Category Archives: Music

The Voice:Blind Auditions. Revising Physical Descriptions

Funny Stuff, Games, Listening, Music, Speaking, Students' Corner, Vocabulary, , , ,

Whether you are a fan of this kind of programmes or not, nobody can deny this talent show has been a big success worldwide. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about The Voice is a singing competition that consists of a blind audition where four coaches (famous singers ) select the members of their teams, a battle phase and then the final, where the audience selects The Voice. It started in The Netherlands like two years ago and since then the format has been sold to many countries where it has also been a big success.

The idea for this activity came from the French teacher in my high school, Yolanda (see picture). Just by chance she commented  on how much fun their students had just had doing this activity and  right away I asked her to borrow her idea for my English class.

The instructions are fairly simple.

♥Students in pairs and with their backs to the whiteboard  listen to someone singing but they won’t be able to see them, that’s why it’s called Blind Auditions.
♥Working with a  partner, they decide what the person they are listening to looks like (see handout).
♥When the audition finishes and without turning their backs, they need to decide whether they want this person in their team to be THE VOICE. If they want them, they should raise their hand making the V gesture and saying I WANT YOU!
♥Now, they’ll have to compete against the other students who also want the singer. The singer will belong to the team who has the most accurate physical description of the singer.

I have selected these two videos you don’t like the game, at least enjoy the music!!

Wanna sing along with Rihanna?

Listening, Music, ,

Probably a bit too early in the course to be singing songs but as I’ve already mentioned in one of my previous posts, Unit 1 of my pre-intermediate course is about Music.

Rihanna is the most popular singer among the students who have “bravely” decided to vote in the poll embedded in my previous post.

I’ve  chosen the song Russian Roulette. I hope you like my choice!! Two possibilities to work with this song.

♥ Interactive Online Exercise

♥PDF

Also, Visit my section Teaching with songs

Backs to the Board: Picture Description

Create your own stuff, Games, Music, Pictures, Speaking, Vocabulary, , , , ,

Oh My goodness! This first week has been hectic in the high school and by Friday  it had taken its toll on me;  I was worn out and I sort of needed to unwind. Can you think of a better way than going to the concert the great Gloria Gaynor gave in Oviedo and  dancing to the rhythm of  her hit I Will Survive? (fits like a glove :), it was just what I needed! Enjoy!

And now, to more down to earth issues. I wanted to show you an exercise I’m going to do with my second-year students  you might find helpful. If so, feel free to use it.

The aim is for students to use the vocabulary studied for Physical Description.

Preparation: Pictures of well-known people: celebrities, politicians,singers…

Procedure: Divide students into pairs. One of them faces the board and the other one sits with his back to the board. Display the picture of the famous person and ask the student facing the board to describe this person to his partner.

Some rules for the game: students must start by giving a physical description of the person and only then can they move on to give more information about this person. The student guessing can ask as many questions as he wants. I’m planning of setting a time limit for each picure; maybe  1m or 1.30m. Needless to say, only English is allowed. 😉

This is my choice of pictures
Picture Description on PhotoPeach

Teaching with Songs: Opposites

Listening, Music, ,

There is something I have to tell you. When I am alone in my car I sing at the top of my voice and I enjoy it so much that sometimes I even dance while driving! But it even gets worse  because  while I am listening  to music, very often, I focus on the grammar or the lyrics and if I am teaching something specific and I feel like my students need a break, then  I make a point of  not giving up till I find the right song. So much for concentration on the road!

This happened last week with my first and second years. I decided they needed a break from some boring stuff we had been dealing with. We were about to learn Antonyms  and then, all of a sudden,  Katy Perry was on the radio singing her world famous Hot n Cold. Great for opposites in elementary levels!

I was planning on grabbing the lyrics from Internet and racking my brains to create  some good tasks  when I decided to try ISL Collective and there it was. Ready to take! Thank you very much Missk for your wonderful job. It was a real timesaver!

(to download this activity you’ll need to register on this site : ISL COLLECTIVE (I talked about this page here).

Now, why don’t you try this activity? It’s a lot of fun.

St Valentine’s Day: two activities

Funny Stuff, Listening, Music, , , , ,

I have never celebrated st Valentine. I cannot remember a single occasion in my life when I was given a present or  invited to a romantic dinner whatsoever.( If you are reading this and you are one of my ex-boyfriends, don’t hesitate to send me an email if I have forgotten what you did for me on that day. Don’t get pissed off, I am sure it was beautiful and it meant the world for me).

I’ve prepared two activities for two different levels.
The first one is a song by Whitney Houston “I will always love you”. It is my way of  paying  a little homage to one of the greatest singers in history. Click here to get the worksheet. Level: absolute beginners .

The other activity I have decided to do is on the other side of what love should be. Please don’t take any offense ! It is only a small  joke and although it is a bit sexist it is also good fun. And remember that I am a woman, too. In my opinion it would be suitable for intermediate students and I am planing  to give them the first part and ask them to work in pairs to predict what is the woman going to find on the sixth floor. There are lots of follow-up questions that can be the object of discussion and of a lot of fun, too.