Songs

Teaching Young Learners with songs

1. Introduction

• Songs are memorable. Kids remember them long after they leave the classroom.
• Songs are a great equalizer. Everyone can participate in one way or another. This makes them great for mixed-level classes.
• Songs improve pronunciation and intonation.
• Songs introduce vocabulary and grammar without learners even realizing it.
• Songs are engaging. They grab kids’ attention.
• Songs can be used many times. They provide valuable repeated exposure to the language.
• Songs let all learners participate in a way that’s comfortable for them. Some kids will just listen, others will listen and gesture, and some will sing along. All of the children will benefit.
• Songs are flexible. They can be used as a primary or supplementary activity, or they can just be played in the background.
• Songs allow children to get involved. They can use their bodies to learn through gesture and dance.
• Songs are easy to combine with other activities.
• Songs are fun and positive. They create a great atmosphere for learning.
• Kids love to sing!

2. How to Introduce a New Song   

Playing a new song in the background several times helps children pick up the rhythm, melody, and lyrics naturally.

• Input comes before output!Listening comes before speaking, or in this case, singing. Don’t expect your students to sing the songs right away. The first time or two that you play a new song, ask the students to listen and to do the gestures with you. You can also do simple activities such as passing a ball around or playing rhythm instruments in time with the music. As they do this, they’ll be learning the song. After one or two times, without any prompting from you, you’ll likely find them singing along!

• Most active songs don’t need much pre-teaching. Just jump right in and start moving!

• Some songs require a little more pre-teaching: new vocabulary can be introduced with drawings, flashcards, real objects, or even storybooks.

3. Transitions & Classroom Management

You can use music in your lessons to create structure and patterns: when students hear particular songs, they know what to expect. A transition song can tell them what they need to do next—without a word from you. 

Music can help you transition smoothly through a variety of activities. Here are some ways to use songs throughout a lesson: 

Warm-up song: This is a great chance to review a song from a previous lesson. Use a song that students already know to help them relax and feel more confident as they go into the lesson.

Hello song: Signal the start of lesson time with a song that gives students a chance to say hello to each other and the teacher.

Circle time: Get kids seated in a circle and ready for a language activity by playing “Make A Circle.”

Clean-up song: When it’s time to put toys, crayons, or books away, play a clean-up song to let students know to finish up the activity and get ready for the next part of the lesson.

Choosing song: Use a choosing rhyme like “Eeney Meeney Miney Moe” or “One Potato, Two Potatoes” to pick the first player or divide students into teams. Students get a chance to practice chanting or counting—and you can keep their attention.

ABC song: Use an ABC song to signal alphabet time. When the song starts, students know to get out their ABC books and pencils.

Active song: When children have been seated for a while, they can get restless. It’s a great idea to give kids a chance to get up and move! An active song like “The Hokey Pokey” can add some much needed energy to a lesson.

Storytime music: Set the scene for storytime by playing a lullaby or another soft piece of music. This gives students the chance to settle down and get ready to listen.

Goodbye song: An end-of-lesson or end-of-day ritual can create a sense of security and accomplishment for kids. A goodbye song is a great way to end things on a positive note! For more information on using songs for classroom management, check out this sample lesson plan.

4. Teaching Language with Songs 

Select Your Subject

The first step is to decide what you are teaching. Are you introducing a series of words, perhaps based around a theme such as colors, parts of the body, or animal sounds? Or are you working on a target sentence structure (for example, “Do you like _____?” “Yes, I do.” “No, I don’t.”)?

Introduce Language

Sometimes you will want to “pre-teach” the new words in a song. You can do this in many ways, but we have found that you can get kids interested and curious by creating a sense of mystery. Here are some of our favorite methods:

• Use a Mystery Box to introduce new words. See the “Mystery Box” song page for ideas on how to make the box and use it in class.
• Hide flashcards around the room and ask students to find them, one by one. Name the objects on the cards as they find them.
• Cover the flashcard you’re using with a folder (or even the back of another flashcard), then slowly slide away the cover to show the picture on it, a little bit at a time. As you gradually show more of the picture, ask the kids to guess what it is.
• Play What’s Missing? Line up some flashcards or objects in front of the class. Name the objects together. Next, have everyone close their eyes. Take away one or two items and then have everyone to open their eyes. Ask, “What’s missing?”
• When you teach a set of words using flashcards, make up a simple gesture for each word. Next, without showing the picture to the students, look at a card with an eager expression, and make the gesture for the word on it. Ask the students to guess what the word is.

Reinforce Language

When you teach new vocabulary from a song, you can use various activities to reinforce the language. Here are some examples:

• Act out the songs with hand puppets, finger puppets, or stuffed animals.
• Play games that encourage children to use the vocabulary over and over again. Use flashcards or minicards to play Musical Chairs, have an Eraser Race, or play Concentration.
• Do worksheets or vocabulary coloring sheets together. Use them as listening exercises, or to start a discussion about the topic.
• Select story-time books with pictures and vocabulary about the same theme. Talk about what’s going on in the story and encourage kids to guess what happens next.

Starting a lesson with an active song can help to get all of your students on the same energy level.

A calming song can help prepare students for a quiet activity.

6. Keep it Interesting

Here are some fun ways to add variety to your use of songs:

• Pick one word that is repeated in a song and ask students to clap whenever they hear that word. For example, if you’re singing the song “Ten In The Bed,” ask students to clap instead of singing bed. This activity encourages kids to really focus. To make it even more interesting, choose several words.
• Have a singing contest. Divide the class into two groups and see which side can sing the loudest, the softest, the silliest, and so on.
• Sing in different voices. Try a high voice or a low voice. Whisper. Sing loud! Try a monster voice, a lion voice, a ghost voice, or a fish voice. Let the students make other suggestions.
• Use your smartphone or camera to record students performing the song and share the recording with the kids and their parents.
• Play backwards charades! Bring several students to the front of the room and ask them to stand so that they’re facing the class. Hold a flashcard up over their heads, so that only the other students can see it. These students make silent gestures to give the group at the front clues about the word, and the students at the front try to guess the word.
• Have a backwards day! Start your lesson with a goodbye song, then have story-time, and work your way through the lesson, finishing with a hello song.