The Logical Song – A different look at FCE Word Formation section
Lesson based on a song by Supertramp.
Level(s): (B2) Upper-Intermediate / (C1) Advanced
Aimed at: Teenagers/young adults/adults
Aims: Listening for gist and specific information/ FCE training practice: to provide an environment where students practise their word formation skills in a memorable way/ Speaking
Materials: Worksheet 1 / Worksheet 2 / Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k3JVfxluFU
Time: +/- 1h
- Have students work in pairs and hand out Worksheet 1: +/- 10 minutes
Worksheet 1
Together with your partner read the quotations below. There is/are a word/words missing from each. Can you guess what they are? Do you agree with the quotations? What does the mystery word mean to you? Discuss with your partner.
“_______ is a candy shop filled with candies. Some are bitter, some are sweet, some are soft, some are hard, some are colourful, some have weird shapes, others have even weirder tastes, and some have a surprise centre waiting to be discovered.”
“Don’t regret about your _______ but forget those who point out on your ______.”
“The difficult parts of your journey in ______ are your greatest teachers.”
“ _______ is a candy shop filled with candies. Some are bitter, some are sweet, some are soft, some are hard, some are colourful, some have weird shapes, others have even weirder tastes, and some have a surprise in it waiting to be discovered.”
- After a brief feedback have students listen to the song and write as many ADJECTIVES and ADVERBS as they can hear. Ask them to compare their lists in groups. +/- 10 minutes
- Give out Worksheet 2 to each student and ask them to fill the gaps in the song in pairs. They have to change the words given into adverbs or adjectives. At this stage you can explain that they are expected to complete a similar activity in the third part of the Use Of English section of the FCE exam. +/- 15 minutes
- Have students listen again and check. +/- 5 minutes
- Discussion: Have students work in pairs and read out the following question:
Is it a happy song? (Have students discuss it)
When they have finished, read out another question and repeat the procedure until the last question from the below list:
What does the song criticize?
Do you agree with the singer?
What do you think “a vegetable” mean in the 4th stanza?
Who´s got a simple mind?
What kind of questions are bothering the singer at night?
Feel free to add more! +/- 10 minutes
Worksheet 2
The logical song by Suprtramp
When I was young
It seemed that life was so 1_______________ 1. WONDER
A miracle, oh it was 2_______________ , 3. ___________ 2. BEAUTY / 3. MAGIC
And all the birds in the trees
Well they’d be singing so 4. ____________ 4. HAPPINESS
5________________ 6. ___________ watching me5. JOY /6. PLAY
But then they send me away
To teach me how to be 7. ___________ 7. SENSE
8. _________, 9. _________, 10. LOGIC/RESPONSIBILITY/PRACTICE
And then they showed me a world
Where I could be so 11. _____________ 11. DEPENDABILITY
Clinical, 12_______________ , cynicall 12. INTELLECT
There are times when all the world’s asleep
The questions run too deep for such a simple man
Won’t you please, please teu me what we’ve learned?
I know it sounds absurd but please tell me who I am
I say, “Now what would you say for they cailing you a radical
13. ___________, fanatical, LIBERATE / 14. CRIME
Won’t you sign up your name? We’d like to feel you’re
15. __________, 16. __________, presentable, a vegetabile 15.ACCEPT / 16. RESPECT
Oh, ch-ch-cheek it out yeah
At night when all the world’s asleep
The questions run so deep for such a simple man
Won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned?
I know it sounds absurd but please tell me who I am
Who I am, who I am, who I am
Coz Um feeling so 17_______________ 17. LOGIC
D-d-digital
Oh, oh, oh, oh
It’s getting 18. ________________ 18. BELIEF
Katarzyna Piotrowska
Juliana Monteiro
