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A ragbag of rhythm and rhyme, mime and movement

7th International ELT Conference Malta 2018

Alan Marsh

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Aims

To remind ourselves of the connection between rhythm and rhyme, mime and movement .. and
learning

To offer a collection of activity types which exploit these connections and which I and my own learners
have enjoyed

Some scientific stuff

As teachers we all intuitively know that movement, action and playing with sound and music are not only highly
enjoyable for our learners but we also feel intuitively that they support learning.

Anatomical Evidence
There is now a growing body of scientific research evidence that actually demonstrates that this is indeed the
case.
The area of the brain most associated with motor control is the cerebellum. It's located in the back of the brain,
just under the occipital lobe, and is about the size of a small fist. The cerebellum takes up just one-tenth of the
brain by volume, but it contains nearly half of all its neurons (Ivry & Fiez, 2000). This structure, densely packed
with neurons, may be the most complex part of the brain.

There is new evidence, mostly gained from fMRI imaging techniques, that suggests that all motor activity is
preceded by quick thought processes. We learn to set goals, analyze variables, predict outcomes, and execute
movements. Pulling this off requires widespread connections to all sensory areas.

Other researchers have traced a pathway from the cerebellum to parts of the brain involved in memory, attention
and special perception

Peter Strick at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center of Syracuse, New York, has documented another link. His staff
has traced a pathway from the cerebellum back to parts of the brain involved in memory, attention, and spatial
perception. Amazingly then, the part of the brain that processes movement is the same
part of the brain that processes learning.

Evidence from Imaging Techniques

New data, primarily from studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), have provided support for
parallel roles of cognitive structures and movement structures such as the cerebellum. We learn to predict (think
about) our movements before we execute them (move) so that we control them better (Flanagan, Vetter,
Johansson, & Wolpert, 2003). This ability suggests that all motor activity is preceded by quick thought processes
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Dyslexia and movement
A study by Reynolds and colleagues (2003) found that children with dyslexia were helped by a movement
program. Those in the intervention group showed significantly greater improvement in dexterity, reading, verbal
fluency, and semantic fluency than did the control group. The exercising group also made substantial gains on
national standardized tests of reading, writing, and comprehension in comparison with students in the previous
year.

Source: Eric Jensen: Teaching With The Brain In Mind Chapter Four: Movement and Learning
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/104013/chapters/Movement-and-Learning.aspx

Music helps us learn because it will…

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establish a positive learning state create a desired atmosphere build a sense of anticipation
energise learning activities change brain wave state focus concentration
increase attention improve memory
facilitate a multisensory learning experience release tension
enhance imagination align groups
develop rapport resonate with auditory learning styles
provide inspiration and motivation resonate with musical intelligence
bring the world outside into the classroom add an element of fun
????????????????????

Memorization
Songs, chants, poems, and raps will improve memory of content facts and details through rhyme,
rhythm, and melody. Teaching these to students or having them write their own is a terrific memory
tool!

Source: Chris Brewer Music and Learning 1995

http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/Arts%20in%20Education/brewer.htm

Physical Break Chant (aka The Scarecrow Chant)

You’re a tree. Grow tall! You’re a small rubber ball!

You’re a scarecrow in the rain. You’re a bird. You’re a plane.

You’re a fork. You’re a spoon. Now you’re walking on the moon.

You’re a robot. You’re a chair. You’re a flea in someone’s hair.

You’re an egg. You’re a frog. You’re a jelly. You’re a log.

You’re a jumping kangaroo. Now sit down and just be you.

Try writing your own Physical Break Chant.

Most learners, including children, teenagers and adults, like the occasional ritual element to energise
and stimulate their learning. Chants use rhythm and rhyme and can incorporate movements such as
miming gestures, stretching and contracting. You can include humour and absurdity, both of which will
delight the young at heart. The learners may want to illustrate the text themselves with cartoon
pictures.

A possible procedure:
Read out and invite responses Then: Sts in As and Bs A is teacher : B does the actions.
Then change.Warmer / energiser / linker / stretcher. Lots of rhyme.
Acknowledgement: Rebecca Hudson, IATEFL Conference many years ago …..
Stress statues
Children stand up and line up in groups of four. Teacher reads out a word they know and they have to
line up according to the syllables. If it’s two syllables, two children step aside and/or organise the
other two; if it’s three syllables, one steps aside and helps with organising. The ‘syllables’ crouch
down, except for the stressed syllable, who remains standing.
Words we’ve used: tomato cauliflower orange pineapple aubergine celery elephant
kangaroo giraffe squirrel rhinoceros transformer video computer ipad empeethree etc.

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Jazz Chants

1. Be sure students know all the key vocabulary.

2. Write the chant on the board (or use a slide).
3. Read the entire chant to the class.
4. Read one line at a time and have students repeat the line until they can say most of the words.
5. Add the rhythm (clapping, marching, pounding the table or a drum).
Let the class do the rhythm and say it at the same time.
6. Let "soloists" say it while everyone else claps.
7. Divide class into As and Bs and they chant it: As chant the left side, Bs chant the right side. Then swap.

Gus Always Takes the Bus

Gus always takes the bus. Why?

