Ralf Kerstgens, Fachseminar Englisch:
Songs in the Classroom
Here are some more ideas and suggestions:
Cultural Studies
 Play a Welsh song to your student. Don’t tell them what language they are going to listen to, but turn this
into a fake listening comprehension exercise. What words do they pick out? After this exercise, students will
never forget that English and Welsh are two very different languages.
 When dealing with the American South, the horrifyingly haunting protest song Strange Fruit about lynching
is almost a must (use the Billie Holliday version); incidentally, the song was written by Abel Meeropol, who
was well-known for his strong social themes. He adopted Robert and Michael, the two sons of Julius and
Ethel Rosenberg, after the parents had been executed on conspiracy convictions in 1953 (known as The
Rosenberg Case).
 The internet offers a great variety of songs, and most search engines will come up with any number of
songs if you suggest a topic: you can find songs about Ireland, about immigration, about work and
unemployment, about London, etc.
 You cannot teach Ireland and not mention Irish music and songs. One lesser-known example of a song
dealing with The Troubles is Colum Sands The last house in our street’ that looks at life in Belfast from a
child’s perspective).
Coursebooks
Every modern coursebook uses songs that fit within the unit. However, sometimes they become outdated very
quickly. In his new book Humanising your Coursebook, Mario Rinvolucri suggests an alternative approach to
one of the songs from your coursebook. Rather than just playing the song to your students, or not dealing with it
altogether, he suggests reading the song, then “acting it out” and finally changing some of the lyrics. After this
“pre-listening” exercise, it will be a lot easier to deal with the song in class.
Testing
Songs can be used for tests, too – why not play a song to your students and have them comment on the music,
the lyrics, or on the links between a song and the particular topic you are studying, or the book you are reading?
Film
 Students know much more about music video clips than their teachers – why not use this potential and
invite students or groups of students to give a presentation on their favourite clip or their favourite singer?
 Advertisements are great material for analysing film – and the music they use is always worth dealing with.
 Have you come across Karaoke Videos yet? Karaoke singing is always great fun, and the video offers the
unique opportunity to have the text and to know exactly when to sing which word. Students of all ages love
this, and no-one needs to be embarrassed because they are all facing the screen rather than looking at or
being looked at by their neighbour. Karaoke CDs are also available.
Literature
When dealing with literature, there are many occasions when using a song lends itself to enhancing students’
understanding of the text:
 For young learners, write a song (i. e. the words) to sum up the text as you read more and more of it, then
sing the song before you start the lesson. Choose a simple and well-known tune (e. g. My Bonnie …)
 Use soundtracks from films and have students compare two different extracts. Examples: Cal – one minute
of Ireland as presented by Kerrygold Butter, one minute of the troubled Ireland; Jurassic Park – quiet and
heroic music as opposed to high tension. This can be done with virtually every film.
 Some short stories have been turned into songs, e. g. Alan Parson’s Project – Poe’s Tales of Mystery and
Imagination; others are modelled on songs: Father and Son by Bernard MacLaverty, etc.
 Some books contain songs, e. g. Colin Higgins’ Harold and Maude, where one protagonist teaches the other
one important song.
 Songs are a great way of re-creating a period, as with Elizabethan music (Shakespeare) or with the 1920’s
(The Great Gatsby) or the 1960’s (Vietnam, Woodstock etc.)
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Ralf Kerstgens, Fachseminar Englisch:
Songs in the Classroom
The central player
When dealing with a topic like Young People, you might like to choose a song that constitutes a center in your
lesson(s) rather than just a trigger before moving on to other media.
Example: Pink, Familiy Portrait (Album: Misundaztood)
http://www.lyrics007.com/Pink%20Lyrics/Family%20Portrait%20Lyrics.html
Pre-listening
The following words all appear in the song you’re going to listen to. What do you think the song is about?
Ask your teacher ten yes/no-questions to find out more.
mama – pain – money – love – daddy – happy – run away – crying
While-listening
1. How old do you think is the “narrator” of the story (the girl)?
2. Describe the situation of the singer in your own words.
3. What does she promise towards the end of her song? Why?
4. How does she see her future if her father really leaves?
5. Does the music go well with the story it describes?
6. Does the mood of the girl change throughout the song?
Post-listening
1. For homework, draw the “family portrait” Pink sings about. Compare your various drawings and paintings.
Where do you see similarities, what are the main differences?
2. In groups of four, stand up as if you were posing for the “family portrait”. Then freeze – the class can ask
you questions about your life, your feelings etc. If one of you runs out of things to say, he or she can be
replaced by a class-mate.
3. Find out more about Pink and her music. Then give a short talk to your class.
4. Conduct a survey in your class: How many children are there in your family? How many children live in
single-parent families? How many parents are divorced? Then do the same for your parents’ generation –
How many brothers and sisters do they have? How many grandparents were divorced? Now compare the
two generations.
5. The song is addressed to “Mama” and “Daddy”. Choose one of them and write their version of “family
portrait”.
6. How do you imagine the girl and her brother’s life? Where do they live, what do they do, who are their
friends etc.?
7. “This is my shelter” – Talk to a partner about your idea of a shelter: What do you need to feel at home?
8. Comment on this statement: In 30 years’ time, families will play no role in our society.
9. “I’ll be so much better” shows that the girl feels guilty about her parents’ problems. From a child’s point of
view, what do grown-ups dislike about children and family life? With a partner, write a list of 10 criteria.
10. Write a short story about “The family portrait”. Choose the perspective you would like to write it from.
11. The girl writes to an agony aunt at a newspaper: What does she write about her problems?
12. After listening to the song, you want to make a video clip about it. What would your script be like? What
pictures would you use? How would you combine the music and the film?
13. A project idea:
Collect family portraits from newspapers and magazines. Stick these pictures on posters. Then invent
names and stories for each character in the picture. Finally, you might like to invent a story that brings
various families from your different posters together.
Close-up: Language / Vocabulary
1. Go through the alphabet from A to Z and write down one adjective for every letter. Now underline those
adjectives that you think characterise the girl and her situation best.
2. The song uses “spoken” or everyday language. Find three examples and turn the spoken language into
written language.
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