I am not a big fan of any singer. But I do listen to good songs with meaningful lyrics such as songs by Richard Marx and such. I have been listening to his songs for more than 10 years (since I was a teenager). Little did I know that I will use his songs to teach students grammar. Yup. One of the songs that I used to teach grammar is this song. This is not a break up song. It is a song which could be interpreted as someone who is searching for his identity and finally has the courage to decide on something. I used this song whenever I could (not only for the classes that I taught, but also relief classes).
I remember I played this song during a relief class with Form 3 SK (girls). The girls love it! They requested for an encore. But when I came back to the teacher’s room, some of them commented that about hearing an English song playing in one of the classrooms and the students were singing (although this was not the first time). Well, I was guilty as charge. What a heck! It is not easy to keep students motivated to learn English. I have to be creative in this sense. Indeed.
Ready to Fly by Richard Marx
I have been trying to open the door
To the secret of my destiny
And every new road I think is the one
Seems to lead right back to me
I have looked for a way to be wiser
A way to be strong
Now I see the answer was hiding
In me all along
And I am ready to fly
Over the sun
Like a rocket to heaven
And I am ready to soar
Right through the sky
Never dreamed I would find something to lift me so high
I have always had wings
But I was not ready to fly
Restless, hopeless, and misunderstood
Like so many others I know
So busy trying to keep holding on
When I should have been letting go
I was given the gift to find it
The spirit inside me
But I never really imagined
All I could be
The answer to all of my wonder
Was right in my hands
Now it is time for me to discover
All that I am
I have always had wings
Now I am finally ready to fly
- Identify the types of tenses from the text
- In a table, write down the types of tenses and the related verbs
- Identify countable and uncountable nouns
- List the countable and uncountable nouns that you can find from the text
- Identify adjectives from the text
- List the adjectives that you can find from the text