Teach English in Jindai Zhen - Chongqing

Songs in the ClassroomTeachers in search of the ultimate ?hook? or engage activity for an ESA lesson plan need look no further than a simple song or tune they have known since childhood. I still remember by kindergarten teacher singing, ?Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere. Clean up, Clean up, everybody do your share.? When the kindergarteners heard these words, we all raced to clean up as we joyfully joined in singing the song. If my teacher had sung a short song each day, similar to the one above, about future tenses or irregular verbs, we five year olds would have been grammar experts. Using songs to teach vocabulary or grammar in the ESL classroom is fun, effective and creative. Children and adults alike light up and enjoy short, catchy songs as an approach to learning otherwise easily forgotten lesson material. There are so many benefits and approaches for using songs in the classroom. The first benefit and approach for teaching is to start the class enthusiastically with opening songs. Singing to begin a class relaxes everyone, starts the day with smiles and joy and immediately hooks and involves the whole class. I play the ukulele and love to review simple and important vocabulary and grammar points with catchy tunes to begin my classes. While playing simple, short melodies, I review days of the week, months of the year, nouns, verbs and contractions. The students and I usually laugh at my ukulele playing at first, and we all feel a bit foolish and ridiculous. This ?breaks the ice? and brings a feeling of community and belonging to the group. Using songs in the classroom helps the students comprehend and remember past material taught in class. When I teach contractions using the dry erase board and worksheets, my students tend to forget. However, I teach: I am becomes I?m, I would become I?d, I will becomes I?ll, I have becomes I?ve As a song, just singing the first few words, or even playing a bit of the tune, brings the information quickly into memory. I have heard my students humming our months of the year song when needing to remember which month comes after February! Another benefit of teaching with music is that it helps the ESL student with pronunciation. At Parnell District School in Auckland, New Zealand, classes meet in assembly every fortnight. At the beginning of assembly, everyone stands and sings the New Zealand national anthem: God of Nations at Thy feet In the bonds of love we meet, Hear our voices we entreat God defend our free land. Guard Pacific?s Triple star From the shafts of strife and war Make her praises heard afar God defend New Zealand. While the ESL student can be heard mispronouncing some of these same words and phrases, when all of the students sing in chorus, they are always sung correctly. The esl teacher can use any of these well-known words from the anthem to teach or correct pronunciation in the classroom. Another benefit of using songs in the classroom is that the teacher can help to build self-confidence in her students by requiring them present a created song to the whole class. While living in Auckland, New Zealand, I learned from my Asian students that koreans and chinese love Karaoke singing. Since I knew this about my students, I developed a lesson that involved first listening to some funny American country songs (Achy Breaky Heart, There ain?t Nothin Wrong with the Radio) and then reading the lyrics aloud. The students were then given the task of writing and performing their own funny country song. I was thrilled at the creativity of each group, particularly the Asian groups. Usually quiet and appearing to lack self-confidence, these groups out-performed others in creativity, sound and lyrics when asked to do something similar to Karaoke, and that they enjoyed. Songs are also poems. esl students can benefit from learning rhyming word ending blends, and then taking the simple knowledge gained in a song on to learn many more words. Most adults probably still remember singing: The itsy-bitsy spider Climbed up the water spout Down came the rain And washed the spider out Out came the sun And dried up all the rain And the itsy-bitsy spider Climbed up the spout again. After singing any rhyming song such as ??The Itsy-Bitsy Spider? students are asked to highlight all of the words ending the same; here, the class would highlight ?out? and ?ain.? Next, the teacher brainstorms with the students any other words with these endings: about, scout, shout, snout, brain, gain, grain and explain. The students can write and sing their own song using the new words. There are many songs and new words that can be learned in this fun and creative way. Finally and perhaps most importantly is the benefit of making learning fun. Songs in the classroom are one of the best ways to have fun. While writing this, I pulled from the shelf my Shel Silverstein song CD and book Where the Sidewalk Ends. All good teachers know to push learning aside on occasion simply for the sake of fun and laughter. One perfect song for such a time is Silverstein?s ?Boa Constrictor.? Oh, I?m being eaten By a boa constrictor A boa constrictor A boa constrictor I?m being eaten by a boa constrictor, And I don?t like it-one bit. Well, what do you know? It?s nibblin? my toe. Oh, gee, It?s up to my knee. Oh my, It?s up to my thigh. Oh fiddle, It?s up to my middle. Oh, heck, It?s up to my neck. Oh, dread, It?s up to mmmmmmmffffff? There won?t be a frown in the classroom after singing this song! When students enjoy their learning, they learn more. A common belief among primary teachers is that we learn everything we need to know in kindergarten. In my memory, I can still hear my kindergarten teacher singing the clean-up song, but I can?t remember her name! Some may feel that singing in the adult ESL classroom is inappropriate or foolish. I smile when I think that, yes, at first the teacher and students may feel awkward. However, the benefits and endless teaching approaches compel teachers to use songs in the classroom. References 1. EnglishClub.com ?Using Music in the ESL Classroom.? 2. British Council Website ?Using Songs in the Classroom? submitted by TE Editor on 30 March, 2011, Music and Song (1992) Murphey, T. Oxford University Press, Andy thailand 3. Songs for Teaching: Using Music to Promote Learning, EFL/ESOL/ESL Songs and Activities; Educational Songs for Teaching English as a Second Language. Songs that teach conversational English and English Vocabulary