A couple of years before Covid I designed an activity for EOIs that I dubbed Music & Mediation. Mediation had become a hot issue and was forced, as it were, into a separate skill. I found the tasks often rather unnatural and wanted to have an activity in which Mediation made sense. Students wih different levels of English (say, between B1 and C2) listen to the same interview. C2ers have to find out how much B1ers have understood and explain in their own words what they think the recording was about. B1ers try to express what they understood and practice phrases to draw out more information.
The starting point is a song and BBC interviews with people for whom the song has special significance. The idea is to do the exercise with students of different levels (between B1 and C2). For the B1 students Recordings are (probably) rather difficult, so they will need the help of the C1 or C2 members. It is very well possible to include students from B2 who would form a bridge, so to speak, between the two extremes. I would not include A1 or A2 students for this activity unless they’d like to form an audience of “Listeners Only“. After all, there’s the song to enjoy and listening to fellow students should also be fun. I prepared 4 different shows in the series Music & Mediation.
Streets of London, a song by British musician Ralph McTell, was the first I prepared. The main theme is homelessness. Click on the orange for more information.
True Colors, a song made famous by Cyndi Lauper. It became an emblematic song for the LGTB community. Perhaps we can summarize the main theme as “the importance of being yourself” Click on the orange for more information.
Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks was the favourite song of a man who got seriously injured and was in need of expensive medical care. His wife used the song to try and get funding for treatment. The main theme is therefore personal sacrifice and loss. Click on the orange for more information.
has become a separate skill in EOI teaching. In this activity the element of Mediation becomes apparent when we mix the levels and students are asked to discuss the stories they heard during the presentation. C-students should try to find out how much B-students have understood and elicit details. B-students should try to explain the parts they did understand and express their doubts.
Price for the online shows
1 session: 100,-
2 sessions on the same day: 150,-
I can make an invoice with 0% IVA* through our academy Alma Mater Ávila, as it is a didactic activity or Masterclass.
*Factura exenta de IVA, en virtud del artículo 20.9 de la ley 37/1992 sobre el Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido. If your secretary prefers to work with IRPF retention, the total sum would be 117,65 of which 15% the school retains for Hacienda → 117,65 – 17,65 (15%) = 100,-
The same programs can be done “live”at the school, preferably in a bigger toom than an ordinary classroom, but with tables to work in groups (perhaps the library). The Price would be the same as for the other EOI or IES shows:
400,- (600,- for double sessions)
For the Zoom connection and requirements go HERE
Contact: troubadourshow@gmail.com