Learning Through Songs for A Level
French, German and Spanish
Enhance cultural knowledge in an active and engaging way!
Students listen to authentic target language songs from diverse cultures, genres and countries to improve their language and listening skills.
Real-world issues, such as immigration, relationships, work and festivals help them to revise important topics featured in the exams.
Super – refreshing and exciting.
Learning through music is always successful
4 worksheets per song:
- Understanding the song lyrics: vocab-based activities help students understand the song and learn new expressions
- Putting the song into context: a reading activity based on a text introducing the singer or the band, followed by a translation exercise for comprehension revision
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- Activities include: answering questions, finding correct statements, finishing sentences and more.
- Analysing the meaning of the song: in-depth exercises to develop students’ analytical skills, followed by a writing task and a class debate to stimulate speaking practice
- Your opinion: students express their opinion on the song and justify it – an important skill for speaking and writing
For use in class or as homework!
Also available for GCSE French, German and Spanish
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What do teachers say about this resource? (7778)
Super – refreshing and exciting. Learning through music is always successful.
This resource is outstanding for teachers delivering the new A Level specifications or for learners of French who want to engage with music and culture.
A strong resource which introduces some authentic material to students in an enjoyable way. [...] Some artists included will already be known to the students giving a 'cool' and up-to-date dimension. [...] The activities are based on understanding written and recorded material, translation and interpretation of meaning. These skills link directly to the new A Level exam specification.
The resource tackles the four skills successfully. The step-by-step progression enables the students to analyse the song and get a better understanding of the cultural context.
What do teachers say about this resource? (8757)
I love it and can’t wait to receive it and use it with my students! There is a great variety of activities and moreover, they are fun too. I think the students will really like the selected songs and they will be doing grammar, listening, writing, etc, in a way that is enjoyable and engaging... It takes a lot of preparation to use a song in a language lesson to make it relevant for the students and this pack has all you need for your students to enjoy a song and learn from it!
It allows the student to analyse the song, not just enjoy it and the fact that they have to express their opinion makes the student have to produce language in a meaningful way. The activities at the beginning really help students digest key words that will then help them understand the meaning of the full text. There is a fantastic range of skills required from the students, such as reading, answering in full sentences and translating. I really like how the songs reveal aspects of Spanish history and culture which are very relevant to the current syllabus. The use of common, colloquial expressions and set phrases is very engaging and enhances the students’ knowledge of the Spanish language. The indicative answers are detailed and useful.
What do teachers say about this resource? (8639)
This is a very well-thought-out resource which manages to incorporate all of the different elements of the new-style A-Level and its four components – listening, reading, speaking and writing. The resource is comprehensive, with level-appropriate texts and questions, and answers provided for teachers as an extra bonus.
I really like the resource. The choice of songs has been made very carefully, so that students can enjoy them, whilst they are as closely matched to the spec as possible. Whilst songs in lessons can often be a gimmick, I feel that the activities in this resource actively support learning. In addition, I feel that the way the lyrics and background of the artists are exploited to facilitate learning is exemplary. It is great to see that songs can be used in the classroom in a meaningful way and this resource will hopefully encourage more teachers to do so. Well done! A fantastic resource. More like this, please. H Oberg, Head of German and Ind. Reviewer.
Some imaginative activities to enliven the teaching of a range of AS / A level German topics. The activities cover all 4 language skills and the variety of tasks is interesting and useful as they practise question styles required for the exams eg. reading comprehension, translation and summary writing skills. There are also some higher order thinking questions and the way the questions encourage pupils to analyse the songs is good as this is something they often find difficult.