Music and singing is something that makes our language classes special and memorable for our students.
The joy this brings our younger learners is usually obvious, but we’d say almost every Year 12 student has a song etched into their brain from either primary or Year 7.
Let’s look today at some of the ways music makes the class sing.
Capture children’s hearts and minds
Songs create positive emotional connections to the content or language they are learning. The shared joy of singing creates a special bond within the language class (it’s unlikely they are singing in many other classes, particularly in high school).
Allow for spaced repetition
Spaced repetition is the evidence-based strategy of revisiting language at increasing intervals. Having certain songs built into your classroom routine allows you to revisit and revise language in a way that will feel both effortless and engaging for the learners, particularly if the tunes are catchy and there are repetitive choruses that the kids can very easily follow along with.
Allow students to play around with pronunciation
Songs provide an authentic pronunciation model for students and everyone can enjoy being in chorus together. You can break the song down into smaller segments to point out the different nuances of pronunciation and rhythm.
Get your students excited
about singing in class!
If you are looking for something new to use with your students, here is to one of the songs we created specifically for Avanti Tutta!. In this 1 minute song, students will hear some basic self intro language with a very catchy tune.
The Avanti Tutta! book has a range of original songs designed to get the kids singing and laughing in Italian classes.
Contact us if you would like to learn more about our resources!
