UNIT 3

Songs
The use of songs and music in the classroom may allow different students to contribute, succeed
and excel. Singing together has a bonding effect and can help to make all students feel included
because individual performance is not in focus. The rhyme and rhythm in songs makes them
easy to remember and helps language and speech development.
Teachers can use songs they know and change the words to fit their purpose. Songs are also a
useful way to memorize and retain information. The students might be quite inventive at
generating songs or chants for purposes.
The language level of your class

The language level of the class will determine not only which songs teachers can use, but also
what other activities – such as games or written exercises – they will use to develop the lesson.

How old are your learners?

If you’re a teacher of young learners, you will probably want to use songs that are repetitive and
very easy to understand. For teenagers, however, use contemporary or fairly recent pop and rock
songs.

Here is a selection of ideas about how to work with songs.

 Classic gap-fill: Every language student at some point has been given a song to listen to and
the lyrics with gaps in for them to fill in as they listen. This activity is not as simple as it sounds
and before making one yourself think about why you’re taking out certain words. It may be better
to take out all the words in one group, such as prepositions or verbs, and tell students what they
should be listening out for. Another option is to take out rhyming words. Don’t be tempted to take
out too many words; eight or ten is normally enough. To make the task easier you could provide
the missing words in a box at the side for the students to select, or you could number the gaps
and provide clues for each number.

 Spot the mistakes: Change some of the words in the lyrics and as students listen they have to
spot and correct the mistakes. As with the gap-fill limit the mistakes to a maximum of eight or ten
and if possible choose a word set. You could make all the adjectives opposites for example.
Another example of this for higher levels is to show the students the real lyrics and you correct
the English and make it proper! E.g. ‘gonna’ change to ‘going to’ ‘we was’ change to ‘we were’
etc. This is a good way to focus on song language.

 Order the verses: With low levels this is a very simple activity. Chop up the lyrics of the song by
verse and give a small group of students the jumbled verses. As they listen they put them in
order.
 Discussion: Certain songs lend themselves to discussions and you can use the song as a nice
lead in to the topic and a way to pre-teach some of the vocabulary. One I used recently was
‘Where is the love?’ by the Black Eyed Peas to lead in to a discussion about war.

 Translation: Although some teachers oppose all use of the mother tongue in the language
classroom, some students really enjoy translating lyrics into their own language. If you do ask
students to do this ensure the lyrics are worth translating!
 Write the next verse: Higher levels can write a new verse to add to a song. Focus on the
patterns and rhyme of the song as a group and then let students be creative. If they are
successful, the new verses can be sung over the top of the original.
 TEACHING ENGLISH THROUGH POETRY

Poetry always awakens our senses, promotes literary. It helps students to draw a sketch or
image of everything in their mind which they can feel, explain and talk about. Poetry is musical
and rhythmic, so it catches everyone’s attention. Poetry is universal and global so it connects
people. It is a vehicle for expression on a wider horizon. Poetry requires concentration and
attention both which usually students did not adhere on. Poetry is so versatile that it can make
great changes in ELT. Poetry is of many types and forms. Similarly language of poetry can be
simple or ornamental. Poetry opens with an interesting historical reference of Epics, Folk Tales
and many other references. A poetry is a piece of writing in which words are arranged beautifully
and rhythmically. Studying and writing poetry can give expression and communication to the
students and teachers both. We need poetry to promote language teaching emotionally and
holistically. Poetry helps to use Figure of Speech, Adjectives, Phrases and symbolic words
spontaneously to show feelings. When we read, listen or write something aloud and rhythmically
we easily learn it. There are a number of ways to use poetry for ELL Classroom. Poetry offers
many opportunities for language teaching and practice. It gives a wide chance of learning
vocabulary and structure. To start poetry in ELL in classroom is not an easy way. The first thing
which a teacher has to do is to prepare students for poetry. First, a teacher must know how much
student know about poetry and its forms, construction, rhyme and rhythm. Poetry ranges from
simple to complex. In present day, even absurd poetry is also in great demand. Depending on the
level of students, we can start use of poetry in classroom in various ways such as:

 Discussion about the difference between Poems and Prose.

 Give a short story and ask to convert some lines in a poetic composition.

 Read poems loudly and tales and prose in poetic manner so that students can follow. Reading
aloud always works well as far as pronunciation and fluency is concerned. In order to increase
fluency, pronunciation and confidence, classroom practices and exercises play an important
role.

 Vocabulary is also very important because there are many words which can only be used in
poetic composition. So, vocabulary games and quiz also play an important role.

 Poems have some unusual sentences and structures which students normally will not find in
Prose. Their sentences and structure help a lot in ELL. The aim of teaching English through
poetry is to provide inspiration of learning language with emerging techniques and practical
wisdom and ideas. It does not mean that English teaching means learning poetry but to learn
L2 (English) with the help of poetry enthusiastically. Learning through poetry needs extra
attention and motivation as students have to devote more time and energy.

There are some assignments and projects that can be made a part of curriculum as:

 Creative writing to add one or two stanzas on most famous poems of syllabus.
 Create a poem with the help of given a group of 50 to 100 words.
 To write applications, letters, reports of events in poetic form.
 Reconstruction of Nursery Rhymes and kids poems is also a good mind blogger.
GAMES AND PROBLEM SOLVING ACTIVITIES

GAMES
What kinds of games work best?

When you are looking for games to use in your classroom, don’t just pick something to be “time
filler” which does not have a definite linguistic outcome. These games may entertain the students,
but when you don’t have much time with them each day as it is, you want your game to do double
duty to get the most out of the time you spend playing games.

