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ISNīT IT IRONIC???
Level: Advanced or high intermediate.
Material needed: Alanis morissetteīs IRONIC song and the lyrics.
First start by writing the word IRONY on the board. beforehand, give students a piece of paper with an example of an irony (e.g. when you wake up in the morning and everything looks cloudy and dark, and u say "Oh, What a beautiful day!) Students will read their examples and and listen to the others in order to come up with a definition for the word irony.
Next, write the following questions on the board:
1. what is the most terrible thing that can happen to you:
a. when you are already late
b. on your wedding day
c. when you meet the person of your dreams
d. on your first day at work
2. what s the most ironical thing that has happened to you in your life?
split students in groups (max. 3 students per group) and have them discuss the questions and come up with more than one possible answer for every situation. This will take around 20 mins.
Then, divide your board in 5 columns and write the answers as students share them with the class.
Now, tell students that they are going to be listening. Show them the papers with the lyrics that must be all around the classroom (before the class starts paste pieces of papers with parts of the lyrics around the room. They must not be in order). Divide the class in pairs. One of the students will be the secretary and the other will be the runner. Runners must "look up and say" until the secretary finishes writing the lyrics for the song.
After every group has its own lyrics, hand out an Alanis morissette bio with the main information. Ask questions to students such as, Where is she from? when was she born? How many brothers does she have? etc... The idea is that they will end up reading the bio just by answering the questions you ask with the correct information.
Finally, play the song -stop after every main part- so students have time and fun organizing the lyrics!!!
Later, if possible compare the ironies of the song with the ones offered by students in the answers from the questions at the beginning of class.
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