Teach English in PingzhuAng Zhen - Chifeng Shi

Thanks to a whole host of efficient techniques and tools, learning and teaching English these days are much easier than ever before. The one I pick should be English songs. In this essay, I would like to discuss some key and feasible solutions for English teachers to teach their students through popular songs Firstly, I will explain some reasons for using songs in English class. For comunication English such as listening and speaking, songs enable learners improve their listening and speaking skills. This is because they provide students effective chances to practice these crucial skills via their different forms of intonation and rhythm. In addition, learners are given great opportunities to enhance their vocabulary and acquire a number of grammartical structures. Secondly, to select a song is one of the most difficult aspects of using music in a lesson. Here are some things you probably need to think about to ensure you get the right song. Carefully examine what it is you want your class to learn in the lesson. a. How old are your learners? If you’re students are young, you will probably want to use songs that are attractive, funny and very easy to understand. For teenagers, you may use contemporary or fairly recent pop and rock songs. b. How to use song in the classroom? You can use the song to warm-up your class. The children like it very much. Four steps for making a song in your class: 1. Introduce the name of the song. 2. Pre- teach the action/key word or phrases. Ask the student to follow your body languages and action. 3. Turn on the music and do follow the song. 4. sing the song 1-2 times Songs are also good for a warm – up activities in teaching young leaner. c. Some activities to use songs in class The activities are labeled as appropriate for teaching young learners and teens, and you can always adapt activities to fit the needs of your students– even adults! Here some ways: 1. Sing-Along (Kids & Teens or Adults) This activity is exactly what it sounds like, though there are some useful points to keep in mind. Print out the lyrics to the song for students and listen to the song a couple of times while students read and sing along or you might have a lyric video (a video that plays the song while simultaneously displaying the words for students to read). For older learners, relying only on listening only, instead of providing the lyrics, is a good way of challenging them. After the listening, encourage your students to discuss the song and share what language they were comfortable with and where they struggled. 2. Fill in the Blank (Children) This activity is provide the students with a paper that has most of a song’s lyrics, but with some blank spaces for certain words. Aim for around six blanks, give or take, as you want to provide an appropriate amount of vocabulary. Students listen to the song and try to fill in the missing words. 3. Read-Along (Teens or Adults) A read-along activity is using song follows a nearly identical process to that of the aforementioned sing-along activity, with a more advanced ending. Print out the lyrics to the song for students and listen to the song a couple of times while students read and sing along. Have a class-wide, “story-time” discussion regarding the students’ understanding of the story in the song and gather their responses. Ask questions such as: “Did you like the song/story? Why or why not?” “What was your favorite part?” “What do you think it was about?” “Can you think of a similar song or story?” Finally, these are only some of the many reasons that songs are useful in the language learning classroom. They contain authentic language, are easily obtainable, provide vocabulary, grammar and cultural aspects and are fun for the students. They provide enjoyable speaking, listening, vocabulary and language practice both in and out of the classroom.The teachers should all consider using songs as a regular part of their classroom activities. You can find practically any song on website or Youtube or an mp3, which doesn’t require a connection, or even a good old-fashioned CD. Here’re some weblinks: 1.https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=super+simple+songs 2.https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=matt+songs+for+kids 3.https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mother+goose+club 4.https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=english+singsing 5. http://www.studynhac.vn/ 6. https://www.esolcourses.com/topics/learn-english-with-songs.html 7. http://www.theteachersguide.com/ 8. http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/