New Routes

A Song Activity – Paulo Torres

Paulo Torres –

My April post was about using songs in class. In order to exemplify some of the tips given, I decided to prepare a song activity. This activity was prepared for an A2 group and we were working on weather words. Below you will find the instructions and the worksheet for the activity. The song chosen was Have you ever seen the rain?

Preparation
After I chose the song, I listened to it and read the lyrics simultaneously to check if they matched. Only then I started thinking about the exercises I would come up with for the song. I opted for working on pronunciation, blank filling and vocabulary.

Pronunciation
I noticed that two diphthong sounds were common in the lyrics and decided to choose some of the words which had these sounds.

Blank Filling
The same words chosen for the pronunciation exercise were used for the fill-in-the-blank one.

Vocabulary
This song was selected because it has several words related to weather.

Procedure

Before handing out the worksheet, write the two phonetic symbols on the board and elicit from students words with those sounds. Underline the sounds after writing them on the board. Next, give out the worksheet and have students work on exercise 1. Set a time limit. Walk around and help if necessary. Check.

Ask students to read exercise 2 and play the song up to the third stanza. Play this part no more than three times. Check.

Have students read exercise 3 and work on it. Set a time limit. Walk around and help if necessary. Check.

Students read exercise 4 and do it. Set a time limit. Walk around and help if necessary. Check.

Finally, play the whole song and students sing along.

Variations

So you make the second exercise more challenging, have students read the lyrics and fill in the blanks before playing the song. Elicit from them the answers without saying if students are right or wrong. Instead, ask them to say why they think that word can be used to fill in that blank. By doing so, you help students develop reading strategies.

Ask students to use the words they circled in the last exercise and create a word web for weather. Students can either write more words related to the ones they circled or write a sentence about each word. Webs of words are a useful tool to organize vocabulary.

You can also have students check the activities in pairs. If you choose peer correction, walk around and check to make sure their answers are correct.

Notes

By working on exercise 3, students have the chance to practice pronunciation once again.

The goal of exercise 4 is to review the weather vocabulary studied in the unit.

This song activity has a pre, during and post framework.

I prepared different kinds of activities for the song, not only a fill-in-the-blank one.

I had a purpose in mind which was to recycle previously studied vocabulary.

I bet you can come up with different activities for this song. My sole aim was to show that the hints I gave are useful and that they can be put into practice. Hope you like the activity and use it with your students!

SONG ACTIVITY

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

Rod Stewart

1 – Put the words under the correct heading according to the underlined sound.

say know (2X) ago day (2X) slow rain

/eɪ/	/oʊ/

2 – Use the words above to fill in the blanks.
Someone told me long ______________
There’s a calm before the storm,
I ______________;
It’s been comin’ for some time.
When it’s over, so they ______________,
It’ll rain a sunny ______________,
I know;
Shinin’ down like water.
Chorus
I want to know, have you ever seen the ______________?
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain
Comin’ down on a sunny ______________?
Yesterday, and days before,
Sun is cold and rain is hard,
I ______________;
Been that way for all my time.
‘Til forever, on it goes
Through the circle, fast and ______________,
I know;
It can’t stop, I wonder.
Chorus

Yeah!
Chorus

3 – Read the lyrics and find ONE more word for each sound in exercise 1.
________________ ________________

4 – Circle the weather words. There are more than five.