Spice up your ESL lessons with songs
November 2020 – Songs in ESL lessons are an evergreen possibility to lead into a new topic or introduce a new grammatical structure, they can be an excellent exercise to wind down a lesson and even in between two exercises (filler), they are good for making students relax, teach grammar and/or vocabulary through listening or just prepare for the next task. In this post, I would like to show you some interactive worksheets to do while listening to some great classics and also some newer hits – with embedded YouTube videos.
Level A1:
Elvis Presley: Are You Lonesome Tonight?
(Fill in the missing simple past forms, then complete the questions with one auxiliary verb)
Van Morrison: When the leaves come falling down
(10 gaps to fill with words related to the autumn/fall)
Michael Bublé: Put your Head on my Shoulder
(Body parts and verbs related to them)
OTHER SINGERS AND SONGS:
– Roy Orbison: Pretty woman (Fill in 10 given verbs)
– The Bangles: Eternal Flame (Reorganize the lines)
– Boyzone: No Matter What (Choose the missing personal pronounce)
– Doris Day: Dream a Little Dream of Me (10 missing verbs related to feelings)
– Frank Sinatra: The way you look tonight (Fill in the missing adjectives)
– The Cure: Friday I’m in Love (Pick the right day)
Level A2:
QUEEN: Miracle
(Tick the items you hear in the song, then complete 5 phrases/sentences with one missing word)
John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band: Imagine
(Decide if you see the same words as the ones you hear)
Micheal Bublé: For once in my life
(10 simple verbs in different tenses: simple present, simple past, simple future, present perfect, used to)
QUEEN: We are the Champions
(Complete the song with the missing present perfect and past participle forms, then use 10 Phrasal Verbs/idioms from the song in gapped sentences)
Van Morrison: I’ll never be free
(Fill in the missing prepositions)
Adele: Turning Tables
(reorder the verses and complete future/first conditional sentences)
OTHER SINGERS AND SONGS:
– Nicole Kidman: One Day I’ll Fly Away (Decide if the highlighted word is verb or a noun here)
– Neil Young: Oh, lonesome me (Answer to questions and complete the lyrics with the expressions from these questions)
Level B1:
Shania Twain: Ka-Ching!
(Fill in 10 nouns related to ‘money’, the missing words are not given)
You can use this set of QUIZLET questions when teaching this topic.
QUEEN: Somebody to love
(10 words changed in the lyrics, find them and type in the correct words)
Celine Dion: River Deep – Mountain High
(Three tasks for the same song: complete missing verb forms, missing comparative forms and match sentence halves)
Sting: Englishman in New York
(Reconstruct 10 scrambled words)
Van Morrison: Precious Time
(Complete the rhyming endings)
OTHER SINGERS AND SONGS:
– Eric Clapton: Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out (Fill in simple past forms and 6 idiomatic expressions, Topic: Money and Friendship)
– Christina Aguilera: The Right Man (12 prepositions, like upon, through, down, behind, etc., removed from the lyrics)
– Led Zeppelin: Going to California (Match 10 idiomatic expressions to their meanings)
Level B1+:
Michael Jackson: Smile
(Phrasal Verbs and words describing feelings)
Madonna: This used to be my playground
(10 lines to type up)
Ed Sheeran: Perfect
(Fill in the missing idiomatic expressions)
– pdf version to print
Sting: When we dance
(will/won’t or would what you hear? – mind: the song also shows ‘incorrect’ first and second conditional uses)
OTHER SINGERS AND SONGS:
– Anastacia: Left Outside Alone (Complete the end of the lines with one missing word – rhyme building)
– Eric Clapton: Running on Faith (Complete the lyrics with 10 verbs in different tenses and conditional forms)
– Guns’n Roses: November Rain (Decide which article is missing: a/an, the or ‘zero article)
Level B2:
Sting: Russians (Topic: The Cold War, 10 words/expressions changed)
George Michael: Kissing a fool (Speculation about the past, idiomatic expressions)
Sia: Chandelier (Colloquial English: gonna, gotta, ’cause, etc.)
OTHER SINGERS AND SONGS:
– Mary J. Blige & U2: One (Recognize idiomatic expressions and match them to their meanings)
– Sting: It’s probably me (Choose an adequate interpretation for each verse)
You just can’t get enough? Then check out these materials:
Two interactive song worksheets leading into intriguing topics about gender roles and bad mood or the evil in human beings. Great for teen classes.
WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO NOW?
