This activity can be done with the song and the video or just with the song.
It talks about a couples relationship and has some very idiomatic and British slang.
Kate Nash is very popular at the moment in the UK and this song may just be good to introduce discussions on relationships.
Foundation Kate Nash
This is a girlfriend talking about her boyfriend. How does she feel about him?
Now listen to the song and match the underlines phrases to the phrases below
you drank too muchI don´t care (x2)you are planning something
the relationship won´t lastTo provoke someoneyou are stupidwhite
good lookingI can´t stand youstop talking about soemthing
Thursday night, every thing's fine, except you've got that look in your eye when I'm tellin' a story and you find it boring, you're thinking of something to say. You'll go along with it then drop it and humiliate me in front of our friends.
Then I'll use that voice that you find annoyin' and say something like "yeah, intelligent input, darlin', why don't you just have another beer then?"
Then you'll call me a bitch and everyone we're with will be embarrassed, and I won´t give a shit.
My finger tips are holding onto the cracks in our foundation, and I know that I should let go,but I can't. And every time we fight I know it's not right, every time that you're upset and I smile. I know I should forget, but I can't.
You said I must eat so many lemons,´cause i am so bitter. I said "I'd rather be with your friends mate 'cause they are much fitter."
Yes, it was childish and you got aggressive,and I must admit that I was a bit scared, but it gives me thrills to wind you up.
(Chorus )
Your face is pasty 'cause you've gone and got so wasted, what a surprise. Don't want to look at your face 'cause it's makin' me sick. You've gone and got sick on my trainers, I only got these yesterday. Oh, my gosh, I cannot be bothered with this.
Well, I'll leave you there 'till the mornin', and I purposely won´t turn the heating on and dear God, I hope I'm not stuck with this one. ( Chorus )
After the song, discuss with your partner: -
3. What do you think will happen to this relationship?Now watch the video
This song, by the Black Eyed peas is very good to open a discussion about lying. I have found the subject and song particularly good for teenagers
Lying
Match the phrases together 1. Learn a) fibs
2. Sorry b)lies
3. Forge c) a signature
4.The truth d)lies
5.Feel e)for
6.Nose f) comes out
7. Tell a g)lesson
8.Tell h)like a fool
9.A book of i)for (doing)
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry Hey, baby ___________________ I noticed it be growing when I been ______ them _____ Now you say your trust's getting weaker Probably coz my lies just started getting deeper And the reason for my confession is that I ______ my _____ And I really think you ought to know the truth Because I lied and I cheated and I lied a little more But after I did it I don't know what I did it for I admit that I have been a little immature *&%&$ with your heart like I was the predator In my book of lies I was the editor and the author I ______ my ______ and now I _______ ____ what I did to you Cos what you did to me I did to you
No,no, no, no baby, no, no, no, no don't lie
No, no, no, no, yeah, you know, know, know, know, you gotta try What you gonna do when it all ______ _____
When I really see you & what you're all about No, no, no baby, no, no, no, no don't lie Yeah, you know, you know, you know, you know, you know, you gotta try
She said I'm leaving cos she can't take the pain It's hard to continue this love it ain't the same Can't forget the things that I've done inside her brain Too many lies committed too many games She _____________ getting on the last train Trying to maintain but the feeling won't change I'm sorry for the things that I've done and what I became Caught up in living my life in the fast lane Blinded by lights, cameras, you know the fame I don't know the reason why I did these things And I lie and I lie and I lie and I lie and now our emotions are drained (x2) [Chorus]
[TABOO] Yo, I'm lying to my girl even though I love her And she all in my world I give her all my attention and diamonds & pearls She's the one who makes me feel on top of the world Still I lie to my girl, I do it
Questions
Use the language in the second part of the some and with your partner imagine you are the girls.
Explain to the man why you are leaving and how you feel
This simple song just has the students put the pronouns into the spaces. This of course should be done first. It can be used at any level and is equally challenging. The student have to think and understand what has come before and after each space. It is fin
Copy and past and print. Then you are ready.
