Learning English with Britain's Got Talent

Can't be bothered to read the blog? Get the worksheet here.

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/britains-got-talent-lesson-plan.doc

Get more lessons like this at the English Language Space Station.com

Like so many, I have a love/hate relationship with The X-factor and Britain's Got Talent. I like watching it... but I hate watching it. I'll leave any descriptions as to how bad it is and how it is destroying the music business to those with more fire in their belly. I'm only concerned with how we can use it to teach English.

Here's the lesson.

1. Talk about the x -factor / Britain's Got Talent / Pop Idol. It's all over the world and in every country. Dictate these  questions.

- Do you have the X-Factor, Britain's Got Talent or something similar, in your country?

- Do you like it? Why?

- Would you appear on a show like this? What would you do? Sing? Dance?

- Do you think it's good or bad for young people to appear on talent shows like this?

2. Students read about the show and them fill in the worksheet about giving feedback. Get the worksheet here http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/britains-got-talent-lesson-plan.doc

3.Play some songs from youtube - students watch them and then comment on them very much like the judges in the show. You might also like to give students a card or a book which they can hold up when they are sick of watching the presentation.

Making a quick song sheet using www.youtube.com - an activity for teachers and students.

Here's another youtube.com lesson, you'll need at least one computer with access to the internet per two students.

Below you'll find instructions on how to make song sheets your students can use when they are watching and listening to their favourite tracks on youtube.com. BUT: THIS WORKS MUCH BETTER if you get your students to find a song they like, and make a worksheet themselves.

I told my students that they were making worksheets for other students who were of a much lower level than they were. I gave them each a copy of the instructions below and asked them to find a suitable song and the lyrics on the internet. I also asked them to pay close attention to point 2 which asks them to check the lyrics to make sure they are correct.

I was surprised to find out how much students wanted to get this right and make a good worksheet for other learners.

The songs I made are here

How to make a song cloze worksheet

1. Find a song on youtube.com that your students might like


2. To get the lyrics, write the name of the song lyrics into google.com . Lyrics and words found on Google are NOT ALWAYS CORRECT, you need to read them and check that they are spelled correcly and make sense.


3. Now you have the lyrics, copy and paste them into word. Make the font bigger and change it so it’s easy to read.


4. Now delete some words that are easy to hear and easy to spell, replace them with a line ______


5. Now delete some more difficult words that are still easy to hear. You should aim for about 15 depending on the song.


6. Now you have them all, add numbers to the lines ___1___ ____2____.

Students can fill them in as they listen, practise pronunciation, cover different areas of vocabulary or grammar.

Here's the link to a some songs I made

http://chrisspeck.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/song-worksheets.doc