Season 69: Songs to Teach With

Joko

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You were expecting something a little different for Season 69?

Please excuse my low energy in the introduction video; I have a terrible cold. Which now that I watch it, the explanation of which got mysteriously cut out of my video upload.



Music can be a wonderful tool for the educator. The right kinds of songs leave impressions in people's heads that last a lifetime. For example, who here can recite the alphabet without singing it even a little? For my American friends of a certain age, would you remember the preamble to the Constitution without that little ditty created by Schoolhouse Rock? For the a teacher of English as a second language like myself, songs provide a means by which we can introduce vocabulary, sentence structure, present a narrative, but perhaps most importantly, keep the students’ engagement at a high level. Songs are fun, and what instrument is better at making songs fun? None other than our ukulele.

The Seasonistas are going to school! Your entries in Week 69 of the Seasons of the Ukulele Contest will be shown in my classrooms, and the kids are going to be our ultimate judges as to who wins this week.

Do’s & Don’ts:
What makes a good song with which to teach English? Here is what we're looking for this week, The Do's:
  • 1. It helps, but doesn't have to be, material with which the students likely already some familiarity
  • 2. It tells a story and allows for teaching about culture and history along with language.
  • 3. Songs which contain repetition as repetition enhances learning.
  • 4. It’s a ‘catchy’ tune with a good hook to keep engagement and enthusiasm.
  • 5. Includes appropriate vocabulary and standard pronunciations.
  • 6. Kids (in this case, teenagers) like it.

What makes a bad choice for a song as an English teaching tool (at least for my purposes)?
  • Anything too sexual. Overt sexual references should be avoided and even implied references would make for some awkward discussions as to what the song means. The song can be about love, but I would not want to have to explain what “Great googily moogly, that thang is juicy” means to a room full of 15 year olds.
  • 2. Anything too controversial. Songs including themes of suicide, extreme politics, drugs, war, religion, these all need to be looked at very carefully before bringing into a classroom as worldwide, parents can be very sensitive to their kids being given material of this nature.
  • 3. Swearing.
  • 4. Too long. Songs should be under 4 minutes.
  • 5. Heavy use of non-standard English. The use of regional dialects or antiquated idioms.


Target Audience:
I teach at an all-boys public high school in the heart of Bangkok. I am still working with my department as to which of my classes are going to be our judges in this, but it will be between my 10th & 11th grade Intensive English classes. They frowned at the idea of me wanting to change the entire syllabus around to accommodate a ukulele contest. So we’re talking 15 to 17 year old boys with intermediate English skills.

These boys are pretty well versed on current popular culture, likely more so than most of us. You don’t have to pick a song that you’re sure they’re going to know, but it is preferred.

Rules:
1. Standard SOTU rules apply about mentioning Season #69, original for this week, state when it’s a bonus track, no song posts before 12:01 AM GMT Sunday, deadline for entries is Sunday, 16 June, Midnight Hawaii time.

2. Ukulele should be the primary instrument in the soundtrack, but it doesn’t need to be ‘front and center’ in the video. If you want to do a slide show of images that go with the lyrics, film your dog, make a music video out of it, go for it.

3. Multi-tracking, using other instruments, musicians, okay.

4. You need to provide the lyrics; I’ll need them to make supplemental classroom materials. Preferably, just cut and paste into the YouTube ‘about’ section. You can also PM them to me at UU if you’d prefer. Posting them on the forum thread is not recommended as if everyone did so, we’d have some really long pages to scroll through.

5. Make as many bonus tracks as you would like, subject to the same guidelines as main entries. Normally in the Seasons, it’s a questionable when people submit bonus tracks that fit the theme early in the week when someone else might still want to make that their main entry, but this week, you have so many choices for songs, I don’t think that’ll be a problem.

Judging criteria, processes and prizes:

1. Some of you have probably read this far and are thinking, ‘but what should the song be about?’ Anything you want! (with consideration to the Do’s and Don’ts above). Your song will be judged on how effectively it can be used as a teaching tool.

2. Bonus points issued to anyone who includes the name of my school ‘Patumkongka’ (Pah-toom-kong-kah) in their intro and/or starts their video by saying ‘hello’ in Thai (Sa-wa-dee-kap when said by a man, Sa-wa-dee-kah for a lady).

