Music and the stage

Objective & content

This sheet on music and the stage teaches instruments such as guitar, piano, drums, violin, trumpet and flute, the people of a show, such as singer, dancer, actor, audience and band, and words like stage, ticket, musical and clap. Pupils name pictures, read a video call between Carmen in New York and Nathan in Canada, then use the words. By the end, they can name musical instruments and the people and things of a show, and say what they can play ("I can play the piano").

Pedagogical guide

Page 1 names six people and things of a show from pictures; the word box holds two extra words, so pupils must choose. Pupils then put the letters of six instruments in order, each with its picture (TAGURI, NAPIO). Page 2 is the video call: Carmen has a ticket for a musical on Broadway, a famous street in New York, and her big sister, a singer, wants a Grammy one day. Nathan tells her about two Inuit women who sing at his school: they sing face to face and make sounds in their throats, and the first singer to laugh loses. He also tells her about the powwow in his town every summer, a First Nations celebration where a group of singers play a big drum together and everybody can come and watch. Eight multiple-choice questions follow. Page 3 has eight sentences to complete from a word box with two extra words, then a word search: pupils read twenty clues, write the words and find them in the grid, and the letters left over spell a message. Every task tests words only. The video call uses the present simple, can and there is / there are: there is no past tense on the sheet.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Ask pupils which instruments they know; write the English words on the board.
2. (8 min) Page 1: pupils write the words under the pictures, then put the letters of the instruments in order.
3. (10 min) Read the video call aloud with two voices; pupils answer the questions.
4. (7 min) Page 3: pupils complete the sentences with the words in the box.
5. (12 min) Pupils read the clues, write the words and find them in the word search.
6. (5 min) Check with the answer key on pages 4 and 5.

Adaptations

[S] Play a few seconds of a song from a musical, a song with a guitar and a piece of Inuit throat singing; pupils say what they hear.

[A] Pupils say what they can and can't play or sing ("I can play the drums", "I can't play the violin").

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of pages 1 to 3 per pupil; a few short sound clips help (a musical, a guitar, Inuit throat singing). Pages 4 and 5 are the answer key and teacher notes: keep them. Pupils need the present simple, can and there is / there are. To take it further, the class makes a poster for a class concert, with the show, the band, the date and the ticket price.