Here is Classroom Bingo for the first grade. First the teachers pass out the questionaires and have the students fill them out and hand them back in. If you don't want to do it all on the same day the questionaire bit can be done beforehand during a previous class. You can even give it as homework if you have a class you can trust to do its homework.
Next the teachers explain that it is a bingo game and that the kids have to write the names of their friends into the squares. Most classes are larger than sixteen so not everyone will have the same names.
Using the information from the questinaires the teachers read three hints. If the kids think that the classmate, or teacher being described with third person singular grammar is represented on their bingo sheet they circle that person. You won't be giving the name of the classmate but the kids being spoken of will probably identify themselves to the class. The ALT square in the middle, which you may need to edit, is a freebie and is an example to show the kids how to play the game.
One drawback I can think of is that the game is all listening. So how to get around that? Maybe have the first kid to get a bingo can, with the teacher's help, read the next clues. I'm open to suggestions.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Grade 1 Unit 5
After a long time away from the blog I finally do a post. (The Flying Fish is back too). Here is an activity sheet (I'm going to stop calling them worksheets. To me the the worksheet is something the kids can do sitting down by themselves and not the kind of thing an ALT should be doing. I realize the distinction might be a slight one but I want to make Activity Sheets ( and we could all use a little activity in our sheets couldn't we?) that have the kids getting information from other kids and the teachers.) for Grade 1 that allows them to ask the how many question with their classmates.
Okay so the teachers pass out the sheet and explain that the kids will be asking this question of one another. The question and response on the activity sheet is modeled along with the short answer that Mike gives Emi on page 45. That is to say that the kids can answer the question with only a single word, a number, or no if they don't have any of the items in question. This will give the kids who are a little behind an out so they won't be embarassed.
Here's an idea. Make two copies of the sheet. On the second round really encourage the kids to answer just and the dialogue is modeled. Also have them collect the signatures of classmates they haven't talked to yet.
Okay so the teachers pass out the sheet and explain that the kids will be asking this question of one another. The question and response on the activity sheet is modeled along with the short answer that Mike gives Emi on page 45. That is to say that the kids can answer the question with only a single word, a number, or no if they don't have any of the items in question. This will give the kids who are a little behind an out so they won't be embarassed.
Here's an idea. Make two copies of the sheet. On the second round really encourage the kids to answer just and the dialogue is modeled. Also have them collect the signatures of classmates they haven't talked to yet.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Grade 2 Unit 3 How to Make a Wish
Here is a supplement to the Let's Read section of Unit 3. The kids are given the story of A Magic Box to read so I thought it might be interesting for them to learn about wishing customs of Western countries. Of course if you're not from a Western country this might not be so useful.
There's actually quite a lot of different customs concerning wishing. I did a little research and was surprised at how many there were. But keeping in mind that the kids are only in Grade 2 and the fact that there is a lot of grammar they haven't been taught yet I did my best to keep it real simple. It's actually quite hard to make things so simple. At the bottom of the page you'll see a box labelled Useful Words. All of the translations for the English phrases came from the new gadget on the blog the Google Translate. If you don't know a pretty fair amount of Japanese already don't trust the translations of multi-word phrases without checking the meaning with a JTE. As with all language translation software that I've seen so far sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't.
I don't think of this so much as a worksheet as a reading; something to get them talking about wishes and a way to introduce the grammar used for making wishes in English. If the JTE is willing I want to kids to go beyond just saying, I want a new basketball to I wish I had a new basketball.
I can dream can't I ?
There's actually quite a lot of different customs concerning wishing. I did a little research and was surprised at how many there were. But keeping in mind that the kids are only in Grade 2 and the fact that there is a lot of grammar they haven't been taught yet I did my best to keep it real simple. It's actually quite hard to make things so simple. At the bottom of the page you'll see a box labelled Useful Words. All of the translations for the English phrases came from the new gadget on the blog the Google Translate. If you don't know a pretty fair amount of Japanese already don't trust the translations of multi-word phrases without checking the meaning with a JTE. As with all language translation software that I've seen so far sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't.
