Songs in Action by Dale T. Griffee

Songs in Action is a useful, comprehensive and well-indexed resource book for any foreign language teacher who uses songs or music in the classroom, or would like to do so but doesn't yet know how. It lists seventy-six tried and tested activities divided into five focus areas of vocabulary, listening, singing, writing and discussion, and most of these are ready to use or adapt from with little or no preparation. In fact, I found only two activities which seemed to be lacking in any pedagogical purpose; one was playing a song for no apparent reason, and the other was rank ordering natural sounds according to personal taste. The others, however, do have a point, and look fun to try out. Perhaps most of the author's chosen songs will be older than your students, but this may not necessarily be such a bad thing. In my experience, songs which are old enough for students not to know, often turn out to be better than those which are new enough to remember, but which evoke an emotional response unrelated to the song's message. In any case, one of the themes of the book is action research, implying that teachers should be using and experimenting with their own ideas and selection of songs.

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