Whitney Houston is famous for a number of classic songs, including this duet with her mother, Cissy Houston.
Tragically, she recently passed away at the age of 48. This song is about the difficulty of relationships and the heartbreak of letting someone go.
Read through the lyrics first and try to guess which word fits in each gap, then listen and check your answers.
What is your favourite Whitney song? Let us know.
Taylor Swift won two awards at the Grammy's recently and seems to be getting more and more famous by the day. This song is well known for appearing in the recent Twilight movie and is about a very sad break up. Read through the lyrics first and guess what word goes in each gap. Then listen to the song and check your answers.
Harrison, who teaches at EC San francisco, shows us how we can expand our vocabulary.
This song is about what we learn from our relationships with others and how these relationships change the person we are. It is from the successful musical, Wicked. Listen to the song and complete the gaps with the correct word.
Note: please tell me if there is a singer, band, or song that you would like a lesson on. I’m always looking for new ideas!
Lesson by Caroline Devane
A transcript is a written representation of a conversation or speech. They can be very useful to read as they allow you time to understand, whilst mirroring true conversation. Here is a transcript of a famous interview between Michael Parkinson and actress Meg Ryan.
Read through the transcript and answer the questions below true or false. If, after you have read you would like to watch the conversation in there is a link below the transcript!
Parkinson (Interviewer): You said once that acting was not in your nature.
This is a beautiful song by Tracy Chapman. Before you listen, read the lyrics as if they were a story and see if you can guess which word goes in each gap. Then listen to check your answers. Can you summarise the story in this song? What do you think the message of the song is?
Cellophane: A see-through material used to wrap food.
We all sometimes feel like we need more attention, but this character from Chicago feels completely invisible! Read through the lyrics to the song and see if you can guess which word goes in each gap, then listen and check your answers. Do you relate to the singer, or do you think he is just complaining about nothing?
This is a very old, very famous song which has been performed by many renowned artists, including the following, Frank Sinatra! Before you listen, read through the lyrics and try to decide what the song is about. Is it happy or sad? Is it romantic? Then listen and complete the gaps with the missing words.
Lesson by Caroline Devane
I recently posted a lesson based on a poem by Sarah Kay, which was presented at a Ted conference. Here is another Ted lecture, which looks at the role of creativity in schools. Listen to the first five or so minutes of the talk and answer the questions below true or false.
What is your opinion? Do you think there should be more creativity in the school curriculum or do you think we need to continue to focus on maths, science and English?
Let us know.
Lesson by Caroline Devane
This is my favourite poem by the wonderful slam poet Sarah Kay. It is rich in vocabulary and full of beautiful imagery and I really wanted to share it with all of you. Due to the length of the poem, this lesson may take you a bit longer than usual, but I think it’s worth it! On the link, the poem is in the first four minutes. After that, Sarah gives an inspiring lecture which is also worth listening to. So listen to the poem and complete the gaps with the missing words. Then let us know your opinions and also if you have a favourite poem…
