Teaching Elglish with Songs

Como aina não havia postado nada sobre Song Activities, aqui vão algumas músicas que podem ser trabalhadas de acordo com determindaos tópicos gramaticias. Espero isso possa ajudar e que vocês possam deixar suas sugestões no blog.

Lembre-se que esse é um espaço para dividirmos nossas idéias. 

Suggested songs to be used to teach English:

Basic 1

Hello, goodbye – The Beatles                                                         (greetings / opposites)

Hello, I love you – The Cure / The Doors                                      (greetings)

Dancing barefoot – U2 / Concrete Blonde                                   (pronouns)           

Friday, I’m in love – The Cure                                                       (days of the week)

Days of the week – Stone Temple Pilot                                        (days of the week)

Monday, Monday – The Mammas and The Pappas                  (days of the week)

Lazing on a Sunday afternoon – Queen                                      (days of the week / prepositions)

Rock around the clock – Bill Haley & The Comets                   (telling the time)

Born in the U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen                                       (‘I was born in...’)

What’s your sign? – Des’ree                                                          (astrological signs)

She’s not just a pretty face – Shania Twain                                (occupations)

I believe I can fly – R. Kelly                                                           (abilities – can)

How to dance – Bingo Boys                                                           (directions)

What a wonderful world – Louis Armstrong                                (nouns/colors/ ‘what a ...!’)

Sk8ter Boi – Avril Lavigne                                                                (nouns)

Three little birds – Bob Marley / Gilberto Gil                                   (nouns)

Mambo no. 5 – Lou Bega                                                                     (numbers/names/prepositions)

Basic 2

Don’t speak – No Doubt                                                                  (grammar: -ing)

Tom’s Diner – Suzanne Vega                                                         (present progressive)

Unwell – Matchbox 20                                                                    (present progressive)

Tell him – Vanda Shepard                                                                 (object pronoun: ‘him’)

Mr. Jones – Counting Crows                                                           (object pronoun: ‘me’)

Rock and roll all night – KISS                                                        (object pronouns: ‘you / us’)

Spending my time – Roxette                                                          (present progressive / simple present)

There she goes – Sixpence None the Richer                                 (simple present 3^rd person singular)

My new boyfriend – Carly Simon                                                 (simple present 3^rd person singular)

How do you do – Roxette                                                                 (simple present  / vocabulary)

Eternal Flame – The Bangles / Atomic Kittens                              (simple present – interrogative)

She loves you – The Beatles                                                           (simple present)

Say a little prayer – Diana King / Aretha Franklin / Dione Warwick         (simple present – daily routine)

Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton                                                (simple present – daily routine)      

People are strange – The Doors                                                      (simple present)  

Various                                                                                                (kinds of music)

Various                                                                                                (movies)

Three kisses of love – Bee Gees                                                     (adverbs of frequency)

Short skirt, long jacket - Cake                                                        (clothes/adjectives)

The only thing that looks good on me is you – Bryan Adams         (clothes)

Luka – Suzanne Vega                                                                      (simple present/places in the house)

Barbie Girl – Acqua                                                                          (mixed up verb tenses / vocabulary)             

Intermediate 1

Thank you – Dido                                                                             (situations to practice modal verbs/advice)

Blowing in the wind – Joan Baez / Bob Dylan                               (modals / questions)

Y.M.C.A. – Edson Cordeiro                                                            (gym class)

You’ll see – Madonna                                                                      (future – will)

From the heart – Another Level                                                     (future – will)

Truly, madly, deeply – Savage Garden                                        (future – will)

Strangelove – Depeche Mode                                                         (future – will / affirm., inter., contractions)

Jesse – Carly Simon                                                                          (future – will / won’t)

I won’t dance – Frank Sinatra                                                        (future – won’t)

You’ll be in my heart – Phil Collins                                                   (future – will)

The deeper the love – Whitesnake                                                 (comparative)

Bigger, stronger – Coldplay                                                                (comparative)

The most beautiful girl in the world – Prince                                   (superlative)

(Simply) The best – Tina Turner                                                    (superlative)

The most beautiful love song – Debbie Gibson                           (comparatives / superlatives)

A good song – Valdy                                                                        (‘neither’)

Because you loved me – Celine Dion                                                (simple past)

Last kiss – Pearl Jam                                                                        (simple past)

Painted on my heart – The Cult                                                     (simple past)       

A day in the life – The Beatles                                                       (simple past)

How did I fall in love with you – Backstreet Boys                     (simple past)

Why did you – Kumbia Kings                                                        (simple past)

