He started by showing us a photo of a classroom from the 1920s and said that although a lot has changed it doesn't matter what was taught if nothing was learnt. And by that he means that the knowledge can be used, not just recited parrot fashion.
As there are a great many benefits to using songs with children (and adults!) and he was going to talk about action songs which is the heart of the funsongs philosophy. By using action songs it makes the learning fun and emotionally engaging and therefore motivating. Music is memorable, we all suffer from earworms - the tune you can't get out of your head. Imagine doing that with language. The final benefit is pronunciation, the students can hear the words spoken correctly and mimic it successfully.
By using movement with the song it helps to reinforce the learning, he then told us a little about Professor James Asher the founder of the idea of TPR. His ideas are that learning comes in three stages, first of all understanding, then speaking and finally reading and writing. Charles uses the idea of TPR combined with music to create his funsongs.
He then went on to show us a video of the monster song which unfortunately we couldn't see so I found a copy on youtube
He then went on to tell us about the basics of songs for the classroom. The most important thing is that you need a really catchy tune, if not the students will not enjoy it as it will be boring. The song also needs a strong infectious rhythm that engages the listener/student. the rhythm also helps with pronunciation. You need appropriate themes and useful language. This is why Charles writes his own songs.
After that you need worksheets and activities to help internalise the new language. The final essential is expressive mime and actions. The most important thing for teachers is to become familiar with the song before it is taught. He showed us the following video to illustrate this
Charles then went on to talk about action songs as presentation vehicles and gave us the following slide most of which I think is self-explanatory
The only part that does need a little clarification is number 3. First of all the students chant with the teacher, and then they learn the words and the actions step by step, there may have been some more here but unfortunately the video was playing while Charles was talking!
Afterwards he showed us some of the worksheets which are in black and white so the students can colour them in afterwards. They are progressive so they move from basics and then to language.
Although I don't teach and never will teach children, I still found this an interesting presentation as I always like using music in the live classroom and am interested in different ways of using music.
I do have a blog with songs and worksheets that I have created in the past. http://bobsgrammarsongs.blogspot.com/
Please note that this was created as a repository for my work so may not always be perfect! Please allow time for the pages to load as they have the videos embedded.
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