Ahlan ya Ramadhan...

Rindunya pada Ramadhan
pada sejuk sebelum subuh
sewaktu dulu kita bersahur
adakala kita terlena di meja
sedang mama leka memasak aneka juadah
pembuka selera anak-anak yang kelopak mata masing-masing
masih melekat kuat
sehingga terdengar bunyi azan
"tak apa..." kata mama, "makan cepat-cepat"
sedang mama hanya melihat dan meneguk air liur saja

Rindunya pada Ramadhan
pada pedih perut di waktu tengahari
diiringi kering tekak hingga ke petang
"itulah rasanya orang miskin yang tak punya apa-apa
untuk dimakan atau diminum," kata mama
"bersyukurlah atas apa jua nikmat yang Allah beri kepada kita,
kerana ia masih lebih baik dari kebanyakan orang yang malang"
dan kita pun terus berusaha berlatih menahan kesabaran

Rindunya pada Ramadhan
pada keresahan di penghujung hari
saat penantian waktu berbuka
kita masing-masing begitu teruja
makanan dan minuman terhidang di atas meja
dan kita setia menadah tangan untuk membaca do'a berbuka
walaupun azan hanya akan berkumandang sepuluh minit lagi
namun kita tak peduli, terus menanti
sungguhpun kekadang "terlupa" lalu "ter"minum air
yang "berpeluh-peluh" di luar gelas yang menunggu kita

Rindunya pada Ramadhan
pada lunak bacaan Qur'an di malam hari
di radio-radio dan TV
juga suara mama memecah sunyi
menjerit memanggil kita turut mengaji - "bertadarrus"
juga rindu pada suara Imam di Makkah
pada jam 3-4 pagi semasa siaran langsung
solat tarawih dari Makkah di kaca TV
sungguh, hanya pada bulan inilah pun
kita lama sedikit di tikar sejadah...

Rindunya pada Ramadhan
berdebar-debar hatiku menanti ketibaannya lagi
seumpama kekasih yang sudah lama takku temui
menitis air mata dan sebak dadaku
mengharapkan ketibaannya kali ini
dan mengharapkan panjangnya umurku
serta keizinan Allah agar dapat kami bertemu kembali

Rinduku padamu Ramadhan
seumpama pungguk merindukan bulan.

Cars - Pixar's movie in the classroom

Here's another movie that I've used in my elementary English classroom. The activities have been based on the students' previous lessons which covered the vocabulary related to towns, geographical features, transport, adjectives, opposite adjectives and comparative adjectives.

We began the class by doing a bit of an "ice-breaking" activity with some of the characters or names that the students will encounter in the movie - a word search activity from http://www.printables4kids.com/. Some names belong to the characters and some are the names of places around the town and such.

Right before watching the movie, the students were briefed on the while-watching tasks.

Here's the content of the worksheet I've built. Ideally the content should be placed in a table format. Teachers need to prepare the pictures of these characters for the students to cut and paste. Google Images happened to be a good source for me when I was looking for them!


Cars by Pixar - While-watching tasks.

1. Who’s who?

Instruction: Work in pairs. While watching, complete this summary of the characters in the movie. Then, paste the correct picture to match each text.

a. Lightning McQueen is a young r_ _ _ c_ _. He is poised to become the youngest car ever to win the P_ _ _ _ _ Cup Championship.

b. Mater is a rusty t_ _ - t _ _ _ _. Mater runs Tow-Mater T _ _ _ _ _ and S _ _ _ _ _ _ and manages the local impound lot.

c. Sally is a beautiful 2002 Porsche 911. She is the town a_ _ _ _ _ _ _ and also the owner of C _ _ _ Cone M _ _ _ _.

d. Doc Hudson is a 19_ _ Hudson H _ _ _ _ _, a country d_ _ _ _ _ who runs the local "medical clinic" (mechanic shop) in the town. He is also the town’s M_ _ _ _.

e. Mack is a 19_ _ Mack S_ _ _ _ -L_ _ _ _ and McQueen's trusted driver. He pulls McQueen’s t_ _ _ _ _ _ to his races.

f. Ramone is a 1959 Impala low-rider who owns and operates Ramone's H_ _ _ _ of B _ _ _ A _ _ , the local custom body and paint shop.

g. Flo is a 1950's show car. She runs the local diner, Flo's _-_ Cafe, the only _ _ _ station for miles around. She’s married to Ramone.

h. The K_ _ _, Strip Weathers, is a 1970 Plymouth S_ _ _ _ b _ _ _ and a racing legend. He has won more P_ _ _ _ _ Cup races than any other cars in history. He is going to retire at the end of the season and Lightning McQueen aims to fill his treads.