I don't think of this so much as a worksheet as a reading; something to get them talking about wishes and a way to introduce the grammar used for making wishes in English. If the JTE is willing I want to kids to go beyond just saying, I want a new basketball to I wish I had a new basketball.
I can dream can't I ?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Warm ups
Someone was asking about warm-ups for junior high school classes so here are some ideas.
Fast Feedback Listening Quiz
So called because the kids get to see immediately if their choice is correct or not.
The ALT prepares three flash cards (or writes on the blackboard) that stand for the pronunciation of either the past tense or plural inflections.
past tense: [t] [d] [id]
plural: [s] [z] [iz]
The ALT uses these cards to divide the classroom into three sections. (Try to think of a fun way to do it )
The ALT then pronounces a word; cats, dogs, horses, or; played, passed, wanted. The students have to judge which inflection they heard. If they think they heard the inflection represented by the [d] flashcard they move to the section of the room that was partitioned off for that flashcard. After all the students have made their choices the ALT tells them the correct answer. That's the fast feedback.
Speedy Delivery
The ALT lines has the students form two equal lines. If you can't form two equal teams have the JTE join one of the teams to make it equal. The students at the head of the line race to respond appropriately and quickly to whatever the ALT says. If the ALT says, hello the students respond in the most natural way with a hello of their own. If the ALT says, good-bye the students have to respond with good-bye. If the ALT asks a question the kids have to answer it. The student who answers the quickest(and of course correctly) gets to sit down. The other one has to go to the end of the line and start over. The first team that has all members in their seats is the winner.
Tate/Yoko Game
The name comes from the Japanese words for vertical and horizontal. The ALT has all the kids stand-up and asks them a question. The children get a chance to answer it and the child who is chosen to answer (If he is correct) gets to sit down. He also gets to choose whether the tate line (vertical column) he sits in, or the yoko line (the horizontal row) gets to sit down too. None of the kids wants to be among the last children standing so there will be plenty of people raising hands. One of the teachers I work with has the last kids left standing answer a predetermined question. What food do you like or something on that order. That makes it a kind of batsu game which the kids usually like.
Another way to do this that might make it more fun is to have two sets of cards prepared in advance. One set has easy questions and the other set has harder questions. Shuffle the cards before the game begins and that way the kids who are answering won't know if they are going to get a hard one or an easy one. A little suspense is nice.
Hurricane
The ALT draws a four by four grid on the blackboard. The squares of the board are labelled with numbers and letters so that a certain square is A1 another is B3 and so on. On a seperate piece of paper is a score for each square. (If a question is answered correctly that score is awarded) The scores vary from 0 to whatever number you like. The kids are divided into their lunch groups and in their group they can work together to answer the questions the ALT gives them.
The ALT gives a question to the first lunch group. If they can't answer it the question goes to the next group in line. If they can answer it then the next thing they do is choose one of the squares by saying its name. A1 or D3. The ALT then tells them the score they have won by anwering the question correctly. This is recorded on the blackboard by drawing houses.
Oh. I forgot to mention that instead of being given scores some of the squares have been given an H which stands for hurricane. (There had to be a reason this game was called hurricane) If a teams answers a question correctly and the square they choose is an H square they get to blow away some of the houses of whichever team they like. As many houses as they like. This results in much amusing pleading and subsequent threats of reataliation.
To make the game a little more interesting visually you can have the scores and Hs written on laminated sheets and attached to the blackboard with magnets in such a way that you can't see what's written on the other side until you turn it over (naturally). And if the house/points were little cartoon houses that attached to the board that would also make it look a little more
interesting.
Fast Feedback Listening Quiz
So called because the kids get to see immediately if their choice is correct or not.
The ALT prepares three flash cards (or writes on the blackboard) that stand for the pronunciation of either the past tense or plural inflections.
past tense: [t] [d] [id]
plural: [s] [z] [iz]
The ALT uses these cards to divide the classroom into three sections. (Try to think of a fun way to do it )
The ALT then pronounces a word; cats, dogs, horses, or; played, passed, wanted. The students have to judge which inflection they heard. If they think they heard the inflection represented by the [d] flashcard they move to the section of the room that was partitioned off for that flashcard. After all the students have made their choices the ALT tells them the correct answer. That's the fast feedback.
