Using Songs, Rhymes, Chants & Poems

Using Songs, Rhymes, Chants & Poems in the Language Classroom LESSON 9

OVERVIEW • Look at why we should use songs, rhymes, chants and poems with young language learners. • Look at how songs, rhymes, chants and poems can be used with our young language learners. • Look at how to choose the most suitable songs, rhymes, chants and poems for our classes. • Consider a variety of activities linked to songs, rhymes, chants and poems.

Why Use Songs and Rhymes with Young Learners? • Songs and rhymes are a rich resource for language activities in the language learning classroom. They are a memorable and enjoyable way of… • introducing • using • consolidating • recycling & • remembering new language that has been taught. • They can actually be used very successfully with all language learners, but especially with YLs.

Music, songs, rhymes and poems are used in YL language classes because they… • allow use of all four skills • are well-known to our learners • can be used anywhere in the lesson, unit, term or year • provide a great way to 'say it out loud’ • involve lots of enjoyable repetition • serve as a memory aid • introduce 'one whole thing‘ (YLs can take this song or chant outside the classroom and share it with their parents and friends.) • change the pace of the lesson • are fun to use • introduce the rhythm and stress of English • can be enjoyable for teachers • offer pronunciation and intonation practice • encourage physical involvement

Songs and rhymes should be carefully chosen for the English class as not all songs and rhymes are suitable for YLLs As a guide, the more you can say Yesto the following questions about a song, rhyme, chant or poem you are thinking of using, the more useful and successful it will likely be.

Ensuring Understanding One way to help ensure understanding is to use pictures, flashcards, realia, gestures or mime. This is done to show the learners what the song is about and what individual words in the song mean. In all activities and songs, the students must understand the language so that they are able to connect with the songs, rhymes, chants and poems in a meaningful way. The teacher should introduce some language before the song is introduced or ask the learners to try and guess the meaning of new words in context after they have heard the song.

take part in the activity sing the song or recite the rhyme, chant or poem to the students (or else, use a very good video recording of someone else doing this rehearse the song or chant before class and consider how he/she will introduce it to his/her students Introducing Songs and Chants to Students It is important that the teacher: It is important that the students: • have a good visual model • because they will be looking at • that person's lips to see what is • being said or sung

When Using songs, rhymes, chants & poems, follow these suggestions: • Get a recording of the class singing the songs, and saying the rhymes, chants and poems so that the children can listen to them in class or at home. • “ Playing songs and chants again and again enables the learners to acquire the target language while also building their confidence”. • Build a class songbook you can refer to regularly during the year. • Children like to perform songs, rhymes, chants or poems over and over again in a meaningful and purposeful way. If your learners write a song or chant, put that in the class book, too. • Introduce them by verse rather than line by line. • Teaching line by line ruins the rhythm and the flow and stops the learners from enjoying what they are hearing in English. • Try to use songs, rhymes, chants or poems regularly in your English class. • Revisit them again and again. • “ Performing familiar songs or rhymes successfullygives students a sense of achievement”. Children should not be made to learn songs, rhymes, chants or poemsby heart. They will come to know them by using them.

Learners, in two groups, sing two or more short songs or rhymes at the same time. This focuses their listening so that they can take part in natural dialogues later. The teacher needs to know exactly when each group should start singing (or saying) their part and guide them accordingly Activities Linked to Songs, Rhymes, Chants and Poems 1. Join in and sing or say two things at the same time • Sunday, Monday, clap, clap, clap • Tuesday, Wednesday, snap, snap, snap • Thursday, hop • Friday, stop • Saturday spin around like a top. • Seven days are in a week. • Now sit down and take a seat!

This is a popular way to introduce new language, revise old language or consolidate previously introduced language. While singing, the learners link the language to something they can do or something they can point to. Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toesHead, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toesAnd eyes and ears and mouth and noseHead, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes(Repeat, getting faster each time) Do the Actions

Learners are given a copy of the lyrics with some gaps and are asked to listen to the song, rhyme, chant or poem and fill in the missing words. This is sometimes called a cloze activity. This type of activity is for confident English readers and writers. The missing words should belong to the same lexical set and have been introduced in previous lessons. I'm a little teapot Fill in the blanks with one of the words below: I'm a little teapot______ and ______Here is my handleHere is my spout When I get all steamed upHear me shout“______ me overand _____ me out!" Fill in the Missing Words tip short pour stout

Using a song or rhyme in class is a great way to motivate young learners. It can be the theme tune for the topic that is being studied, or can be presented at the end of the topic to round it off. Sing or Talk about the Topic Topic:Everyday Activities

Teachers can use songs they like and adapt them to fit the language level of the learners they are working with. Learners themselves can also adapt songs or add extra parts to them. A verse from a song or rhyme provides a good model to encourage learners to write songs of their own. Learners are introduced to a verse and then the shape and structure is discussed. Groups, or pairs, then write another verse using the song as their model. The children feel very proud of the new verses they have written. You can build up a great selection of class songs with this activity. This activity is suitable for those learners who are able to read and write confidently in the target language. Lines from a song or rhyme are put on pieces of paper. In groups or pairs, learners listen to the song and put the lines in the correct order. This activity consolidates new language as learners need to listen to the song and then read the lines over and over again. (From 'Imagine' by John Lennon) Write Songs or Rhymes Listen for the Lines It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine there's no countries

