Dear Teacher,
At every Tune Into English Roadshow I am emotionally touched by the united voices of students singing their favourite songs – we know what artists from The Beatles to Lady Gaga sound like, but students’ interpretations have an incredible magic which is rarely heard outside the classroom. Why not send us a video of your students in the classroom? Click here for full details and a wonderful performance of Green Day’s 21 Guns by the students of Liceo Delle Scienze Sociali “Erasmo Da Rotterdam”, Sesto San Giovanni (MI).
The Tune Into English Roadshow tour continues with the new show receiving very positive responses – you can read comments and watch videos on the website. The Tune facebook page features a large selection of videos and photographs from over six years of the Roadshow. Thank you to all who have hosted the show, I look forward to meeting many of you in the coming months. Those of you in Puglia are welcome to attend this evening’s sessions at Just British, Bitonto – click here for further details. A local television station will also be present!
Christmas is once again almost upon us and this month’s first addition to the Downloadable Worksheets page of www.tuneintoenglish.com is possibly the unlikeliest Chistmas song ever – Claudia Cantaluppi from Como submitted the wonderful call-and-response Must Be Santa by Bob Dylan.
The Wizard Of Oz is regularly shown on TV over the festive season, and Laura Casolero of Grumo Nevano (NA) has written a phonetic activity for the film’s signature tune Over The Rainbow by Judy Garland, which can also be adapted to the Israel Kamakawiwo’ole version.
Christmas is a time for parties, and Brazilian Michel Teló’s Ai Se Eu Te Pego! will feature on most playlists. The third new worksheet, contributed by Mena Bianco, Napoli, features a crossword based on the English version If I Catch You! – the song also features in the current Tune Into English Roadshow…
There are a further six Christmas worksheets online: Do They Know It’s Christmas? (Band Aid), Happy Xmas (John Lennon), Last Christmas (Wham!), Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer (Dr. Elmo), Thank God It’s Christmas (Queen) and the traditional Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. Thank you to those teachers who have submitted worksheets, I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Don’t forget to tell your students about the Tune Into English Drawing Competition – we look forward to receiving your students’ (or even your own!) masterpieces!
The Christmas Karaoke page is now online, with over 100 festive favourites, so why not treat your class to a sing-along lesson before the break? The site also features over 8,300 karaoke songs, including all of those mentioned in this newsletter. The UK Top 10 Charts, updated weekly, are published on the Speak Up website.
This is the final newsletter of 2012, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank all users of www.tuneintoenglish.com for a great year – being officially recognised as one of 2012’s top innovators in teacher resources is fantastic. We look forward to a great 2013 – in fact Tune has just been confirmed for Spain’s national TESOL Conference in March!
Finally, I am proud to announce the publication of the 2013 Fodor’s Guide to Italy – I had the pleasure of updating the Campania chapter.
I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas.
Best wishes,
Fergal Kavanagh
Tune Into English
www.tuneintoenglish.com