Did I shave my legs for this? – Deana Carter                                    (simple past)       

This used to be my playground - Madonna                                 (childhood / used to)

How you remind me – Nickelback                                                (remind somebody of)

You remind me – Usher                                                                   (remind somebody of)

I’m a believer – The Monkeys                                                       (to talk about fairy tales and love stories)

Jealous guy – John Lennon                                                              (love / jealousy)

Intermediate 2

It’s raining men – Weather Girls / Gloria Gaynor                        (mixed up verb tenses – review)

With or without you – U2                                                                (with / without)

California Dreamin’ – The Mammas and the Pappas                   (to talk about the weather)

Don’t tell me – Madonna                                                                (weather vocabulary)

Fortune Teller – The Rolling Stones                                               (to talk about fortune teller)            

Zodiac - Roberta Flack                                                                    (astrological signs)

Drops of Jupiter – Train                                                                   (astrology)

When – Shania Twain                                                                      (optimism / pessimism – verb tenses review)

Dancing in the moonlight – Toploader                                         (to talk about parties)

Happy new year – Abba                                                                 (new year’s eve)

Have you ever seen the rain? – Credence Clearwater Revival /

               Spin Doctors / Bonnie Tyler & Meatloaf / Ramones  (present perfect)

Have you ever – Brandy                                                                 (present perfect)

Have you ever – The Offspring                                                      (present perfect)

Why haven’t I heard – Reba McIntyre                                        (present perfect)

Look what you’ve done – Bread / Jet                                               (present perfect / simple past)

Have you ever been in love – Celine Dion                                   (present perfect) 

(If you're not in it for love) I'm outta here! – Shania Twain     (starting a conversation / men – women)
Man! I feel like a woman – Shania Twain                                   (differences between men and women)

Working class hero – John Lennon                                                (to talk about work)

You gotta be – Des’ree                                                                     (adjectives)

I’ll remember – Madonna                                                                    (memories)

Wedding day – UB 40                                                                      (to talk about wedding)

The wedding song – Petula Clark                                                   (to talk about wedding)

Love is a wonderful thing – Michael Bolton                                  (to talk about love / homonyms / adjectives)

Again - Lenny Kravitz                                                                     (mixed up verb tenses)

You’re my best friend - Queen                                                       (mixed up verb tenses)

Love of my life – Queen                                                                  (mixed up verb tenses)     

What can I do – The Corrs                                                              (present perfect / talk about love)

It’s my life – Bon Jovi                                                                      (vocabulary practice)

By your side – Sade                                                                          (adjectives / extra vocabulary)

High Intermediate

Tears in heaven – Eric Clapton                                                      (2^nd conditional / interrogative)

If I had a hammer – Trini Lopez                                                   (2^nd conditional) 

If I were a rich man – Zero Mostel                                                (2^nd conditional)

If I was a rich girl – Lady Shaw                                                     (2^nd conditional)

If I didn’t have you – Randy Travis                                               (2^nd conditional)

If I didn’t have you – John Goodman & Billy Crystal                   (2^nd conditional)

                                               (Monsters Inc.)

If I had a million dollars – Barenaked Ladies                                   (2^nd conditional)

If I was your girlfriend – TLC                                                         (2^nd conditional)

If I were your woman – Gladys Knight and the Pips                     (2^nd conditional)

I would walk 500 miles – The Proclaimers                                   (1^st and 2^nd conditionals)

I would walk 500 miles – Toy Dolls                                                    (1^st and 2^nd conditionals)

500 miles – Peter, Paul and Mary                                                  (1^st conditional)

I don’t wanna talk about it – Rod Stewart / Indigo Girls               (1^stconditional / interrogative / negative)

If you don’t know me by now – Simply Red                                   (1^st conditional)

From me to you – The Beatles                                                       (1^st conditional)

If – Bread                                                                                           (conditionals)

If I fell – The Beatles                                                                       (1^st and 2^nd conditionals)

Life – Des’ree                                                                                     (superstitions)

Good luck charm – Elvis Presley                                                    (superstitions)

A little help from my friends – The Beatles / Joe Cocker          (somebody/anybody – idiomatic expressions)

Since I don’t have you – Guns’n’Roses / The Skyliners              (‘I don’t have anything’)

I have nothing - Whitney Houston                                                (‘nothing’ / ‘nowhere’ etc)

Nobody does it better – Carly Simon                                               (‘nobody + 3^rd person singular)

The logical song – Supertramp                                                       (adjectives)

By my side – INXS                                                                           (wish)

Ugly – Bon Jovi                                                                                 (wish)

I wish it would rain down – Phil Collins                                        (wish / would)

I wish I could fly – Roxette                                                                 (wish / could)

Manic Monday – Bangles                                                                   (wish / mixed up verb tenses)

My lover’s gone – Dido                                                                    (past perfect)

I will survive – Gloria Gaynor                                                         (simple past / passive voice)

Rome wasn’t built in a day – Morcheeba                                    (passive voice)

Bald-headed men – Christine Lavin Gold et al.                          (‘I like men who...’)