3. My initial plan was to present each and every entry to my classes as part of a weekly ‘music day’, but as that would take too much time out of the curriculum they’re telling me to use, I’ve only got room for 6 semi-finalists, which will be chosen by me, will be announced early next week and these 6 will be the co-winners for the time being. I will then present these songs to my classes, ask them to rate them on a scale of 1-10, the top 2 winners will then go to a class vote to determine the Grand Prize winner. This will take me a few weeks.

4. Prizes: The 6 semi-finalists will all receive a Certificate of Appreciation for Excellence in Using the Ukulele to Promote Education. This fine document will be suitable for hanging in your music room, office, bathroom, what have you.

5. The Grand Prize Winner will receive a custom made video of my students singing your song multi-tracked over your original performance.


Resources:

Again, the songs don’t have to be of any particular theme.
Here is a great resource for helping you pick something that has already been tried in a classroom!:

980 Free ESL Songs for Teaching
http://busyteacher.org/classroom_activities-listening/songs_and_lyrics/
Other sites to consider:
List of Schoolhouse Rock songs (particularly the English section)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Schoolhouse_Rock!_episodes

There we have it, folks. Thank you in advance for helping me teach these kids and I wish everyone a lot of fun in making their entries.

PLAYLIST

BONUS TRACKS
 
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Love the theme, Joko! I've already got a few ideas. Now, if I could just finish working out the chord medley for the song I wanna enter this week!
Cheers from the Garden State of New Jersey!
Stay tuned!
 
Love the theme, Joko! I've already got a few ideas. Now, if I could just finish working out the chord medley for the song I wanna enter this week!
Cheers from the Garden State of New Jersey!
Stay tuned!

Looking forward to all the entries!
 
I was just singing the Preamble last night to one of my friends! He is both French and American and, sadly, he missed most of Schoolhouse Rock. This will be fun! (But I'm not going to do that one.)

With all the talk lately of the Constitution and the Founders' intent, no one's ever brought up "Did the Founders intend for the Preamble to have an iambic pentameter that makes it perfect for singing?"
 
question: is a song that mentions whisky (specifically, two bottles of) but does not actually mention drinking them or doing other things with them (i.e., hitting people with them, throwing them at sea turtles, etc.) considered appropriate?

Also, can I pick your brain about teaching English before I move to Mongolia?
 
question: is a song that mentions whisky (specifically, two bottles of) but does not actually mention drinking them or doing other things with them (i.e., hitting people with them, throwing them at sea turtles, etc.) considered appropriate?

Also, can I pick your brain about teaching English before I move to Mongolia?

I suppose that's okay, as long as the song isn't about whisky. I just don't want the kids going home, being asked "What did you learn at school today?" and have them reply "A song about drinking whisky!"

Mongolia?! Wow! I don't think THailand & Mongolia have much in common, but pick away!
 
I think this is the first Season hosted in Asia. That brings us up to 5 continents!
 
"Conjunction junction, what's your function? Picking up words and phrases and clauses....." Ok, how many of you remember that one?
 
A bonus track from Elvis season - Old McDonald.
I still remember some animal names in French from 6 months of French lessons.
So the chance to go through English names for lots of animals.
Also mentions food dishes so more possibilities there and onomatopoeia as well!
 
So the chance to go through English names for lots of animals.
Also mentions food dishes so more possibilities there and onomatopoeia as well!


I was wondering why Old McDonald would possibly be offensive to vegetarians... then I listened to whole song. Heh... heh...
 
Do’s & Don’ts:
What makes a good song with which to teach English? Here is what we're looking for this week, The Do's:
  • 5. Includes appropriate vocabulary and standard pronunciations

What makes a bad choice for a song as an English teaching tool?
  • 5. Heavy use of non-standard English. The use of regional dialects or antiquated idioms.

Cor blimey! Reckon that rules us lot out then dunnit guv'nor? ;)
 
Someone is using this song for teaching present perfect (whatever that may be ;))
'Perfect' is Latin for 'complete' - so a perfected task is a completed task. A perfect tense therefore is one that indicates a completed event "I have found it (what I was looking for)" - past, or simple perfect. "I still haven't found it (what I am looking for)" - present perfect. HTH :)
 
Beautifully played and sung, Xo! This is exactly the kind of song that I'm looking for.

1363402866_u2-i-still-havent-found-what-im-looking-for.jpg
 
Englishman in NYC+offical entry:
 
Okay, here's my entry. I don't know if it counts because I only use the uke as back-up percussion, but I picked it because it's short, repetitive, simple, and catchy to a point where you want to gouge your eyeballs out. No really. I have no more eyeballs.

 
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