Listening /speaking lesson for young teens

B1 level

Pre-listening:

You could ask the students if they have heard of Tate McRae. If yes, you could elicit what they know about her. Or if not, they could do a brief web search.

She is a Canadian15-year-old singer-songwriter and dancer. She has a YouTube channel : https://www.youtube.com/user/TateMc7

While listening:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRTOv0Y9RBI

 Listening for gist:

Depending on your students’ level, they could try to answer just one or two easy questions first, e.g.  How does the girl feel? What is her problem?

Or if your students are more advanced they could try to answer all of these questions before you pre-teach any vocabulary or work with them on the lyrics.

Comprehension questions:

  1. How does the girl feel?
  2. How does she react when she hears his voice?
  3. What is her problem?
  4. Can she stop thinking about him?
  5. What does she hope he’ll do one day?

Listening for detail:

Gap fill exercise

She stares at her _________once again,
with 100 thoughts.
“Maybe he knows who I am?” “actually, probably not”…
She walks down the hall with her head down low
Scared to meet his eyes
Even when she hears his voice, she’s swarmed with ___________

It’s impossible to get you off my mind
I think about 100 __________ and you are 99
I’ve understood that you will never be
mine, and that’s fine… I’m just ____________ inside

He always walks the ___________halls, and is blinded by this light
A girl who keeps her head down low, and never shows her eyes…
He’s tried to talk to her but there’s no easy way
‘Cause every time he raises his voice, she _______________

Oh it’s impossible to get you off ____________

I think about 100 thoughts and you are 99
I’ve ____________ that you will never be
mine, and that’s fine… I’m just breaking inside

And one day, maybe she’ll ___________
And start to head over his way
And one day, she’ll ____________ his eyes,
and instead of breaking, she’ll call him mine…
One day he’ll grab her by the ____________
And force them to meet
Face to face
And one day, he’ll look into her __________

And say that “You’re my only light”

Word bank ( If needed )

breaking          my mind       understood     stay        eyes   crowded thoughts       look into       runs away      ceiling         waist      butterflies

Post-listening:

Vocabulary activity: Match the words and phrases with the definitions:

  1. To stare
  2. To be scared
  3. To swarm
  4. To get something off your mind
  5. To be blinded
  6. To raise your voice
  7. To head over
  8. To grab

 

  1. To be frightened
  2. To hold suddenly or roughly
  3. Look at something or someone intently
  4. To move about or together in great numbers
  5. To stop thinking about something
  6. To not be able to see
  7. To talk louder
  8. To walk in the direction of someone or something

 

Discussion questions:

  1. Have you ever been in a situation like that? Or one of your friends?
  2. What did you do? Or what did your friend do? What happened?
  3. Have you seen any films in which one of the characters had this problem? Can you remember the story? What happened? What did/ he or she do?
  4. What do you think the girl in the song should do?

If time, you could also have students talk about Tate McRae:

  1. Would you like to write songs and have a YouTube channel like Tate Rae? Why / Why not?
  2. What would it be like to be famous already at 15 ? ( Pros and cons ? )
  3. Can you imagine her life? What do you think her daily routine is like?
  4. Do you think she will become really famous? If she does, how will her life change?

Complete lyrics:

One Day

Tate McRae

 

She stares at her ceiling once again,
with 100 thoughts.
“Maybe he knows who I am?” “actually, probably not”…
She walks down the hall with her head down low
Scared to meet his eyes
Even when she hears his voice, she’s swarmed with butterflies

It’s impossible to get you off my mind
I think about 100 thoughts and you are 99
I’ve understood that you will never be
mine, and that’s fine… I’m just breaking inside

He always walks the crowded halls, and is blinded by this light
A girl who keeps her head down low, and never shows her eyes…
He’s tried to talk to her but there’s no easy way
‘Cause everytime he raises his voice, she runs away

Oh it’s impossible to get you off my mind
I think about 100 thoughts and you are 99
I’ve understood that you will never be
mine, and that’s fine… I’m just breaking inside

And one day, maybe she’ll stay
And start to head over his way
And one day, she’ll look into his eyes,
and instead of breaking, she’ll call him mine…
One day he’ll grab her by the waist
And force them to meet
Face to face
And one day, he’ll look into her eyes
And say that “You’re my only light”

 

For more EFL lesson plans designed for teenagers check out: HAVANA by Camila Cabello: Lesson Plan for Young Teens