Against All Odds
Insert YOU I ME WE into the song lyrics
How can I just let ____ walk away, just let ____ leave without a trace When I stand here taking every breath with ____, ooh _____'re the only one who really knew ___ at all
How can ____ just walk away from me, when all ___ can do is watch ____ leave Cos ___'ve shared the laughter and the pain, and even shared the tears _____'re the only one who really knew ___ at all
So take a look at ___ now, 'cos there's just an empty space And there's nothing left here to remind ____, just the memory of your face Take a look at ____ now, 'cos there's just an empty space And _____ coming back to ______ is against all odds and that's what ___'ve got to face
I wish ____ could just make _____ turn around, turn around and see _____ cry There's so much I need to say to _____, so many reasons why _____'re the only one who really knew ____ at all
So take a look at _____ now, 'cos there's just an empty space And there's nothing left here to remind ____, just the memory of your face Take a look at ____ now, 'cos there's just an empty space But to wait for _____, well that's all ____ can do and that's what ____'ve got to face Take a good look at _____ now, 'cos _____'ll still be standing here And _____ coming back to _____ is against all odds That's the chance _____'ve got to take, oh, oho
This is a very 'dark' song and different from many of the more traditional ABBA songs. It was released at the end of the groups career.
In this activity we compare the video to the actual song and discuss various opinions at the end. Although you might not like the song the activity is really fun. For this reason this is a more complex activity which uses all visual elements. i.e the video. audio the song, and kinesthetic through different classroom seating formation.
If you don´t have access to you tube in class, download Easy Video Downloader to get it from youtube and then put it onto a CD/DVD to show the the class.
Here is the video.
Activity one: The video
Step one
Split the groups into two halves
Sit one half with their backs to the video/TV.
Sit the other half facing the first half so they can see the video/TV.
Turn the sound off ( some learners might not like the song at first)
Play the video from the start and have the students facing th video describe it to their partners
Play the video up until the train goes over the bridge and pause it.
Now have the students who were listening to their partners say what was described to them.
Teaching Tip. Don´t correct or say anything check there past simple and past continuous tenses.
Step two
Now swap the groups around to the partner listening is not watching and the speaker is now the listener.
Play the video until the end
Now get feedback the same way as in step one
Now have all of the group watch the video. You can put the sound on if you want Ask students to say what they found different from the description
Activity Two: The Song
Give the handout below
Go though any doubt about the vocabulary used for putting into the song. This can first be done by having students decide if the word is a verb, adjective or noun.
Have students put the words in the song before they listen
Now play the song to check for the correct answers.
The Day Before You Came
frown,frame , cuddle up,aim , yawn , blue,
drag , episode,bunch,exception,front,due.
Must have left my house at eight, because I always do My train, I’m certain, left the station just when it was ___ I must have read the morning paper going into town And having gotten through the editorial, no doubt I must have ____ed I must have made my desk around a quarter after nine With letters to be read, and heaps of papers waiting to be signed I must have gone to lunch at half past twelve or so The usual place, the usual _____ And still on top of this I´m pretty sure it must have rained The day before you came
I must have lit my seventh cigarette at half past two And at the time I never even noticed I was ______ I must have kept on ____ging through the business of the day Without really knowing anything, I hid a part of me away At five I must have left, there´s no ______ to the rule A matter of routine, I´ve done it ever since I finished school The train back home again Undoubtedly I must have read the evening paper then Oh yes, I´m sure my life was well within its usual ____ The day before you came
Must have opened my _______ door at eight o´clock or so And stopped along the way to buy some chinese food to go I´m sure I had my dinner watching something on tv Theres not, I think, a single _____ of Dallas that I did´nt see I must have gone to bed around a quarter after ten I need a lot of sleep, and so I like to be in bed by then I must have read a while The latest one by Marilyn French or something in that style Its funny, but I had no sense of living without ____ The day before you came
And turning out the light I must have _____ed and ______ed __ for yet another night And rattling on the roof I must have heard the sound of rain The day before you came
Activity Three
Have students sit in groups of 3 and give them each a different explanation (see the 7 below) to the song and the video. They read each one, you clear up any vocab doubts As students to decided if they agree or not with the explanations
Opinion1 The woman met a man on the train and had a one night stand with him. She is stuck in her married and in the video she is telling her friends and husband (one of the men in the theater) about what she did and they are disapproving of her behavior. She is hoping to see the man again and is always dreaming about this time
Opinion 2 The woman is single and having a long-time affair with the man on the train and now misses her lover. He left to work abroad and was coming back to her. We see him leaving in the video and in the song she is saying how boring her normal routine is without him and looking forward to his return.
