The sound of music

In this ESL lesson, students learn how to use mixed conditionals. They will also acquire vocabulary to refer to music and sound. 

Introduction

The student reads a paragraph and identifies the if clauses. Based on the context, they try to figure out the purpose of mixed conditionals.

Grammar: mixed conditionals

The use and structure of all types of mixed conditionals are explained (past, present, and future result). The student practices using mixed conditionals by completing sentences with the missing verb forms, by circling the correct verb forms, and by matching halves of conditional sentences. 

Reading: The Beatles

As an introduction to the vocabulary part, the student reads a paragraph about The Beatles and then completes a few sentences using the new vocabulary (maturity, catchy, experimental, struck a chord, break away, etc.).

Video: Earworms

The student first watches the video explaining Earworms. Afterwards, they answer questions based on the video. Then, the new words (fragment, plagued, sparking, etc.) are extracted from the video for the student to match them with their synonyms. Finally, there is a quick discussion related to earworms.

Reading: Best concert ever!

The student reads a dialogue about a concert and learns vocabulary related to music (mellow, melodic, shrill, distinct, etc.). They match it with the definitions.

Discussion: instruments and types of music

Six types of music are given for the student to match them with their features (e.g. Pop – melodic songs, catchy tunes). This is followed by an exercise in which the student sorts out musical instruments according to the type (e.g. Brass – trombone, trumpet).

Then, the student learns the ‘sound’ verbs (pop, rustle, whistle, crash, etc.) and puts them in the right place in a sentence.

Reading: Who was the King of Pop?

The student reads a passage about Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, and learns more new words which they need to match with their synonyms.

Finally, the student completes the word family of nouns and adjectives (e.g. energy-energetic).