Charlie Puth, 2016

This is a versatile song for teaching English—the spinoff activities target multiple skills areas (listening, writing, grammar, and speaking)—and are appropriate for even lower levels.

Choose from the following activities:

• Pre-Listening Read through the lyrics. Clarify the annotated expressions. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational purposes only.

One Call Away, lyrics.docx          One Call Away, lyrics.pdf

• Listening Listen to the song while reading the lyrics above.
• Listening Watch a live performance video or the a cappella performance by the Swedish group Dadharmony.
• Listening Watch the official video.
• Writing Summarize the official video, which tells a story. Working together, my high-beginning students wrote the summary below. I followed up with the “Disappearing Text” activity.

He is in love.
But she has a boyfriend.
Her boyfriend is mean.
He thinks about her, but he doesn’t say anything.
He gives her a surprise.
It’s a movie especially for her.

• Grammar / Usage Practice offering help and making promises using the construction I’ll + a verb in the simple form. This construction is used in the line I’ll be there to save the day, which is both an offer to help and a promise. The line is repeated four times in the song. The first worksheet below focuses on making offers to help. The second worksheet/activity focuses on making promises. Both worksheets are for levels high beginning and up, although the worksheet “making promises” is slightly more difficult. (Part II of the “making promises” worksheet asks students to evaluate promises, all beginning with I will, that people make when they get married. It prompted a lot of interaction and laughter in my class of adults in their 20s and 30s. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.

will, offering to help.docx     will, offering to help.pdf       will, offering to help (webpage)

will, making promises.docx      will, making promises.pdf       will, making promises (webpage)

• Discussion Talk about keeping in touch. The activity below is for levels high beginning and up. In my class, the activity stretched beyond the time I had allotted for it because students were exchanging information on apps that helped them keep in touch with friends and family far away. Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use.

keeping in touch.docx        keeping in touch.pdf

• Singing Sing along with the chorus while listening to the song.

I’m only one call away.
I’ll be there to save the day.
Superman got nothing on me.
I’m only one call away.

• Reading If you use the True Stories reading series, you could follow up with the story “Love at First Sight” (True Stories 4), about the friendship between a blind woman and a handyman who was only one call away.