Letter to Me ESL Music Lesson

One of my favorite types of lesson is the one that comes from a song. Music lessons end up in basically every ESL textbook, and spinning off that topic to design a lesson around a song is a fun twist on the topic. My lesson on “Letter to Me” by Brad Paisley is a classic lesson plan that I go back to year after year.

“Letter to Me” is a country song written by Brad Paisley. In the song, Brad imagines being able to write a letter to his seventeen-year-old self. He gives himself some advice about how to deal the struggles of high school and growing up and also gives himself some assurances about how his life will turn out in the future.

Here’s my lesson plan:

1) Have students read the lyrics

I’ve found students are more responsive if they have the chance to read the lyrics before we listen to or discuss the song. You could print them out, put them on the board or PowerPoint, or my favorite, send it to them electronically. I encourage students to look up any words they’re not familiar with. Here’s a link to the lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bradpaisley/lettertome.html

2) Discuss basic vocabulary

Depending on your students’ level, you might need to discuss or explain a few vocabulary words or phrases. One word I always point out is “bonfire,” because that’s a unique part of American culture that not everyone might understand. And once they understand that a bonfire is a fun party, then they can understand why he’s disappointed about staying home and studying instead. “To see past Friday night” is also a phrase students usually struggle with. I take a minute to explain that it means to look forward into the future, rather than only thinking about the present.

3) Listen to the song

In the past, I would play the official music video in class, but I’ve found that playing a lyric video works much better, since it’s easier to follow along and helps students not get lost in the lyrics. Before we listen, I challenge students to write down or remember as many pieces of advice as they can. This helps students focus on the task and helps get them focused on the key idea of advice, which will come up later in the lesson. Here’s the official music video: https://youtu.be/RQ3bn7V0zdU and here’s the lyric video I use: https://youtu.be/Gz0-0KNu9oc

 4) Discuss the advice in the song

If students are at a lower level, I’ll usually give them a few minutes to discuss with each other about what they remember from the song. Once students have worked other to collect their list of pieces of advice, then I’ll ask the class to tell me what advice they found. If students are at a higher level, then I’ll have the class tell me the advice they remember.

• Here’s the advice Brad Paisley gives:

• Always follow traffic laws

• When you get a date, make sure you have gas

• When you have a fight, assume your dad is right

• Thank Miss Brinkman

• Go hug Aunt Rita every chance you can

• Study Spanish

• Take a typing class

I also push the students to think a little more deeply about what the advice truly means. “Why should he hug Aunt Rita?” “Probably because she passes away.” “Who is Miss Brinkman?” “Why should he thank her?” “She’s probably a significant teacher in his high school, who encouraged him to improve himself and saw that there was something special in him.”

5) Conversation Activities

Now that we’ve heard and discussed the song, let’s give students a chance to create their own conversations and share their own ideas! Here are a few conversation questions I give students to turn into separate conversational activities.

• If you could go back to any time in your life, what time would you go back to, and why?

• Would you want to go back to change something or just go back to enjoy that time?

• If you could write a letter to your past self, what advice would you give yourself?

One of my favorite things about this lesson is how versatile it is. I’ve reused this lesson as a music topic, as a time (comparing past, present, and future) topic, as a “plans about the future” lesson, and as a “regret” lesson. Try it out with your ESL students!