This was a fun unit I did at the end of the semester. It is made up of three lessons, all of which were well received by my first and second years (all boys HS). They could easily be done as a unit, or stand alone lessons. Last two are great for pre/post exam games.
UNIT - MUSIC
Lesson 1 - Music Genres and Comparisons
* I wanted this to be a light, fun lesson. I easily could have put more emphasis on writing comparisons, but my kids dont need the lesson, they just need opportunities to practice
1. Alphabet challenge - 5 mins to write 1 word about music for each letter of the alphabet (in table groups)
- can be artists, song names, instruments, ect.
- the table with the most wins
- share words from random letters on slides
2. What is a genre? What genres can you name? Today we will look at two genres: Pop and country music
3. Pop music - read the sentences and unscramble the coloured words
- name the common themes in pop music (fill in the blanks)
- Who are these famous pop artists? Say a sentence to describe the person/picture and say their name (i.e., the girl with blue and pink hair is Katy Perry)
- Introduce Taylor Swift - show the answer to the question and have them guess the full question
- Show Taylor Swift music video (let them choose which) *warning, there is booty shaking*
- Ask what genre of music that was; what is the full name for pop music? What themes did it look at?
2. Country music - ask if they remember the second genre we will discuss
- have students read the sentences and unscramble the coloured words; stress that they usually tell stories
did the pop song tell a story? No
- Name the common themes
- Who is in the video? TS - did you know she was a country singer before pop?
3. Comparatives - before showing country video ask students to think about what is similar and what is different
- after showing country video ask did it tell a story? What was it?
- Write 4 sentences about the differences and similarities between the videos
4. Allow students to choose English songs to play if time remains
Lesson 2 - Music Listening Game
1. What are these examples of? Genres
- unscramble the genres
3. Name the genre - play the beginning of the clip (30 seconds to a minute) and have each table write the genre on a whiteboard
- If they are correct they get a point
- some have bonus to name the singer (for Maroon 5 I changed to 'who is the lead singer' rather than the band name)
- have students tell something about the song / genre. Can do using the music and/or using the image or the artist (i.e., there are five people in the band. They look scary.)
- Play dance video of Pumped Up Kicks at the end and discuss (flow, repetition)
3. Play Music lyrics game (cannot take credit - found on waygook and edited)
- I had students listen and write down
- if students give correct answer they could give next answer, and continue til wrong
Lesson 3- Music Trivia
Play music trivia - each table will have 1 person in the middle around a table with a cup. First person to grab the cup can answer the question in a full sentence. Must be full sentence and must use words from the question.
Play Final Jeopardy if time - have students place bets
