This activity is a variation on the classic cloze exercise. In a classic cloze exercise, every 7th to 10th word in a text is deleted, and students fill in the missing words. In a targeted cloze (also called “gap-fill”) exercise, words are not deleted randomly; instead, the focus is on practicing specific language points.

Create a Targeted Cloze Exercise in 3 Easy Steps:

 Step 1: Copy the song lyrics from the Internet, and delete words that are related in some way. For example, delete past-tense forms, prepositions, wh-words, articles, or rhyming words. The rule of thumb is that you should not delete more than 10% of the lyrics.

Step 2: Put the deleted words in a word bank on the page. If you want students to fill in the missing words as they listen to the song, it’s best to label each word with a letter. That way students can write just a letter for their answer, and you can avoid repeatedly pausing the recording.

Step 3: Play the song for your class and have students write in the letters of the missing words as they listen.

Tip: Search “create cloze” for online sites that help you create a cloze exercise.

 Example 1: Cloze Exercise targeting rhyming words in the song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”

You’ve got a friend in me. You’ve got a friend in me. When the road looks rough ___, And you’re miles and miles From your nice warm ___, You just remember what your old pal ___. Boy, you’ve got a friend in me. Yeah, you’ve got a friend in me…

a. said b. ahead c. bed

After students complete the cloze activity, practice the pronunciation of the rhyming words, pointing out the vowels and vowel combinations that can make the same sound in English.

 Example 2: Pre-Listening Cloze Exercise targeting rhyming words in “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”

You’ve got a friend in me. You’ve got a friend in me. When the road looks rough ahead, And you’re miles and miles from your nice warm __________, You just remember what your old pal _________. Boy, you’ve got a friend in me. Yeah, you’ve got a friend in me…

A cloze exercise targeting rhyming words also works well as a pre-listening activity. Give students the lyrics to the song, retaining the first rhyming word (in boldface) but replacing the words that rhyme with it with lines for writing. (Note that the missing words are not in a word bank.) Before listening to the song, students try to predict what the rhyming words are. Then they listen to the song to see if their predictions were correct.

Thanks to: Gabriel D’az Maggioli, who posted this activity in the Ideas Cookbook at eslcafe.com.

Example 3: Cloze Exercise targeting irregular past-tense forms in the song “Someone Like You”

 I (hear) _______________ that you’re settled down
That you (find) _______________ a girl and you’re married now.
I heard that your dreams (come) _______________ true.
Guess she (give) _______________ you things I (don’t) _______________ give to you.

Before students listen to the song, have them fill in the blanks with the past-tense forms of the verbs in parentheses. (Note that in this case the missing words are not in a word bank.) When students are finished writing their answers, you can write the correct forms on the board so students can check their spelling. You can also review the pronunciation of the past-tense forms. Then students listen to the song. A nice culminating activity would be watching the official video, shot in black and white along the banks of the Seine.

Other songs for a targeted cloze exercise:

• “And We Sang La Da” (Cynthia Chitko, 1996) This song uses 16 verbs in the simple past tense—6 regular and 10 irregular—to tell a story. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only.

And We Sang La Da, cloze.docx          And We Sang La Da, cloze.pdf

And We Sang La Da, cloze (webpage)

• “Baby, I’m Yours” (Arctic Monkeys, 2006) This song has many adverb clauses beginning with the word until. (Note: The lines until the end of time and until eternity are prepositional phrases, so those phrases are not targeted.) Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only.

Baby I’m Yours, cloze.docx          Baby I’m Yours, cloze.pdf

• “Because You Loved Me” (Celine Dion, Singer; Diane Warren, Songwriter, 1996) If you’re looking for a song with lots of verbs in the simple past, it doesn’t get much better than this one. It has 19 past-tense verbs, 5 regular and 14 irregular. The verbs are repeated throughout the song, so students will write the past-tense forms a total of 66 times. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only.

because-you-loved-me-cloze.docx          because-you-loved-me-cloze.pdf

• “Can’t Buy Me Love” (The Beatles) This song uses the simple future tense (will + a verb in the simple form) to make promises (I’ll buy you a diamond ring, I’ll give you all I’ve got to give, etc.). Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only.

can’t buy me love, cloze.docx          can’t buy me love, cloze.pdf

• “The Castle on the Hill” (Ed Sheeran, 2017) This song has 13 verbs in the simple past tense, 5 regular and 8 irregular. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only. For more activities to pair with this song, please see the Lesson Plan.

castle-gap-fill-past.docx          castle-gap-fill-past.pdf

• “Crazy” (Willie Nelson, 1961) This exercise targets gerunds following the preposition for. For more activities to pair with this song, please see the Lesson Plan.

Crazy, gerunds.pdf          Crazy, gerunds (webpage)

• “Driver’s License” (Olivia Rodrigo, 2021) The worksheet below targets the simple past-tense forms in the song. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only. For more activities to pair with this song, please see the Lesson Plan.

driver’s license, past tense.docx            driver’s license, past tense.pdf

• “I Don’t Care” (Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber, 2019) The worksheet below is a lyrics gap-fill with a follow-up interactive activity. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use. You’ll find annotated lyrics and more activities in the Lesson Plan for this song.

verbs , simple form.docx      verbs, simple form.pdf      verbs, simple form (webpage)

• “Lost Boy” (Ruth B., 2016) This song has 14 past-tense verbs, 7 regular and 7 irregular.  Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only. For more activities to pair with this song, please see the Lesson Plan.

Lost Boy, cloze.docx          Lost Boy, cloze.pdf          Lost Boy, cloze  (webpage)

• “Make You Feel My Love” (Bob Dylan) The exercise below targets the rhyming words. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only.

make-you-feel-my-love-cloze.docx          make-you-feel-my-love-cloze.pdf

• “This Town” (Niall Horan, 2016) The exercise targets the six past-tense verbs in the song, 1 regular and 5 irregular. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only.

this-town-cloze.docx          this-town-cloze.pdf

• “True Colors” (Cindy Lauper, 1986) The exercise below targets adjectives in the song. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only. You’ll find more activities in the Lesson Plan.

true colors gap-fill.pdf        true colors gap-fill (webpage)

• “Underdog” (Alicia Keys, 2020) The exercise targets the past-tense forms in the song. (Most are in the first verse.) Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational use only. You’ll find more ideas for using this song in the Lesson Plan.

Underdog, simple past.pdf          Underdog, simple past (webpage)