Type of the lesson: English practice
Age of students: 17-18 (2-year students)
General topic of the unit: Leisure and Arts
Topic of the class: Music
Goals of the class: to develop students’ cultural level, reading and speaking skills, to increase the students’ vocabulary, bring students to the foreign environment.
Goals of the activity: to develop reading comprehension, writing, and speaking skills.
Hello, students! Our topic today is “Music and the Minds”.
Music has always been important in our lives and traditions. Now, modern
research is helping us understand just how strong the connection “music and brain”
is. In fields like education and medicine, more and more benefits of playing
instruments and listening to music are being discovered.
Pre-Reading Questions
Let’s discuss the following questions:
2. Does listening to music make it easier for you to work or study?
3. Some people say learning to play an instrument can make you smarter. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Reading and Vocabulary
Vocabulary Warm-up
Last time we spoke about different music instruments and what kind of music you prefer. Today we are going to speak about music and how it influences our minds. Before reading the text let’s learn some new words:
ability
|
the capacity to do something
|
anticipate
|
regard as probable; expect or predict
|
concentrate
|
focus one's attention or mental effort on a
particular object or activity
|
discover
|
find (something or someone) unexpectedly or in the
course of a search
|
evidence
|
the available body of facts or information
indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid
|
expert
|
a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative
knowledge of or skill in a particular area
|
instrument
|
a tool or implement, esp. one for delicate or
scientific work
|
wonder
|
a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration,
caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable
|
organize
|
arrange into a structured whole; order
|
pour in
|
come or go in a steady stream and in large numbers
|
region
|
the sphere or realm of something
|
remind
|
cause (someone) to remember someone or something
|
role
|
the function assumed or part played by a person or
thing in a particular situation
|
track
|
follow and note the course or progress of
|
unique
|
being the only one of its kind; unlike anything else
|
Now you have to complete each sentence with a target word or phrase. Remember to use the correct word form.
1. If we want to expand our business in Europe, we'll need to hire someone who is a (n) _________________in the market.
2. My favorite _____________________is the piano, but my sister prefers the violin.
3. Because the singer's voice is so ____________________, it's easy to identify songs by her.
4. I don't ___________________ any bad weather, but take an umbrella just to be safe.
5. That ____________________ of the world is famous for having many active volcanoes.
Reading passage
In all the world's cultures,
people sing, play instruments, and celebrate with music. It plays such
an important role in our lives that whole fields are dedicated to its
study, including one looking at the biology of music. Experts are
finding that because of the way our brains process music, learning to play an instrument
or just listening to music can have a wide range of benefits.
Music education has received a
lot of attention. Learning to play an instrument can help children improve
math, science, and language skills. One study in Canada tracked
children's IQ scores for nine months, discovering
that children who studied music had the biggest test score improvements. The
secret may lie in the way reading music and playing notes uses several
regions of the brain, boosting our ability to learn school subjects.
For example, reading notes improves spatial reasoning skills, which are helpful
in solving math problems like fractions.
Music is also used for medical
purposes, such as the treatment of diseases which affect memory. The secret
lies in the way the brain processes music. One area near the forehead, the
medial prefrontal cortex, connects music with memories stored in two other
areas: the amygdala and hippocampus. That's why an old song can remind
you of 25 something that happened years ago. For patients suffering from
diseases like Alzheimer's, listening to music can help unlock buried memories
by strengthening musical pathways to memories.
Studies of the music/brain
connection often focus on classical music, since it 30 activates both the left
and right sides of our brains. One study using MRI scans observed subjects'
brain activity as they listened to music by composer William Boyce. It found
that activity was 35 highest during the short breaks between the movements of a
piece. During each pause, the person's brain anticipated what would come
next, while organizing what he or she had just heard. This process of
sorting beginnings and endings is similar to the way our 40 brain organizes
information. It may explain why classical music can help improve memory.
Some people are taking the
brain/music connection to another level by listening to personalized
"brain music." First, a person's brainwaves (which are unique
to each of us) are measured. Then, using a 45 mathematical procedure, the
brainwaves are turned into short pieces of music. Listening to a
"relaxing" piece (based on slower brainwaves) can slow one's heart
rate and lower one's blood pressure. A person's "activating" piece
(based on faster waves) can help a person concentrate and prepare for a
difficult task.
It's amazing how attuned our
brains are to music. Some scientists like Daniel Levitin even think we're born
with the ability to learn music, just as we all have the skills to learn
language. After all, children without any training frequently make up songs
while they play. With the evidence of music's benefits pouring in,
it's no wonder countries like Japan and 55 Hungary make music study a
part of their education systems. People are recognizing that more than just a
form of entertainment, music is also great for the brain.
How can reading music
make us better at math? What parts of the brain store memories? How are a
person's brainwaves turned into music?
Let’s do the following
task: Choose the
best answer
1.
What is the main idea?
a)
Music therapy is effective in
treating Alzheimer's patients.
b)
The human brain is difficult to
understand.
c)
Besides being enjoyable, music has
real-world applications.
d)
It's best to learn music at a very
young age.
2.
In the Canadian study, which
children had increased IQ scores?
a)
Those who had always played music.
b)
Those who studied music for a period
of time.
c)
Those who already had high IQs.
d)
Those who could not play an
instrument.
3.
What does "observed"
mean?
- Heightened;
- Watched;
- Preserved;
- Composed.
4.
Why may classical music help
our memories?
a)
Listening to it uses processes we
also use to record memories.
b)
Classical music is easier to play
than other types of music.
c)
It activates the left side of our
brain, but not the right side.
d)
Brain activity is highest when we
listen to music being played.
5.
What can we infer about
"brain music"?
a)
It may not be effective in treating
disease.
b)
Listening to the music is only
helpful to those who excel at math.
c)
Everybody's musical recording is different.
d) It does a better job helping people relax
than helping
them focus Vocabulary building.
Home task
You have to write a paragraph – your answer to question: Should every child learn to
play a musical instrument? Please, give two reasons to support your opinion.
Prepare by writing notes on the lines below. The first few words of the
paragraph are written to help you get started.
Plan
Opinion:
Reason 1:
Reason 2:
In my opinion, learning an instrument is….
P.S. Watch this video after completing your home task, it can help you to relax your mind:)