Source of info and content:
http://www.meeko.org/disney/cars/Cast.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cars_characters


2. What is the name of the town featured in the movie?

________________________________________________________


3. Name three geographical features you’ve seen in the movie.
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________



Ideally, discuss the answers to the while-watching questions with the students right after the movie. Then, students can be assigned with the post-movie tasks, either as a follow-up activity in the classroom, or as homework.


Post-movie tasks:


1. Write three adjectives to describe Radiator Spring before the new highway was built, and three more after it has been built.

Before After
i. i.
ii. ii.
iii. iii.

3. McQueen has changed a lot by the time he left the town, Radiator Spring. Compare McQueen to himself before the days he was in the town. Write three sentences. Use the comparative adjectives.
i.
ii.
iii.

If I had more time, I would have included singing the song "Our town" by James Taylor as an additional activity. That would be more fun!



I welcome feedback gearing at improving the activities related to this movie - meanwhile, have fun tinkering in your classroom!

Amusing...

1. Who got to be the co-pilot...

When we first got married, I would sit next to my husband, the driver.

When we got our first baby, I had to sit at the back to monitor the baby. As he grew up and walked and talked, I had to give in to his demand that he would sit in front, next to the driver. He reminded me of He-man's line - "I got the power!".

Then came the second baby. Initially the first-born occupied the front seat as usual, as I took care of the little one at the back seat. As the baby grew up, walked and talked, my elder son found out that he no longer holds the power, as he constantly would have to give in to the younger brother's demand that "he" has to have the front seat.

Amusing, how the young ones rule!


2. Spelling of names as they move across the world...

Here are some interesting names that have amused me...

Ahmad in Malaysia, Ahmed in Yemen and Akhmet in Kazakhstan.

Abu Bakar in Malaysia, Abu Bakr in Saudi but Boubacar in Mali.

Abdullah in Malaysia, Saudi and Yemen, but Abdoulaye in Mali.

Ali in most Muslim's countries but Alou in Mali.

Ibrahim in most countries, but Ibrahima in Guinea.

Interesting names of some of my remarkable students - those whom I would always remember.

HEART

1988-1993
Originally published in Geocities in 1999.

I

WAITING

Every minute in every day

Every moment in every way

is spent only on

waiting for YOU

Every thought during the days

Every dream at nights

is filled only

with images of YOU

I'm waiting for you because:

the sun does not smile

the rain does not cry

the moon does not show up

the breeze does not blow its kisses

since you're not around

Everything is cold

everything is dull

no longer the world beautiful

when you are not around

I'm wondering whether you're thinking of me

I'm waiting whether you'll be coming to me

I miss you, do you miss me too?

Mima Zohds


II
A POEM FOR MY LOVE

The sun shines brightly

the cool breeze caresses my cheeks

all the flowers are dancing

as if they are happy

The world seems beautiful

as it had never been before

and all of these changes

happen when I'm with you

Thank God for this most wonderful friend

who shines my life with his smile

Thank God for this very special friend

who has stolen my heart by showing he cares.

Mima Zohds

SOUL

1988-1993
Originally published in Geocities in 1999.


DALAM DIRI 1

Di persimpangan ini

aku terhenti

aku tertanya-tanya

ke mana aku nak pergi

Jalan yang kanan atau yang kiri

atau yang sedia terbentang di tengah-tengah

Jika ke kanan, pasti banyak tentangan,

Jika ke kiri, pasti aku tersesat,

Jika ke tengah, pasti tiada rintangan,

tetapi pastikah aku

tidak akan tersesat?

Mima Zohds

DALAM DIRI 2

Ustazah Siti Hajar pernah bercerita:

"Dunia ini ibarat pentas dan manusia adalah ibarat pelakon-pelakonnya. Satu hari nanti pentas ini akan digulung, dan setiap lakonan akan dihitung..."

Ustaz Nik Daud juga pernah mengajar:

"Manusia dijadikan Allah untuk menyembahNya. Kita lahir ke dunia dengan ikatan janji terhadapNya untuk menunaikan tanggungjawab sebagai Hamba dan Khalifah Allah di muka bumi ini..."