Opinion 3 The song talks about the woman´s life and it´s routine but the video is fantasizing about a mystery man she sees everyday. She wishes she could confront the man but is too scared because she feels this would change her well-organized life too much. Opinion 4 This situation is about what happened before she got married. The man is an ex- boyfriend she met on the train. Her life was dull and routine and the day she saw him she decided to lie to everyone and tell them she had a normal day but she really had a fling and the man is married to the other woman in the video. None of the people at the end believe her.
Opinion 5 She is married to the man on the train and they decide to act as if they didn´t know each other and have an affair before he leaves to work abroad. She does this but wishes she wasn´t married to him and could meet other men this way and is confessing it to her friends.
Opinion 6 The woman is remembering how she met her husband on the train. he has run off with his secretary and is divorcing her. She still loves him and wants him back and her life is dull and routine
Opinion 7 The main on the train has died and left his wife (the woman) a lonely boring existence. She dreams of him all of the time and is confessing to her friends how depressed she is that the love of her life has gone forever
(Maybe you can think of another opinion. If you do or your students do comment here)
Final activity Discuss what the real answer is Language of peculation could be used here, may. might, could After reading each one have each group write or say a short explanation of what they feel the song and video represent.
This is the first simple exercise for a song which is easy on the ears. I bit different than the normal gap-fill. The song may be well known to many students and good for introducing or discussing the process adding a few more years to your life.
Because of this and depending on the level you might like to try and fill in the correct work from the 3 options first, before playing the song
There are questions at the end to discuss getting old. Notice the use of get here which can be used for teaching lexis "lose my hair/my hearing/teeth, do the garden, stay at home, go for a ride, look after the grandchildren, have more free time"
Copy this section below onto a page and give it to your students.. If I can find out of this blog allows attachments I´ll change this post at a later stage but for now highlight and copy to a word document.
When I'm Sixty Four (64)~ The Beatles
When I get older losing my ______sight/hair/teeth Many years from now. Will you still be sending me a card/cheque/valentine Birthday ______ bottle of wine.greetings/messages/cards
If I'd been out till quarter to three Would you _____ the door,open/shut/lock Will you still need me, will you still _____ me,feed/love/hug When I'm sixty-four.
You'll be older too, And if you say the word, I could stay with you.
I could be _____, mending a fuseuseful/handy/here When your lights have ______.Done/gone/been You can knit a _______ by the firesidecardigan/jumper/sweater Sunday ________ go for a ride,morning/afternoon/evening
Doing the garden, ______ the weeds,planting/digging/killing Who could ask for more. Will you still need me, will you still _____ me,feed/love/hug When I'm sixty-four.
Every summer we can ______ a cottage,hire/rent/buy In the Isle of Wight, if it's not too ______expensive/cheap/dear We shall scrimp and ______save/pay/eat Grandchildren on your ____lap/shoulder/knee Vera ,Chuck & Dave
Send me a postcard, _____ me a line,send/drop/give Stating point of view Indicate _____ what you mean to sayexactly/precisely/correctly Yours ______, wasting awaysincerely/with love/faithfully
Give me your answer, _____ in a formcomplete/fulfill/fill Mine for evermore Will you still need me, will you still _____ me,feed/love/hug When I'm sixty-four.
This is a Music resource for English teachers (and students) to use and share.
It will share songs, videos and a combination of both to use in with students.
If you don´t have computers in you class to show images you can download Easy Video Downloader to copy "youtube" clips
"Limewire" will help you find most of these tunes if you don´t have them already.
Remember to use everything for educational purposes only ;)