pop songs for young esl students
September 25, 2009 12:25 PM Subscribe
What pop songs are great to use with young ESL learners in Spain?
I teach english to primary school students in Spain and am looking to incorporate more music into my classroom, especially music that goes beyond the usual kids songs.
I've seen previous posts asking for similar advice, but I'm looking for songs that are especially good for the the young set (3rd-6th grade) and for a VERY low level of English and age-appropriate lyrics
Perhaps Feist's 1234 cover she did for Seasame Street ? What else comes to mind?
I teach english to primary school students in Spain and am looking to incorporate more music into my classroom, especially music that goes beyond the usual kids songs.
I've seen previous posts asking for similar advice, but I'm looking for songs that are especially good for the the young set (3rd-6th grade) and for a VERY low level of English and age-appropriate lyrics
Perhaps Feist's 1234 cover she did for Seasame Street ? What else comes to mind?
I personally learned English at that age with Nirvana. XD
I think All Together Now by the Beatles would be a good pick. It's catchy, and as far as I know it's age-approppiate (unless I'm missing innuendo or whatever).
posted by cobain_angel at 1:40 PM on September 25, 2009
I think All Together Now by the Beatles would be a good pick. It's catchy, and as far as I know it's age-approppiate (unless I'm missing innuendo or whatever).
posted by cobain_angel at 1:40 PM on September 25, 2009
i've always thought a great song for teaching would be "senses working overtime" by xtc, especially the chorus. not only could you teach counting "1,2,3,4,5, senses working overtime." The senses themselves "..and I can see, hear, smell, touch, taste." But also common ideas and vocabulary "trying to taste the difference between a lemon and lime, pain and pleasure and the church bells chime".
other great songs with simple lyrics and basic images that aren't boring which both my boys (ages 3 and 12) love:
"morning has broken" - cat stevens
"here comes the sun" - the beatles
"born at the right time" - paul simon
"3 little birds" - bob marley
"birdhouse in your soul" - they might be giants
"should i stay or should i go?" - the clash
"come dancing" - the kinks
"magic bus" - the who
"walking on the moon" - the police
posted by ashabanapal at 5:41 PM on September 25, 2009
other great songs with simple lyrics and basic images that aren't boring which both my boys (ages 3 and 12) love:
"morning has broken" - cat stevens
"here comes the sun" - the beatles
"born at the right time" - paul simon
"3 little birds" - bob marley
"birdhouse in your soul" - they might be giants
"should i stay or should i go?" - the clash
"come dancing" - the kinks
"magic bus" - the who
"walking on the moon" - the police
posted by ashabanapal at 5:41 PM on September 25, 2009
I think something slow, well pronounced and relatively simple, so grab some reasonably well known comedy songs!! Generally they're slow and well pronounced so the audience gets the joke quickly. Whereas most of pop it's kind of hard to pick out individual words and people like Morissey's lyrics don't actually make any sense whatsoever.
Some ideas - d-i-v-o-r-c-e, and the lumberjack song
I'd steer clear of comedy songs that rely too much on double-entendre (eg errnie) but i'm sure you can think of a few - and your students will enjoy it even more if they see the jokes
posted by BigCalm at 1:17 AM on September 26, 2009
Some ideas - d-i-v-o-r-c-e, and the lumberjack song
I'd steer clear of comedy songs that rely too much on double-entendre (eg errnie) but i'm sure you can think of a few - and your students will enjoy it even more if they see the jokes
posted by BigCalm at 1:17 AM on September 26, 2009
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posted by jquinby at 12:45 PM on September 25, 2009