Musical Appreciation Lesson/Day
Music is a wonderful way to get students learning English and producing language. See all our resources about music HERE. Also, see Rachel’s lovely post on the same topic, only using music videos!
This lesson is very teacher friendly and can be used with guidance, for multiple levels.
1. Listen to a song together. Tell the students to relax and enjoy. Play a selected portion.
2. Ask the whole class the questions on the worksheet. As a class, brainstorm the answers and record on the board.
3. Distribute the worksheet. In pairs or individually, students listen to 4 songs (chosen by the teacher or recommended by students) and as they listen fill in the chart.
4. After the song, students in groups, discuss and compare. Time permitting, share answers as a class.
This is a great lesson to compare songs within a genre (pop, country, rock, jazz, classical) or to compare songs in different musical genres.
Music Appreciation Listening chart
See attached, some songs that might be immediately usable! Different genres.
U2 With Or Without You
Black Gospel – This Little Light of Mine
Chariots Of Fire – Main Theme
can’t hide from love Mary J Blige
Classical Satie – gymnopedie no1
Thanks for a great activity. I love things like this which get the students thinking without the activity being too taxing – it’s the perfect opportunity for them to share their ideas without worrying about getting the wrong answer.
Teresa,
That’s a great point – too often these is a strong emphasis on “correct” – too much!
I also do this same kind of exercise but instead of songs, I use vocabulary. Give students a set of vocabulary on a particular topic. Let’s say furniture and rooms. They draw their own floor plan and then color the rooms/items depending on the color that they associate it with. For example, the couch might be “blue” because that is where we relax. The fun comes in writing/explaining about our own choices.