Classical writing activities can be used as well , such as writing other verses / stanzas for the lyrics , maintaining the same mood and style as the original . Students would have to focus on the patterns and rhyme of the song , as well as be creative . Conversely , students can be asked to change the mood completely when adding lines to the song .
The students ’ personal perspective and creativity cand be put to the test if they are asked to write a response from the point of view of the person the song is being sung about , or any other protagonist . They can even write a diary entry for a character in the song and thus examine the thoughts and feelings that inspired the story being played out in the lyrics .
A fun writing activity ( which can also be done in pairs and groups , adding an element of interaction there ) is to use songs that tell stories as input for students to make comic strips out of . Avril Lavigne ’ s “ Skater Boy ” song is a good one for this activity .
Spoken interaction Songs lend themselves to a multitude of class discussions , but beyond the simple analysis of the meaning of lyrics , interactive activities can be planned for the students . One interesting activity is to have them role-play a mock-interview where the song creator will be prompted to discuss the message , he / she intended to transmit ( as an artist ). The interview can cover some background stories , such as the context around writing and launching the song . For this particular activity , students can do some research into the story of the song to make the discussion realistic .
In groups , students can also be given the task to plan the shooting of a ( new ) videoclip for the song . They should decide upon the location , the characters , the plot , the shooting sequences , frames , lighting , etc . Then each group could explain their idea to the rest of the class and the class can vote on the best one . This activity requires higher level thinking skills such as negotiating , compromising , which are inherent in a group work activity .
While all these activities planned and executed by the teachers can be rewarding in and of themselves , I found it particularly rewarding to pass on the role of the teacher to students themselves . This works particularly well with more mature students , who are able to plan , execute and monitor a variety of activities based on songs , ranging from vocabulary and / or grammar to cultural aspects and written / spoken production and interaction . Their choice of songs might be surprising , because they might take it so seriously as not to go for the obvious , ‘ cool ’ options , but bring in classical songs they would like to ‘ teach ’ to fellow students .
It is extremely empowering for them to be given the opportunity to plan exercises for their classmates and to devise tasks for them . This situation benefits both the ‘ teaching students ’ and the ones on the receiving end , among whom is the ‘ traditional teacher ’ himself or herself . Some of my best song-using classes were the ones planned by my students and I take great pride in that !
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