I just want you – Ozzy Osbourne                                                  (prefixes / adjectives)

Kiss me – Sixpence None the Richer                                                            (to talk about kisses)

Don’t talk just kiss – Right Said Fred                                            (to talk about kisses)

Advanced 1

Do you know where you are going to? – Diana Ross                 (indirect questions)

As long as you love me – Backstreet Boys                                  (indirect questions)

Under the bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers                                    (simple present)

Wedding Day – Bee Gees                                                                (to talk about wedding)    

Uptown girl – Billy Joel / Westlife                                                  (simple present / present progressive)

Leaving on a jet plane – Frank Sinatra / Jewel                              (simple present / present progressive / to talk

about traveling)

Sweet child o’ mine – Guns’n’Roses              / Sheryl Crow          (childhood memories)

Just my imagination – Cranberries                                                (used to / would)

When it’s over – Sugar Ray                                                                (used to)

Friends will be friends – Queen                                                       (friendship)

That’s what friends are for – Dionne Warwick                              (friendship)

You’ve got a friend – James Taylor / Carol King                       (friendship)

Misunderstood – Bon Jovi (video clip)                                         (to talk about misunderstanding)

Deeper and deeper – Madonna                                                      (comparatives)

Survivor – Destiny’s Child                                                                (comparative)

Never as good as the first time – Sade                                          (‘as...as’ / comparatives)

Superman’s song – Crash Test Dummies                                     (to talk about cartoon heroes)

I still haven’t found what I’m looking for – U2                          (present perfect)

Have you ever really loved a woman – Bryan Adams               (present perfect)

Head over feet – Alanis Morissette                                                 (present perfect)

What have I done to deserve this – Pet Shop Boys                    (present perfect / questions)

Another day in paradise – Phil Collins                                          (present perfect progressive)

I can see clearly now – Bob Marley / Hothouse Flowers               (to talk about the weather)

Zombie – The Cranberries                                                                    (to talk about peace/‘it looks like’/’it sounds like’)

Advanced 2

As time goes by - ???????                                                                (to talk about the movie ‘Casablanca’)

I love you – Martina McBride                                                        (adverbs)

Unbreak my heart – Toni Braxton                                                (reported speech / to talk about love)

Don’t Speak – No Doubt                                                                 (to talk about love)

Cry for help - Rick Astley                                                                (reported speech)

Love letters – Sinead O’Connor                                                     (to talk about love letters)

Are you still mad – Alanis Morissette                                            (simple past)

One place – Everything but the girl                                (to talk about traveling / objects to carry with you)

Independent Women – Destiny’s Child                                        (relative clauses: who)

You’re still the one – Shania Twain                                                  (relative clauses)

Always on the run – Lenny Kravitz                                                   (giving advice)

Thank you – Dido                                                                                 (past modals – advice: should)

Policy of truth – Depeche Mode                                                    (past modals – advice: should)

The day before you came – Abba                                                 (perfect modals)

How insensitive –  Sting & Tom Jobim                                         (must – logical conclusion)

Where you lead – Carol King                                                         (1^st conditional)

Can’t buy me love – The Beatles                                                  (1^st conditional)

Wherever you will go – The Calling                                               (2^nd conditional)

In these arms – Bon Jovi                                                                 (2^nd conditional)

More than words – Extreme                                                           (2^nd conditional)

Another brick in the wall – Pink Floyd                                          (to talk about education)

School’s out – Alice Cooper                                                            (to talk about education)

Teach your children – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young                (to talk about education)

I don’t like Mondays – Boomtown Rats                                      (to talk about education) 

Wish you were here – Pink Floyd                                                   (wish)

I feel so – Box Car Racer                                                                (wish)

Richard Cory – Simon and Garfunkel                                          (wish / based on a poem)

If only – Rod Stewart                                                                       (‘if only’)             

High Advanced 1

Spending my time - Roxette                                                           (simple present/present progressive)

A thousand miles – Vanessa Carlton                                              (simple present/present progressive)

Sailing – Rod Stewart                                                                       (present progressive)

