doing so students can get in the mood for the activity and predict what they
will do. For example, eliciting vocabulary that they think will be used
in the song, eliciting information about what the song will be about or simply
explaining some of the vocabulary that will be used.
Then, here comes the fun part, students get
to listen to the song and do an activity while doing something like a fill the
picture name and answer the question exercise (Vocabulary_Exercise). Finally, the
activity needs a wrap up exercise where students can practice the vocabulary learned
in the song and they get to sing together.
Another good idea would be to have the students create an
exercise with a song they like, and bring it to class for their classmates.
They get to be the “teachers”. Their assignment is to bring the song, create an
exercise and explain the new words. There are many activities that could be
used with songs. Enjoy teaching! :)