Abang Koji pun pernah mengingatkan:

"Islam memang menyuruh kita bersederhana tetapi itu tidaklah hermakna dalam menunaikan perintah Allah pun kita bersederhana, sesiapa yang berusaha melaksanakan hukumnya dengan lengkap dituduh "extreme"...

Kini hatiku pula berkata:

"Ah... tersilap konsep aku rupanya... bersederhana hanya dalam menunaikan perintah dan larangan Allah sahaja, sedang dalam hal lain tak pula aku ingat untuk bersikap sederhana. Berlakon... selama ini berlakon saja aku rupanya. Aku tak perasan pula peranan apa yang aku dah bawa, penjunjung titah atau pendurhaka? Apakah perananku sebagai Hamba dan Khalifah Allah telah aku jalankan dengan berkesan... yang patuh atau yang engkar? Yang meninggalkan rasa kasih atau rasa benci...pada Penghitung lakonanku?"

Mima Zohds

TAZKIRAH: Dari petang ke petang

Adakalanya

kita kurang meneliti ciptaan Tuhan

kita lupa Dia yang menjadikan

lalu kita angkuh dalam kehidupan

Adakalanya

kita terlupa bahawa kita adalah hambaNya

lantas kita pilih jalan sendiri

tanpa menghiraukan jalan yang disediakan

atas dasar 'kesederhanaan'

Zaman ini

zaman manusia kembali kepada agama

sebagai ad-din

tapi aku masih ketinggalan

kerana gagal menembusi tembok kehidupan.

Mima Zohds

LOVE

1988-1993
Originally published in Geocities in 1999.

SAJAK BUAT DIA 1

Bukan aku seorang penyanyi

Untukku dendangkan lagu-lagu sepi

(Sedih pilu)

Bukan pula aku seorang penyair

Untukku gubah kata-kata puitis

(puja rayu)

Bukan juga aku seorang pelukis

untukku coretkan warna-warna perasaanku

(tak menentu)

Aku hanya seorang perindu

yang hanya mampu berkirim salam di angin lalu

(buatmu).

A POEM FOR HIM 1

Too bad that I am not a singer

otherwise, I would sing those lonely songs

(sad emotion)

Neither am I a great poet

if it's so, I would compose some love sonnets

(pleading and worshipping)

Nor am I a great artist

or else, I would paint the colours of my heart on a canvas

(rickety)

I am just a poor dreamer

who keeps wishing that the wind

would whisper my love wishes

into your ears.

Mima Zohds

SAJAK BUAT DIA 2

Jika aku ini cermin

akan ku cermin ke dalam dirimu

untuk ku lihat hati budimu

Jika aku ini penyelam

akan ku selami lubuk hatimu

untuk ku ukur dalam kasihmu

Jika aku ini ikan

akan ku renangi lautan perasaanmu

untukku tahu jauh rindumu

Tapi aku hanyalah

seorang manusia sepi

yang setiap malam menunggu pagi

sambil bertanya pada diri

"Adakah matahari akan bersinar untukku lagi?"

A POEM FOR HIM 2

If I were a mirror

I would be able to reflect your inner thoughts

and I would know what's inside your mind

If I'm a diver

I would dive in the depth of your eyes

to find out how deep is your love for me

If I were a sea-creature

I would be roaming in the sea of your feelings

and see exactly how much you miss me

Unfortunately, I'm a plain loner

who would wait for the nights

to turn into days

and at the same time wondering

whether the sun would keep on shining

for me.

Mima Zohds

SAJAK BUAT DIA 3

Gembira

mendengar suaramu

di hujung sana

hati jadi lapang, riang,

dunia jadi terang, girang,

dan aku terus jiwang.

A POEM FOR HIM 3

So happy

to hear your voice

on the other side of line

my heart becomes light and cheerful

the world becomes bright and colourful

and I... have fallen deeper in love.

Mima Zohds

SPIRIT

1988-1993
Originally published in Geocities in 1999.


I
AKU SIANG-SIANG

Aku sepatutnya bersemangat waja

tapi aku siang-siang

bersemangat tahi ayam saja

Aku sepatutnya berjuang

menebus maruah bangsa

tapi aku siang-siang

sudah putus asa

Aku sepatutnya berusaha

mencapai kecemerlangan

tapi aku siang-siang

sudah bosan menghadapi cabaran

Aku sepatutnya terus mencuba

tapi aku siang-siang

kibar putih warna bendera

Aku sepatutnya

tapi aku siang-siang

aku mula tertanya-tanya

ke mana arahku akhirnya?