Have a clear linguistic outcome for each game. The game can be a listening game to allow the
students to repeatedly hear a new grammatical structure in use, or it can be a speaking game to
allow practice of the grammar once it has been absorbed through listening beforehand. There are
degrees of difficulty with speaking games from basic repetition in a fun context to more creative
sentence creation for revision or more advanced practice once the basics have been mastered.
The teacher should lead the children through this progression so that the game at hand is always
well within the grasp of the students. This makes games fun rather than laborious. It is a mistake
to play a speaking game immediately after the new grammar has been presented. Ideally
reading, spelling and writing games come after the new grammar has been absorbed and the
students can use it orally.

Another thing to watch out for with grammar games is that a maximum of students are involved
simultaneously. If you have thirty children you want to avoid a game where only one child is
speaking at a time. What are the other twenty-nine children supposed to do in the meantime
other than get bored? On the other end of the scale however are games that cause chaos in
class and make teachers unpopular with colleagues because of high noise levels.
 PROBLEM - SOLVING ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH

According to the definition: “Problem solving is a mental process and is part of the larger
problem process that includes problem finding and problem shaping. Considered the most
complex of all intellectual functions, problem solving has been defined as higher-order cognitive
process that requires the modulation and control of more routine or fundamental skills”.
Problem-solving activity, which is task-based and has a purpose beyond the production of correct
speech, is one of the most preferable communicative activities. They show not only the
competence and knowledge but also the performance of the learner and their communicative
skills. Questions which require students to be reasonable and logical and help students to learn
language in an interesting way are the types of problem-solving activities. In problem solving
activities, the problems may be based on real or imaginary situations, and students are expected
to find possible solutions for the problems.
Problem-solving activities can be used at all levels. Regarding student’s knowledge of
English, age and their experience, appropriate activities might be successfully applied. It is also
important to work out clear and easy directions for these activities.
Problem-solving activities have many advantages, which shouldn’t be ignored. While talking
about the problem, students use the target language and improve their communicative skills.
They learn to interact with others as they discuss solutions and outcomes of the solution. They
learn to negotiate when they try to agree on different points of the solution, thus they develop
critical thinking skills.
It is a learner-centered activity where the students communicate with each other while
studying the problem and looking for possible solutions for possible future actions. The teacher
can only observe and sometimes coordinate the process, helping the students to develop their
communicative skills.
In a way, students acquire language unconsciously since their whole attention is engaged
by the activity. By providing personal, social, and cross-cultural issues to define, they sometimes
simulate real life situations
It is also possible to integrate all skills in such activities. Reading or listening to a situation,
a problem, or a question; responding or commenting either through speaking or writing. In such
activities the teacher should act as a facilitator rather than a teacher. He introduces the problem
and guides the process of discussion while the students are involved in the process of learning.
He should create friendly and relaxed teaching-learning atmosphere in which students will not be
embarrassed
How should problem-solving activity applied in an English class? Before choosing the
problem we should thoroughly study it as there are problems with different levels of difficulty and
require different skills and knowledge. That is why the choice of the problem which you want to
solve in class is closely connected with the level of your students’ knowledge.
We can divide the process of problem-solving into several stages:
The first stage of introducing the problem could be warm-up activity where the teacher can
ask students to answer some questions related to the problem and thus giving a chance to
predict what the problem might be and motivate the students. It can be a picture shown on the
active-board, or a video. The teacher may ask low level students to describe the picture, when
high level students may pay more attention to the situation, shown in the picture. The questions
will help students to review some grammar, which can be used in the process of discussion.
The second stage is reading of the story or watching video. Find out what words are
unfamiliar for the students and write down them on the blackboard. Be sure that the students
understand the situation.
The third stage is comprehension check. Comprehension check can be done in different
ways, for example as listening or reading exercises. At first the teacher can ask “yes” or “no”
questions then go to special questions and then offers the students to ask their own questions. Or
the teacher may offer different statements, which can be right and wrong and ask students to say
whether they are correct or not and correct the wrong ones.
The next stage is discussion. Here the students are encouraged to talk about the issues
presented in the reading and also their personal experience. The questions may require students
to make suppositions and use their judgment. There are no correct answers.
Now the students are ready to identify the problems and to find the solutions and talk
about the consequences. The problems can be written on the blackboard. The teacher may begin
the discussion by asking the questions: “What’s the problem?”, then “What can be done?” and at
last “What is the solution of the problem?” Encourage the students to present their ideas and it is
important here not to make emphasis on their grammar mistakes. Don’t correct their mistakes; try
to help them with the questions which can give them a hint if they are in a difficulty what to say
next. When the solutions are ready the teacher should write them on the blackboard and ask
students about the possible consequences. Encourage them to use their imagination and critical
thinking to come up with the possible consequences.
In order to choose the best solution the teacher may divide students into several groups of
three or four people and ask them to discuss the possible consequences of their decision. In this
activity the teacher gives the chance to shy students who can’t speak in public, express his
opinion. It is possible for students to come up with new solutions if the consider them to be more
successful. In each group there should be a moderator, who facilitates the discussion and is
responsible for the group’s decision. On this stage the teacher shouldn’t interrupt students to
correct their mistakes, but he should write them down I order to discuss them the next day. When
the groups are ready to come up with their solution, ask the leader of the group to sound it and
explain why it was chosen. Ask the students from other groups if they agree with it or not.
Encourage the students to take active part in this discussion as it develops their ability to persist
in opinion, giving his reasons in the target language.
The last stages of this activity is the discussion of mistakes made in the process of
problem solving, but do it after careful consideration in order not to hurt students and encourage
them to take an active part in the next problem solving activity.
TEXT-BASED EXERCISE AND ACTIVITIES
making particular structure-discourse matches. They have used such as the following: