Journey, 1981

If you’re looking for a song with a lot of participial phrases, this would be the one to pick. A bonus is that the song’s upbeat chorus (Don’t stop believin’ / Hold on to that feelin’) infuses the lesson with positive energy. Although over 30 years old, “Don’t Stop Believin’” continues to be one of the most downloaded songs in the U.S. My students loved the song–they were looking for it on their smart phones before they even left the classroom.
Every year the U. S. Library of Congress chooses 25 recordings to preserve for future generations. The recordings are chosen because they are important parts of American culture, history, or art. In 2022, the original recording of “Don’t Stop Believin’” was one of the 25 recordings chosen for preservation.
Caution: One phrase–“the smell of wine”–may make the song inappropriate for some classes; otherwise, the song and the official videos are classroom friendly.

Choose from the following activities. (If your students don’t have much experience using participial phrases, it’s important to do Worksheets 1, 2, and 3 in order.)

• Grammar Practice reducing adjective clauses to participial phrases. Permission granted to reproduce Worksheet 1 for classroom use.

participial phrases, part 1.docx          participial phrases, part 1.pdf      

participial phrases, part 1 (webpage)

Follow up by asking students to describe one another based on where they’re sitting. For example:
Who’s Eric? He’s the guy sitting next to Alberto.
Who’s Jenny? She’s the woman sitting behind Eric.

• Grammar Practice combining two sentences to make one sentence with a nonrestrictive participial phrase. Permission granted to reproduce Worksheet 2 for classroom use.

participial phrases, part 2.pdf         participial phrases, part 2 (webpage)

• Grammar Reduce adjective clauses and combine sentences to form lines from the song “Don’t Stop Believin’.” Permission granted to reproduce Worksheet 3 for classroom use.

participial phrases in don’t stop.docx          participial phrases in don’t stop.pdf

• Listening Complete the lyrics gap-fill exercise. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational purposes only.

Don’t Stop Believin’, gap-fill.docx          Don’t Stop Believin’, gap-fill.pdf

• Listening Listen to the song while reading the lyrics in the worksheet above.
• Reading Read the story “Arnel’s Long Journey,” about Journey’s new lead singer. The reading is at the low-intermediate level.
• Listening Watch an official music video. Choose from the following: Live in Houston, featuring Journey’s original lead singer, Steve Perry or Live in Manila, featuring Journey’s new lead singer, Arnel Pineda.
• Grammar Practice forming sentences with participial phrases by playing the alibi game. Set the game up this way:

1. Tell students there has been a crime. For example:

At 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon, there was a bank robbery.
Yesterday between 2 and 4 PM, a candy bar went missing from the teacher’s desk drawer.

2. Working as a class, students come up with possible alibis for the suspects. All alibis should be in this form: At ____________ (time), we were ____________ (place), ____________ (participial phrase). For example:

At 4 o’clock, we were at a café, eating pie and drinking coffee.
At 4 o’clock, we were on an airplane, flying to New York City.

3. Write the alibis on the board. Students choose the best alibi.
4. Two students volunteer to be the suspects. They leave the room.
5. Working together, the remaining students (the detectives) make a list of questions they’ll ask the suspects when they return. (For example: What is the name of the café? What kind of pie did you eat?) Meanwhile, in another room, the suspects try to guess what the detectives will ask them and decide on a story to make sure they have the same facts.
6. One at a time, the suspects return to the classroom. The detectives ask each suspect the same questions and record their answers.
7. The detectives compare the answers given by each suspect and decide if the suspects are guilty or not guilty, based on how well their stories match.

• Reading Read another story with the “don’t stop believin’” theme. These stories in the True Stories reading series would be a good fit: “Try, Try Again,“ about a woman who passes her driver’s license test on the 950th try; “The Champion,” about an Olympic hopeful who makes a stunning comeback after a devastating accident (True Stories 2); “How You Finish,” about a custodian who becomes the principal of the school he used to clean (True Stories 4); “The Chef,” about a blind woman who becomes a chef (True Stories 5).

Success on the 950th try