What a wonderful world (it would be) – Sam Cooke

Song on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7QNc9rrDhk

Pre-listening activity
1) Match the pictures to the correct name

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

1. History 2. Biology 3. Chemistry 4. Maths 5. Geography 6. Arts 7. Literature

Lyrics – Read the song lyrics. Then listen to the song and complete each verse with the correct verbs
VERSE 1 History French Science Biology Now, I don’t 9______________ to be an 10
_______________________.
Don’t know much about, 1 history. But I’m trying to be.
Don’t know much 2 ________________. So, 11____________by being an 12 ________________
Don’t know much about a 3 _______________book. baby.
Don’t know much about the 4 ____________I took. I can 13 __________ your love for me.

But I do know that I love you. Verse 1 repeated

And I know that if you love me, too.
What a wonderful world this would be. La ta ta ta ta t ata (History)
Hmm-mm-mm (Biology)
VERSE 2 Slide Algebra Geography Trigonometry La ta ta ta ta t ata (History)
Hmm-mm-mm (Biology)
Don’t know much about 5 ________________.
Don’t know much 6 _______________________. Yeah, but I do know that I love you
Don’t know much about 7 __________________. And I know that if you love me too
Don’t know what a 8 ____________rule is for. What a wonderful world this would be

But I do know that one and is two.

And if this one could be with you.
What a wonderful world this would be.

VERSE 3 maybe claim win “A” student

Knowing the singer / song background

 Sam Cooke was born in Mississippi, a state in the southern United States. He had seven brothers and
sisters. When he was little, he sang with his family in a group called The Singing Children. Later, he sang gospel
music (religious music) in his church. Then he began to sing popular music. His music is called soul music. Soul
music is a mix of gospel music and rock and roll. Sam Cooke is called the King of Soul because he was one of the
first to play soul music.
 Sam Cooke first sang “Wonderful World” in the 1950s.

By Gretta Sicsu
Vocabulary
 Algebra: a type of math class that uses letters and signs to talk about numbers, for example, “X + Y = Z”
 History: a class where you study things that happened in the past.
 Biology: a class where you study living things: plants and animals
 Geography: a class where you study countries, oceans, cities of the world.
 Trigonometry: a class where you study the parts of a triangle
 Slide rule: an instrument that looks like a ruler but has a middle piece that slides back and forth. It is used
to do calculations. Before there were computers, students used slide rules in advanced math classes

slide rule
 An “A” student: a very good student
 Claim: say that something is true
 One and one is a plural subject, so the correct verb is really are. But in math problems, a
singular verb is used.

Questions - Answer the questions:

1. Is the singer a good student or a bad student? Why do you think so?
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2. Do you think the singer is smart about some things? Which things?
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3. The singer wants a young woman that he knows to love him. Do you think the woman is a good student or
a bad student? Why?
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4. Which other school subjects do you know? Write below.

By Gretta Sicsu
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5. What was/were your most favorite school subject (s) at school? Why did you like it/them?
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6. What was/were your least favorite school subject (s) at school? Why didn’t you like it/them?
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Speaking & Writing

a) Write three things that you know about.

Write three things that you don’t know much about.

I KNOW I DON’T KNOW MUCH

b) Now talk to three other students. Ask them to tell you one thing they know about and one thing they
don’t know much about. Write their answers in the chart below. Be sure to write their names too.

Three other students

Name He/she knows He/she doesn’t know much

Activity inspired by: http://www.azargrammar.com/assets/beginning/BEGSongLessons/WonderfulWorld.pdf

By Gretta Sicsu