Activity We choose six words from a song from which minimal pairs can be created heaven - even hunger - anger man - mad(From 'Imagine' by John Lennon) We write the pairs separately on cards and give out one set per group of four or five students. The students then match the pairs. They then listen to the song and 'grab' the correct one. Choices are then checked against the lyrics. Imagine there's no Heaven It's easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people Living for today Imagine there's no countries It isn't hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people Living life in peace You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man Imagine all the people Sharing all the world You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will live as one Practice Pronunciation Songs, rhymes, chants or poems can be used successfully to practice particular aspects of pronunciation that the learners find difficult or that they need to improve. Choose those that help with particular problems students in your class may have.

Using and Creating Poems inEnglish Writing poems, just as the use of songs and chants in the class, allows students to focus on rhythm and rhyme. An effective activity is a short three-line poem based on Japanese haiku poetry where syllables in each line are counted. The most popular Haiku is a "What am I?" Haiku, where the first line has 5 syllables, the second line has 7 syllables and the third has 5 syllables again. • The poem can be read aloud by the poet with their classmates guessing the answer after it is read. • The Haikus can be hung on the bulletin board giving everyone the chance to read and guess. • The writer uses the Haiku to describe something. • The other children in the class can then attempt to guess what the poet was describing after listening to or reading the Haiku.

A valuable way of getting children to think about using and writing poems in English is to use rhymes as many times as you can. For example, if you want to say something is going to be easy you could say something like:Easypeasy, lemon squeezy. Let students know what the phrase means and that some of it involves just playing with sounds rather than using actual words. Ask students to come up with some fun rhymes of their own based on different English topics they have looked at. Here is one well-known rhyme about a spider it is important that you explain what the vocabulary means so that learners understand what they are saying or singing.Note: In the above song, incy wincy is used to refer to something very small. Using Poetry in the Classroom Teach the actions that go with this rhyme as follows: Incywincy spider Incywincy spider climbed up the waterspout.(Use both hands to pretend to be a spider climbing up a waterspout.) Down came the rain and washed the spider out.(Move fingers to make them look like raindrops falling down.) Out came the sunshine and dried up all the rain,(Hold arms out to show sunshine warming and drying up the rain.)And the incywincy spider climbed up the spout again!(Use same actions as for Line 1).

Shopping Chant Have learners sit in one big circle, if possible. (Otherwise, ask them to stand up and chant from their desks.) Choose a topic that you want the students to discuss, such things such as fruit and vegetables, clothes, furniture, and so on. Have them take turns chanting their lines. SA: I went shopping and I bought a banana.SB: (repeating what SA has bought and adding one more thing) I went shopping and I bought a bananaand an apple.SC: (repeating what SA andSBhave said and adding a third item) I went shopping and I bought a banana, an appleand a pear. The chant continues until someone makes a mistake or cannot remember the list. Clapping Chant Children say things in order, preferably while sitting in a circle. Clapping helps them get the rhythm of the target language. Demonstrate how to clap slowly three times, and then say one item after the third clap. (Again, provide the topic based on what has been studied in class and linked to lexical sets.) (clap, clap, clap) SA:hat (clap, clap, clap) SB: gloves (clap, clap, clap)SC:coat The chant continues as each child tries to remember an item of vocabulary linked to the specific topic. Saying and Writing Chants A “chant” is a poem or dialogue particularly suitable for reciting aloud; it often involves strong rhythms, clear everyday conversation, often exaggerated feelings and a lot of repetition.

Use songs, rhymes, chants and poems to make the English classroom a fun and creative place. Collect and display examples of songs, rhymes, chants and poems in the classroom, including those that you and the children have written. Linking the English Classroom to the Children's Musical Interests

You could also create rhyming picture dictionaries and posters, in which you have lots of examples of words with the same rhyming sounds with pictures to support them. Cont…..

Talking about Music and Instruments Link English with the children's interest in music. After you have introduced learners to the vocabulary for musical instruments, carry out a class survey in English. Find out which of these instruments they play. Ask them to bring them to class to talk about them in English. They may be able to play something for the class, too. Look at such aspects of music as the following. • Having students bring in examples of music they listen to outside the classroom. • Listen to the music and ask the children to describe what it sounds like and why they like it. • See if there are children who like the same music. • Making simple instruments like strumming a rubber band that is wrapped around a tissue box, or hitting a plastic container with a spoon. • The fun is in deciding how to make the instruments. • Then, learners could write about their instruments in a book called Our Class Instruments. • Finally, there could be a concert of music made with all these instruments. • Using your body to make music. • Have students make music in various ways: with their voices; through clapping; and with sounds from their mouth and other parts of their bodies (such as snapping their fingers, stamping their feet, and so on).

Using Songs, Rhymes, Chants & Poems