Tag Archives: cloze

More Thinking About Using A Song

Note: This article was written by our dear colleague & friend, Steve Vassilakopoulos.

In my previous post, I discussed how and why to use songs in the classroom, but my main focus was how the lyrics in a song can be exploited. However, there are, as the old saying goes, many ways to skin to a cat. If we go beyond the words a song contains and think about the music that a song contains, there are fertile pastures to be found there. In this article, I will explore two such ways of doing this, but having said that, there are numerous others as well.

The first use that we will look at is the use of music as context for narrative writing. And “what do you mean by that?” I hear you asking. Well, using music as context means providing music as inspiration to stimulate the imagination, lubricate the gray cells and get the old creative juices flowing. In practical terms it involves putting on a piece of music, setting a task for the students and then getting on with the feedback.

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Thinking About Using A Song?

Note: This article was written by our deal colleague and friend, Steve Vassilakopoulos.

The aim of this article is to get you thinking. That is, thinking about the use of songs in the teaching of English. To start with, the first thing to think about is you and music. How often have you used songs? Why is this so? Are songs a regular part of your teaching repertoire? If so, why or why not? Why do you use songs anyway? Are songs a part of what you are teaching on that particular day, a part of your lesson plan so to speak or do you use them as a break from the boring but necessary material you normally use? Which songs do you choose and why? Do you choose the songs or do your students have a say in the matter?

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Creating Tests With Your Students

A necessary part of exam preparation, testing needn’t mean hours of slaving away to produce the definitive paper, or using pre-written models which often don’t really explore problematic areas. Instead, testing can become part of the learning process, rather than merely a 30 minute window on your students’ progress. It’s easy!

Imagine you have ten B2 (or above) level students. Find ten suitable newspaper articles, appropriate in content and reach, based ideally on ten different topics which you wish to explore during the course. Photocopy the articles and give a different copy to each student. Allow students in class reading time and go through content, problematic vocabulary and contextual issues that may arise.

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