January Week Four

 Music was our topic this week!  We talked about genres of music, instruments, styles and emotions and did a couple of listening activities to test our ear.

Listening:
Learners can try several different sites that combine music and English for ESL Learners: Linguician, LyricsTraining, and Tune into English  are all worth checking out.

For original version, why not try some videos from the youtube channel Polyphonic or podcasts such as Song Exploder, All Songs Considered, or content over at BBC Music.

Reading:
Learners can read some biographies of famous musicians:

• Aaron Copland - Composer
• Bess Lomax Hawes - Folk Musician (4:00)
• Billie Holiday
• Beverly Sills
• Bo Diddley
• Burl Ives - Actor, Singer Recorded Hundreds of Songs
• Irving Berlin
• The Carter Family
• Celia Cruz - Salsa
• Charlie Parker - Jazz
• Cole Porter- Part 1
• Cole Porter- Part 2
• Duke Ellington- Part 1
• Duke Ellington- Part 2
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Elvis Presley
• George Gershwin - Part 1 - Composer
• George Gershwin - Part 2 - Composer
• Hank Williams - Country
• Isaac Stern - Violinist
• Itzhak Perlman - Violinist
• James Brown - Soul Music
• Janis Joplin
• Jerome Kern - The Father of American Musical Theater
• John Coltrane - Jazz Saxophonist
• John Lewis - Jazz Pianist / MJQ
• Johnny Cash - Country
• Julia Ward Howe - Wrote the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
• Lena Horne - Singer and Actress
• Leonard Bernstein
• Les Paul - Guitarist
• Louis Armstrong - Jazz
• Maria Callas - Opera Singer
• Marian Anderson - Part 1 - Singer
• Marian Anderson - Part 2
• Michael Jackson
• Nina Simone
• Patsy Cline - Country Singer
• Paul Robeson - Singer And International Political Activist
• Ray Charles - Part 1
• Ray Charles - Part 2
• Richard Rodgers - Composer
• Roger Miller - Singer-Songwriter
• Sam Cooke - Singer-Songwriter
• Scott Joplin - Ragtime Composer
• Shirley Horn - Jazz
• Stephen Foster - Songwriter
• Todd Duncan - Broke a Major Color Barrier for Black Singers of Classical Music
• Woody Guthrie - Part 1 - Singer-Songwriter
• Woody Guthrie - Part 2

For original version, take a look at some of the articles over at longform.org related to music.

Writing:
Go ahead and try your hand at responding to one of the following prompts:

1. What is the most beautiful piece of music you've ever listened to? Talk about how each part of the song made you feel and why it has stuck with you. Also, relate a story in which you share it with someone else and try to prove to them how great it is.

2. Write a story about a character (or draw from personal experience) in which the character creates some amazing. This can be with any instrument (including a vocal one). What kind of song is it and how does the character feel about making it?3. Describe your best concert experience of all time. What was the band, who did you go with, and why has it stuck with you as being so fantastic? Go into extreme detail and feel free to make use of band lyrics.
4. Most people have a genre of music that just does not appeal to them. What is yours and why? Create a dialogue between two characters: one who loves that genre and one (like you) who hates it.
5. You have the esteemed pleasure of watching your son, daughter, niece, or nephew at his or her very first band concert. Talk about how it went, how cute it was seeing little kids do music, and how off-key they were :).

Best,
Kelly