Finally, I'm back at work! I can't believe I'm this happy to be saying this.
My students have done well and worked hard this semester so I decided to give them a little break this week and teach them a couple old Beatles songs.
I chose "Love Me Do" and "From Me To You" because they have minimal lyrics and a simple structure.
"Love Me Do" is the easier, and more enjoyable of the two. It's a bit slower and has a narrower singing range. An unexpected bonus was that the students naturally picked up the harmony... the boys went low and the girls went high.
I prepared lyric sheets with quite a few blanks, but 3rd grade and advanced 2nd grade doesn't get the sheets right away. They must listen and write in their notebooks any words and phrases they recognize. They call out their answers and I write them on the board and initiate a discussion.
Then, the sheets are handed out and, after another listen, the students fill in the blanks.
After checking the blanks, we just practice a couple times (I help them with a couple tricky lines) and then have a 'singing test'.
1st grade and low 2nd grade skip the first notebook step, but follow the rest of the lesson as noted.
The kids have a lot of fun with it and feel good about speaking English.