DEFEATED TOO EARLY

I'm supposed to be strong-willed

but I've been disheartened

too early beforehand

I'm supposed to be fighting

to regain the honour of my race

but I've been feeling discouraged

too early beforehand

I'm supposed to strive for excellence

but I've been feeling tired of facing the challenges

too early beforehand

I'm supposed to keep on trying

but I've been waving up the white flag

too early beforehand

I'm supposed to...

but I've been too early beforehand...

I'm beginning to wonder

where exactly am I heading to?

Mima Zohds

II
AKU DAN DAUN

Pagi, basah embun, segar hijau.

Tengahari, terik sinar mentari, kuning lesu.

Petang, tenang sepoi bayu, maut di pintu.

Malam, timpa hujan renyai,

selamat tinggal pohonku.

THE LEAVES AND I

Morning, damp, dew drops,

fresh and green.

Early afternoon, sweltering,

sun drenched, yellowish, comatose.

Late afternoon, gusty, breezy,

depleting, death knocking at the door.

Night, rainfall, it's drizzling,

goodbye my tree.

Mima Zohds

III

AS LONELY AS I AM

I never feel as lonely as I am

Nowhere to go to

Nobody to talk to

No group to whom I belong to

Where are my best friends

With whom I can spare my thoughts easily

to share my dreams,

my happiness and sorrows

No more laughing together

No more crying together

(I see... our togetherness is not forever)

Friends... greatest friends,

I do miss you like hell!

As lonely as I am,

Mima Zohds

Perjalanan

1988-1993

Originally published in Geocities in 1999

Dalam meniti sebuah perjalanan

tidak ada ertinya kita berpatah balik

mahu ataupun tidak

terpaksa juga kita memilih satu jalan

antara persimpangan demi persimpangan

dan dalam meneruskan perjalanan

kita akan temui manusia-manusia baru

dalam diri kita sendiri!

A journey would be meaningless

should we have to turn back

whether we like it or not

we got to choose one way

amongst the many junctions we come across

and as we continue along our journey

we will meet someone new

within ourselves!

MIMA ZOHDS

Once upon a time...

Alamak! Geocities is shutting down... and once upon a time, when I was so 'jiwang', I had written a lot of 'jiwa-jiwa' poems. Back in 1999, when I got so interested in the Net, I had self-taught myself on how to create a website with the help of Yahoo PageBuilder, Frontpage's "Help" pages and a few online buddies then. And guess what was the content? All of my 'jiwang' poems, of course - with translations, and background music! They're still available now at http://www.geocities.com/azimahmt/ but they won't be there anymore beginning October 26, I reckon.

And 'coz I'm a sentimental person and I've a failing memory (getting old, I suppose), now I have to copy all those "masterpiece" poems of mine (LOL- of course I'm being sarcastic to myself ;)) and move them here so I can remember all those days when I was just a shy and confused young girl who had kept my feelings to myself. :)

Yellow Submarine

A perfect song to supplement my vocabulary lesson on transport - sharing the worksheet I've prepared. The students have been exposed to the past simple versus the present ones in the previous lessons, so grammatically it's perfect too!


Instruction: Rearrange the letters to make sensible words to complete the lyrics.


YELLOW SUBMARINE
(The Beatles)


In the town where I _______(swa) born
______(deivl) a man who ________(aiseld) to sea
And he ________(oltd) us of his life
In the land of submarines

So we ________(lasied) up to the sun
Till we ________(dofun) the sea of green
And we ________(devil) beneath the waves
In our yellow submarine

We all live in our yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in our yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine

And our friends ________(rea) all on board
Many more of them ________(veil) next door
And the band ___________(sbgien) to ______(yalp)

We all live in our yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in our yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine

As we ________ (evil) a life of ease
Everyone of us ________(ash) all we ______(dene)
Sky of blue and sea of green
In our yellow submarine.

We all live in our yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in our yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine

We all live in our yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine
We all live in our yellow submarine,
Yellow submarine, yellow submarine

The Elephant Song's worksheet

Finally I'll get to use this favourite song of mine in a lesson. We're doing a topic on animals this week - basically on pets but my co-teacher and I are going to include something on the endangered species, illegal poaching and the conservation efforts.

As a follow-up activity, we're also planning to take the students on a field trip to the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah, as well as to Deerland in Lanchang. I'm all excited about it already.

So, here's a worksheet based on The Elephant Song by Kamahl that I've prepared.


