"King of Anything" - zastosowanie piosenki w dydaktyce szkolnej dla uczniów liceum

Wprowadzenie
Przedstawiam poniżej konspekt lekcji dla młodzieży szkoły ponadgimnazjalnej, w którym wykorzystałam piosenkę Sary Bareilles pt.: „King of Anything”. Piosenka ta stała się dla mnie materiałem wyjściowym do ułożenia ćwiczeń wprowadzających słownictwo i prowokujących młodzież do dyskusji na temat relacji między młodymi ludźmi oraz ulubionych wideoklipów. Myślę, że taka bezpodręcznikowa forma lekcji może być alternatywą na ciekawą realizację zagadnień maturalnych i podnoszenie uczniowskiej motywacji.
Agnieszka Szymańska, Kościan

SUBJECT: “King of Anything” – talking about people’s relationships

STANDARD MATURALNY: Rodzina, Człowiek
AIMS: Ss learn new vocabulary; ss practice guessing meaning of new words from context; ss translate lyrics of a song; ss talk about people’s relationships; ss talk about their favourite songs and video clips
AIDS: CD player, b/b, song lyrics with exercises, multimedia projector, internet access
TIME: 45-60 minutes
LEVEL: intermediate/upper intermediate

WARM UP
1. T wries the title of the song on the b/b – ss work in groups and guess what the song can be about. SS present their guesses.
2. SS are asked to think about other titles of songs which deal with people’s relationship.

PRESENTATION
1. T writes the subject on the b/b.
2. T hands in the song’s lyrics with gaps to fill in. Ss do two exercises (ex. 1 which refers to the first stanza of the song and then ex.2 which refers to the rest of the lyrics). Firstly, they get a list of words to fill in the gaps in the first stanza of the song. Ss work in pairs, listen to the first stanza and then read out their guesses. After that ss listen to the rest of the song twice and fill in the gaps. Ss read out their guesses (the exercises are included at the end of the plan).

PRACTICE
1. Ss are given definitions of some words in English taken from the lyrics and find their equivalents in ex. 3. T asks individual ss to read out their suggestions.
2. Ss do exercise 4 – fill in the sentences with the words from ex. 3.
3. Ss are divided into 4 groups and are given different parts of the song to translate into Polish. Ss read out their versions and discuss which version was the best.

PRODUCTION
1. T divides ss into 3 groups and assigns each group a question to discuss:
• Why is the song entitled “King of Anything”?
• What made the girl decide to split up?
• Think of an example of a situation which had taken place between the two people from the song before they met in the restaurant.
Ss present their ideas to the class.
2. Ss watch the video clip of the song. T asks ss about their favourite songs and clips.

HOMEWORK
Ss are asked to write a short essay entitled: “Ideal marriages do not exist. Do you agree? Why? Why not? “(120-150 words).

VOCABULARY EXERCISES for students

Exercise 1
Read the words and fill in the gaps in the first stanza of the song:
ALL, ANYMORE, BY, COUNT, DOWN, DROWNING, HATE, I’D, KEEP, MINE, PASS, QUIET, SAVE, SAY, STARE, TO, TO, TIME, WE’RE

Exercise 2
Listen to the rest of the song and fill in the gaps in the lyrics.

Exercise 3
Read the definitions and find their equivalents in the lyrics.
• to give someone the official right to do or have something - ........................................
• if you tell unpleasant news to someone - ........................................
• not guilty of a crime - ........................................
• what you intend to do - ........................................
• the belief that you are much more important or powerful than you really are - ........................................
• words printed above or below a picture in a book or newspaper or on a television screen to explain what the picture is showing - ........................................

Exercise 4
Fill in the gaps with the words from the list:
BREAK, ENTITLED, CAPTIONS, DELUSIONS, GOOD INTENT, INNOCENT, BROKE
a) Full-time employees are ........................to receive health insurance.
b) Tom didn't know how he was going to ..................... the news to my mother. The teacher finally ......................... it to him that her son failed the final exam.
c) Nobody would believe that I was ..............................
d) She behaved foolishly but with ..................................
e) She now had to finally forget the dreams and .............................. of her youth.
f) Christine showed me a book based on their documentary and explained the ............................ under the photographs.

KING OF ANYTHING LYRICS for students
Written and performed by Sara Bareilles

1. Keep drinking coffee, .................. me ................... across the table
While I look outside
So many things .............. ................. if only I were able
But I just ................ .................. and ................... the cars that .................... ......................
You’ve got opinions, man
.................... ................... all entitled to ‘em, but I never asked
So let me thank you for your ................., and try not to waste .................... of ......................
And get out of here fast
I ................. ..................... break it to you babe, but I’m not ........................
There’s no one here ........................ .......................

Chorus
Who cares if you ..........................? You are not me
Who .................... you king of anything? So you .............. tell me who to be?
Who ................ and made you king of anything?

2. You ..................... so ..........................., all full of good intent
.......................... you know best
But you expect me to ..................... ...................... on board with you
And .................... ...................... into your .......................... .............................
I’m not the one ........................ lost with no .............................
But you’ll never see
You’re so ...................... making maps with my name on them in ........................ .......................
You got the ................... ........................., just not the listening

Chorus

All my life .................... ...................... to make everybody happy
While I just ............... and .......................
Waiting for someone to tell me ............... .................. .................. to decide

Chorus

Let me ................... your crown, babe