Penny Lane – The Beatles                                                                (use of ‘the’)

Pollution – Tom Lehrer                                                                    (articles: a, the, Ø )

Used to love her – Guns’n’Roses                                                   (used to)

Don’t you want me – Human League                                               (negative questions)

I’m with you – Avril Lavigne                                                          (future – will: negative questions)

How could an angel break my heart – Toni Braxton                (simple past)

Don’t know why – Norah Jones                                                     (simple past / idiomatic expressions)

We are the champions – Queen                                                     (present perfect / contractions)

Whose bed have your boots been under – Shania Twain         (present perfect / ‘whose’)

Last night I had the strangest dream – Simon and Garfunkel (past perfect)

Flinch – Alanis Morissette                                                               (verb tenses review)

In my life – The Beatles                                                                  (memories)

Reach – Gloria Estefan                                                                    (to talk about achievements)

Hand in my pocket – Alanis Morissette                                       (adjectives)

Mediate – INXS                                                                                (word formation)

Mystify – INXS                                                                                 (word formation)

High Advanced 2

Go west – Pet Shop Boys                                                                 (discussion: lesson 1)

That I would be good – Alanis Morissette                                    (‘even if’)

Crazy – Seal                                                                                       (‘unless’)

Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm - Crash Test Dummies                    (simple past / short stories)

American Pie – Madonna                                                                (simple past)

Too many tears – Whitesnake                                                       (mixed up verb tenses)

Torn – Natalie Imbruglia                                                                 (mixed up verb tenses)

Whenever, wherever – Shakira                                       (gerund/past participle/infinitive with/without TO)

Change – Lisa Stansfield                                                                 (1^st and 2^nd conditionals)

If I were you – K. D. Lang                                                               (2^nd conditional)

If only I could turn back time - Acqua                                         (if only / 3^rd conditional)

One of us – Joan Osborne                                                               (conditionals)      

It must’ve been love - Roxette                                                       (past modals - must)

Wishlist – Oasis                                                                                  (wish)

Wish I were you – Patty Smith                                                       (wish)

As long as you love me – Backstreet Boys                                  (‘as long as’)

Affirmation – Savage Garden                                                        (beliefs / discussion)

Crazy little thing called love – Queen                                            (spelling)

You can leave your hat on – Joe Cocker                                     (phrasal verbs / imperative)

Destiny – Gloria Estefan                                                                  (adverbs / phrasal verbs)  

Money – Pink Floyd                                                                         (to talk about economy / business)

Opportunities (Let’s make lots of money) – Pet Shop Boys     (to talk about money / opportunities)

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Other themes/songs:

I’m so tired – The Beatles                                                               (‘so / such’ plus result clauses)

The strangest thing – George Michael                                           (prepositions)

Galileo – Indigo Girls                                                                        (prepositions)

Hotel California – Eagles                                                                (prepositions)      

Every breath you take – The Police                                                (future progress / collocation)

One of us – Joan Osbourne                                                               (‘what if’)

Ironic – Alanis Morissette                                                                (to talk about irony)          

English Man in New York – Sting                                                  (differences between Am & Br English)

When I’m 64 – The Beatles                                                               (to talk about retirement)

Return to innocence – Enigma (video clip)                                  (to talk about life / getting old)

Too young to die – Jamiroquai                                                      (to talk about peace / violence)

You’re so vain – Carly Simon                                                        (to talk about vanity)

Papa don’t preach – Madonna / Kelly Osbourne                       (story telling)

Devil and the deep blue sea – George Harrison                           (sayings)              

Head over feet – Alanis Morissette                                                 (clichés)

It’s a big old goofy world – John Prine                                          (clichés)

Beauty and the beast – Celine Dion & Peabo Bryson                  (rhyming words)

The Christmas song – Ella Fitzgerald                                            (Christmas words)

Ebony and Ivory – Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson     (to talk about racism)

Illegal alien – Genesis                                                                       (to talk about racism)

Third world child – Johnny Clegg, Asimbonoga                          (to talk about racism)

New York Times – Cat Stevens                                                      (to talk about city life)

The times they are a-changin’                                                        (to talk about modern times)

Message in a bottle – Police                                                            (to talk about loneliness)

Mother’s little helper – The Rolling Stones                                   (to talk about escape / drugs)

She’s leaving home – The Beatles                                                 (to talk about escape)

Imagine – John Lennon                                                                   (to talk about war and peace)

War – Bruce Springsteen                                                                 (to talk about war and peace)

The needle and the damage done – Neil Young                         (to talk about drugs)