Instruction:
Which ones are the missing lines? Complete the lyrics. Then listen and check.


The Elephant Song


Tell me said the elephant
Tell me brothers if you can
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

Tell me said the elephant
Tell me why this has to be
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

refrain:
People kill without regret
although they fly by jumbo-jet
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

Gentle is the elephant
Pulling loads and everything
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

Happy was the elephant
Happy was his jungle life
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

refrain:...

Listen, please listen, said the elephant
if we want the world we know, to stay alife
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

Listen said the elephant
It is conservation time
……………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………….

refrain..

a. Let the world of men remember
Let the children not forget.

b. And then they came, the cruel hunters
with their rifle and their knives

c. Then man and beast, we must work together
and together we will survive

d. So take the warning when we trumpet
for the future of mankind

e. Why all the world is full of creatures
Yet we grow in fear of man

f. We love to hear the children laughing
when we’re in the circus-ring

g. We have to run from man and hunter
Never safe and never free

Bagan Lalang - the beach

Bagan Lalang in Sepang is a place I'd heard about a long time ago... family and friends had talked about it since I was a school girl - but somehow I'd never made it there. I remembered whenever I mentioned about going to the place, people around me would say, let's go to Port Dickson instead...so the thought had remained a thought until...

My long-lost hostel mates during my secondary school years had planned for a reunion there. So curious about the place, which is not really that far away from where I live - just 30kms away - I urged DH to take me and the kids there, just two weeks before d'day.

Well... I was so surprised to see the large pool of people there... the area looked a bit smaller than Morib in Banting - a popular beach in Selangor (as a girl, I had thought it was the only beach we had in Selangor), but there were so many cars which had made finding a spot to park our car a challenging task.

On the first impression, I thought - wow... not bad! The beach looked as attractive as any other beaches, especially to my kids. The sand looked white - I thought it was as white as the sand on the Pangkor Island in Perak (meaning, it looked a lot better than the sand in Morib).

It has an interesting view since the "Sepang Gold Coast" thingy is being developed and we could see some buildings in progress. There were people flying kites, people swimming in the sea, people strolling along the beach, and people setting up their tents to spend the night there! Cool!





It was an interesting view, really... until.... I saw these sceneries:

Filthy, right? And they spoiled the overall picture...



Nevertheless, my kids still enjoyed being there - just take a look at how happy they were:


They were enjoying it so much that we were reluctant to call them out from the sea, that we just let them continue swimming until the sun set. And oh my! I couldn't remember when was the last time I did this with DH - sitting together side by side enjoying the view of the sunset. Wasn't it romantic? And the view was breathtaking!

All in all, judging from the loads of visitors there, Bagan Lalang is already a place of interest to many people in Selangor. However, it needs a bit of more serious management from the local authority, especially on the aspect of its cleanliness. Then, we wouldn't be embarrassed to highlight it in the Selangor Tourism brochures as a popular tourist destination.

The Elephant Song

The trip to Kuala Gandah has actually evoked my memory on 'The Elephant Song', or rather, the lesson that I had with my English teacher, Mdm. Rumini, when I was in Astopunk back in 1986 or '87. As we walked on the land of the elephants in Kuala Gandah, this song had been playing in my mind over and over.

It was a moving lesson, singing and comprehending the song, with the discussion on the cruelty of poachers and the elephants' conservation. I was deeply affected by the song and the discussion that I had felt like crying... couldn't tell if I had actually cried indeed.

Years later as a teacher in Kuala Rompin, Pahang, a student had offered me some meat of a mouse deer which he claimed to have hunted it himself. Well, it was tempting... but as I was teaching the topic "Conservation of the wild animals", it just didn't feel right for me to accept it. I had recalled this song then, and had searched high and low for it so that I could teach it to my students - hoping that I could somehow contribute to their awareness to stop the killing of these precious animals. I couldn't lay my hand on this song then, though... That was the year 1993 and I wasn't exposed to the Internet yet.

Luckily the technology is here today for a teacher like me to find almost any songs she needs for her classroom. Today, I've found this song that had touched and still touches my heart and my conscience. I'm thankful for the technology and thank you to everyone who has made it possible.

Teaching the days of the week

Despite turning to be almost 50 years old, the song "Never on Sunday" by Connie Francis still proves to be very cheeky and enjoyable for my new millennium students. Besides making them practise their listening skills, I've also used this song to check on my beginner / lower elementary students' spelling of the days and capitalization for the proper nouns, as well as to drill the order of the days in their minds.

