Music :
– general discussion about music
– “Fill the blanks”
– Imagine the video of the song
How did you pick this theme or topic?
I think music is a fun way to tackle a foreign language because it is something universal, so even if they had never heard the song, there were many chances that they liked music and thus found this class interesting. Music is also a nice way to learn about a country’s culture. And since I wasn’t really sure about their level, I chose a rather easy song to test their level.
How did you present the material? (Handouts, group work, general discussion, student presentations, etc.)
General discussion
Group discussions (in groups of 3)
Handouts – lyrics of the song with blanks
How did students react?
Really well, they all talked to each other for 10 minutes about music, French songs, etc…
About the song, nobody knew it. They understood most of the lyrics.
And they had very good ideas concerning which kind of video they would have made to fit with the song.
Did they engage with each other and you?
Yes. All of them talked to each other and then tried to guess the lyrics, and proposed a possible video.
What materials or media did you use? (articles, satellite tv, digital projector, etc.)
Computer (youtube), handout
Please attach a copy.
Below are the lyrics of the song, and the plan I had with me in class.
Would you recommend this activity for a future class?
Yes, I think they liked it and they were all able to participate in the discussion.
01/26 Advanced
1) warm up : « quoi de neuf… ? »
2) Introduction of the topic:
– Do you know French music?
– French singers, bands?
3) Introduction of the song and the band
– Tom Frager
– Song without the text and without the video
– I give them the lyrics with the blank, they read it and ask for what they don’t understand
– Song again, they have to fill the blanks
– Correction and explanation. (expressions)
4) Try to imagine how you would create the video for this song (in pairs) 10 mn
5) Discussion and then comparison with the video Lady Melody