Can you imagine the world without music?

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Adjectives for describing music

lesson plan on music

LESSON OVERVIEW

Thanks to this lesson plan on music, students will learn various adjectives for describing music and watch a video in which orchestra musicians talk about the world without music.

B2 / Upper Intermediate45 minStandard LessonPremium Plan

VOCABULARY

First, students get a set of pictures to describe. The goal of this warm‐up activity is to elicit from students music‐related vocabulary such as concert hall, conductor, orchestra, live concert, violinist, instrumentalist, etc. Next, students move to a short discussion about music and their preferences. In this part of the lesson, students will also learn adjectives for describing music. They get a box with ten adjectives and need to match them to their meanings. To practice them a bit, they also have to choose correct adjectives in a few sentences. The list of adjectives includes, e.g. moving, saddening, entrancing, unsettling, uplifting, etc.

VIDEO & DISCUSSION

Before watching the video, students discuss a quote by Keith Richards (the guitarist of The Rolling Stones) and talk about emotions that music evokes in them. Then, they watch the video for the first time and just need to listen for gist and answer three general questions about the speakers. Next, they watch the video again and have to write down four effects that music has, according to the speakers. There are a lot more effects, so you can expect different students to note down different effects. Finally, this lesson plan on music ends with a short discussion that includes questions about the role of music in our lives, emotions that live concerts evoke as well as pieces of music that bring back memories.

WORKSHEETS

Comments

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  1. Pontiroli C

    Thank you! A long time ago there was a slogan; “No music, no life.” which pretty much sums up the feeling.

  2. pjacovella

    Thank you!! It s such a good idea to talk about music with my students!! I love this lesson!! Xo

    1. Justa

      Great to hear that! Enjoy 🙂

  3. Orsi

    Beautiful topic, the video is really touching. Excellent lesson, thanks.

    1. Justa

      Thank you, Orsi!

  4. Ben Irving

    Great lesson, thanks 🙂

  5. Vicki

    Very good, interesting and motivating lesson. Keep up the good work!

  6. Berni Jones

    Love this lesson!

  7. Marisa

    Excellent lesson! Thank you very much! My students enjoyed it a lot!

    1. Justa

      Awesome! Thank you 🙂

  8. Kirsteen Crawford

    Thankyou!

  9. Juliana Simões

    Your lessons are not only good! They are extraordinary! I feel that my students are always happy at the end of each class. The content is always very interesting with the right amount of the important skills. They practice speaking, listening, reading, writing and vocabulary all at once! Thank you so very much for the wonderful work!

    1. Stan

      Thank you very much for this comment – really appreciate it! But I believe that students are happy because of YOU. After all, you run the lesson, we merely provide some resources.

  10. teacherrachdunedin

    This is a “go-to” lesson plan for me for my online Speaking and Listening class! Students always engage so well with the material. The vocab is useful, the video engaging and the discussion goes on and on… students sharing their own favourite music and talking about how it influences their emotions. Thank you!

    1. Justa

      Thanks! I’m thrilled to hear that the lesson works so well and students enjoy it 🙂

  11. Cibele Rodrigues Cruz

    Thanks for sharing it.

  12. CaroHuer

    A very moving film and a great lesson plan. Thank you for your inspiring lessons

    1. Justa

      Thank you for such kind words about our lessons 🙂

  13. Vander

    From my point of view, the lessons would be much more helpful if they came with the English subtitles.

    1. Justa

      Actually, a lot of YouTube videos come with automatically generated subtitles, but unfortunately the video in this lesson doesn’t have them.

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