Use the following worksheet for the listening activity:


Listen to the song and fill in the blanks.


Never on Sunday
Connie Francis


Oh, you can kiss me on a _______day, a _______day, a ______day

is very very good

Or you can kiss me on a _______day, a _______day, a _______day,

in fact I wish you would

Or you can kiss me on a ________day, a _______day, a _______day,

and _______day is best

But never ever on a _______day a _______day a _______day

cause that's my day of rest.


Come _______ day and you'll be my guest

_______ day you say but _______ day of rest

Just name _______ day that you like the best

Only stay away on _______ day of rest.



Note: Do remind the students to ignore the Greek/Italian lyrics as they listen or sing the song.

An activity for teaching the present simple questions.

For those who love to teach English through songs, here's an activity that you may use to drill the wh-question structure for the present simple at the end of your lesson.

This activity is based on the song titled "The End of The World" by Skeeter Davis. For this activity, I would begin with the following worksheet:


Order the words to make questions.


1. on / does / why / sun / the/ shining / go ? _________________________________________________________


2. the / shore / why / sea / to / does / rush ? _________________________________________________________


3. they / it's / the / don’t / end / of / world / know / the ?
_________________________________________________________


4. birds / go / do / the / singing / on / why ? _________________________________________________________


5. do / why / glow / stars / above / the?
_________________________________________________________


6. why / beating / my / does / heart / go / on ? _________________________________________________________


7. of / why / these / do / eyes / cry / mine ? _________________________________________________________


Let the students work on it individually or in pairs for about 10-15 minutes. Then let them listen to the song to check on their arrangement of the words, whether they've got it correct or not. You may want to discover what they still don't understand from their mistakes. After that, let them have the full lyrics - and enjoy singing the song together with them!


End Of The World
Skeeter Davis


Why does the sun go on shining?
Why does the sea rush to shore?
Don't they know it's the end of the world
'cause you don't love me any more?

Why do the birds go on singing?
Why do the stars glow above?
Don't they know it's the end of the world?
It ended when I lost your love.

I wake up in the morning and I wonder
why everything's the same as it was.
I can't understand! No, I can't understand
how life goes on the way it does!

Why does my heart go on beating?
Why do these eyes of mine cry?
Don't they know it's the end of the world?
It ended when you said goodbye.

Why does my heart go on beating?
Why do these eyes of mine cry?
Don't they know it's the end of the world?
It ended when you said goodbye.

For an extended activity to practise the ending punctuation, you may replace all the three punctuation marks in the lyric (full stops, question marks and exclamation points) with a box, and let the students work on it.

The song 'HERO' for the present simple

A motivational tool beneficial for the students, this song can also be manipulated to practise the English grammar - the present simple tense in particular.

I've used this worksheet that I've prepared in two ways. I've used it as either a pre-grammar analysis activity or a post-grammar lesson's activity.

To use it to begin your class, you can ask the students to try selecting an option, and then listen to the song to check their answers. Then ask about their scores upon 15 (there are fifteen sets of options here). Check what are the items that they've answered wrongly or correctly, and then ask them to tell you what are the grammar rules that's being applied here. Encourage them to attempt a grammar-discovery experience before you go on explaining it.

You may also use this worksheet to end your grammar lesson as a method to test your students' understanding of the present simple. Let them pick the options individually or in pairs, before listening to check on their answers.

Either way, my students have always enjoyed singing this meaningful song at least once to end the class. So here goes the worksheet:



HERO – Mariah Carey

First, choose the correct option. Then, listen and check your answers.


There (’s / ’re) a hero
If you look inside your heart
You (doesn’t / don’t) have to be afraid
Of what you (is / are)
There (’s / ’re) an answer
If you reach into your soul
And the sorrow that you (know / knows)
Will melt away

Chorus
And then a hero (come/ comes) along
With the strength to carry on
And you (cast / casts) your fears aside
And you (know / knows) you can survive
So when you (feel / feels) like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero (lie / lies) in you

It (’s / ’re) a long road
When you (face / faces) your world alone
No one (reach / reaches) out a hand
For you to hold
You can find love
If you search within yourself
And the emptiness you felt
Will disappear

Chorus

Lord (know / knows)
Dreams (is / are) hard to follow
But don't let anyone
Tear them away
Hold on
There will be tomorrow
In time
You'll find the way

Chorus



Good luck and send me a feedback!