Gus always takes the bus. Why?
Why does he take the bus?
Because he loves it! He loves it.
______________________________________

Elaine always takes the plane.

Why?
Why does she take the plane?
Because she likes it! She likes it!
_______________________________________

Jane never takes the train. Why not?

Jane never takes the train. Why not?
Why doesn’t she take the train?
Because she hates it! She hates it!
_________________________________________

Mike always rides his bike. Why?

Mike always rides his bike. Why?
Why does he ride his bike?
Because he loves it! He loves it!

Carolyn Graham Jazz Chants for Children Oxford University Press

Mime Story
• One day it’s very cold. You put on your coat, your gloves and your hat. You get your
bicycle and you ride to the park. Suddenly you see your friend. You’re very happy
and you wave to your friend. You get off your bike. You put your bike on the grass
and you and your friend play football together. You run, you kick the ball and yes,
you score a goal! Now you’re tired and very hot. You buy an enormous ice cream.
Mmm, it’s delicious! Suddenly you look at your watch. It’s time to go home! You
pick up your bicycle and wave goodbye to your friend. You ride your bicycle home.

First telling: Teacher reads the story out, miming to aid comprehension. Children listen.
Second telling: Teacher reads the story out and mimes too – the children mime with the
teacher.

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Third telling: Again, Teacher reads and mimes and children mime too. But every now and
again the teacher pauses and the children call out the next word or phrase e.g. eg.T: One day
it’s very (mimes shivering) …. PP: Cold!

Possible version:
One day it’s very _____. You put on your _____, your _____ and your _____. You get your
_____ and you _____ to the park. Suddenly you _______________. You’re very _____ and
you _____to your _____. You get off your_____. You put your bike on the _____ and you
and your friend ____________ together. You run, you _____the ball and yes, you
________________! Now you’re _____ and very _____. You buy an enormous_________.
Mmm, it’s _____! Suddenly you look at your _____. It’s time to ___________! You
_________your _____ and _____ to your friend. You _____ your bicycle _____.

Comments and suggestions

 With younger children, it is best not to include more than four to six sentences to mime, as
more than this is likely to be confusing eg One day you go for a walk in the jungle. You hear
a noise. You look behind the tree. Oh, no! There’s a lion! You run away as fast as you can.
Phew! Now you’re safe! You also need to do the mimes each time you repeat the sequence
with this age group.

 With older children, you can repeat the sequence, leaving more and more of the language for
them to supply, until they are reconstructing the events independently – you can use pictures
as memory prompts. As a follow-up, you can ask them to write or complete a version of what
happens or to prepare another similar sequence of events to tell the class in the same way.

Adapted from Carol Read 500 Activities for the Primary Classroom: Macmillan

A very interactive drama

This is a listening activity which works well with bigger groups, I think the minimum of
students you need is 8- 10.

In the first step you need to preteach the vocabulary. After that tell your students
they are going to play a short theatre play, but they don’t need to learn any text. Then
you assign a role to each student. Essential roles are: a girl, a hunter, the hunter’s dog,
trees and rabbits, and a curtain. You can also add a bench, and wind or anything else
that fits the story, depending on the size of your group. I usually let them draw a
picture card with their roles. Group the same roles together and rehearse their roles:
rabbits hopping, squirrels nibbling nuts, trees shaking in the wind with outstretched
arms, curtains walking across the ‘stage’, wind running around the trees, the girl playing
with her hair, the hunter shooting, the dog barking, the bench squeaking. Tell them
that every time they hear their role in the story they have to do their
movements/noises.

… and then you start telling the story …

‘The curtain opens.

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Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl. She lived close to a forest and she loved
looking at the trees. In the forest lived rabbits and squirrels and the girl loved
watching the squirrels and rabbits playing around the trees. Sometimes there was a lot
of wind and the trees were shaking in the wind.

The curtain closes and the curtain opens.

The girl loved a hunter. The hunter and his dog often met the girl in the forest where
the rabbits and squirrels were playing around the trees. They sat on a bench and the
wind played with the girl’s hair.

The curtain closes and the curtain opens.

One day the hunter and his dog were walking through the forest. There was a lot of
wind and the trees were shaking in the wind. The hunter wanted to shoot a rabbit, but
he could only see squirrels. He sat on the bench and looked for rabbits. Then he saw
something moving behind the trees. It was the girl, but he didn’t see her, he just saw
something behind the trees. The hunter thought it was a rabbit and shot at it. At the
same time the dog ran off to meet the girl.

The curtain closes and the curtain opens.

The hunter didn’t shoot the girl but he shot his dog. The dog wasn’t dead and the
hunter and the girl took it home and saved it. The hunter never went hunting again. Now
the squirrels and rabbits could play around the trees, the wind blew and the hunter, the
girl and the dog sat on the bench and watched them.

The curtain closes.’

Acknowledgement: I learnt this technique and story from Annette Igel from IH Brno, Czech
Republic

Thanks very much!

Alan Marsh

alanmarshinmalta@gmail.com www.alanmarshelt.com +356 99428447

Alan Marsh A Ragbag! ELT Malta 2018