Speedy Delivery
The ALT lines has the students form two equal lines. If you can't form two equal teams have the JTE join one of the teams to make it equal. The students at the head of the line race to respond appropriately and quickly to whatever the ALT says. If the ALT says, hello the students respond in the most natural way with a hello of their own. If the ALT says, good-bye the students have to respond with good-bye. If the ALT asks a question the kids have to answer it. The student who answers the quickest(and of course correctly) gets to sit down. The other one has to go to the end of the line and start over. The first team that has all members in their seats is the winner.
Tate/Yoko Game
The name comes from the Japanese words for vertical and horizontal. The ALT has all the kids stand-up and asks them a question. The children get a chance to answer it and the child who is chosen to answer (If he is correct) gets to sit down. He also gets to choose whether the tate line (vertical column) he sits in, or the yoko line (the horizontal row) gets to sit down too. None of the kids wants to be among the last children standing so there will be plenty of people raising hands. One of the teachers I work with has the last kids left standing answer a predetermined question. What food do you like or something on that order. That makes it a kind of batsu game which the kids usually like.
Another way to do this that might make it more fun is to have two sets of cards prepared in advance. One set has easy questions and the other set has harder questions. Shuffle the cards before the game begins and that way the kids who are answering won't know if they are going to get a hard one or an easy one. A little suspense is nice.
Hurricane
The ALT draws a four by four grid on the blackboard. The squares of the board are labelled with numbers and letters so that a certain square is A1 another is B3 and so on. On a seperate piece of paper is a score for each square. (If a question is answered correctly that score is awarded) The scores vary from 0 to whatever number you like. The kids are divided into their lunch groups and in their group they can work together to answer the questions the ALT gives them.
The ALT gives a question to the first lunch group. If they can't answer it the question goes to the next group in line. If they can answer it then the next thing they do is choose one of the squares by saying its name. A1 or D3. The ALT then tells them the score they have won by anwering the question correctly. This is recorded on the blackboard by drawing houses.
Oh. I forgot to mention that instead of being given scores some of the squares have been given an H which stands for hurricane. (There had to be a reason this game was called hurricane) If a teams answers a question correctly and the square they choose is an H square they get to blow away some of the houses of whichever team they like. As many houses as they like. This results in much amusing pleading and subsequent threats of reataliation.
To make the game a little more interesting visually you can have the scores and Hs written on laminated sheets and attached to the blackboard with magnets in such a way that you can't see what's written on the other side until you turn it over (naturally). And if the house/points were little cartoon houses that attached to the board that would also make it look a little more
interesting.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Grammar Secrets
While looking for a quick and easy explanation of the difference in usage between must and have to I came across this website which may prove useful. I'm including it with the other useful links.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Grade 2 Unit 4 You Have to Do This Worksheet
...no not really but you might find this worksheet useful. In grade 2 unit 4 the kids study the grammar of obligation using must ~ and have to ~ . I can't think of any reasonably intelligent, naturally curious children who, being introduced to this material, wouldn't wonder about the circumstances under which a native speaker would choose to use one way to express obligation over another.......So we don't have to worry about explanations. And anyway that's the job of the JTE isn't it.
But, to keep it really simple, one of the distinctions seems to depend on whether or not the obligation felt by the speaker is subjective, in which case must is the grammar of choice, or objective, calling for have to~. Which is to say whether or not the obligation arises from an internal condition, ie, knowledge of a social norm and the necessity of abiding by it, or an external condition, ie, an externally imposed rule like a deadline.
The problem with making bipolar distinctions like this is that the conditions overlap and awkward constructions are still understandable. Case in point.
There's a test tomorrow so I have to study.
Okay, an externally imposed obligation, no problem with using have to.
There's a test tomorrow so I must study.
The speaker has done badly on previous tests, this has caused him to impose a strict study-the-day-before-the-test regimen on himself. When he speaks this sentence he'll probably put extra stress on must.
(Spoken by a non-native speaker) There's a test tomorrow so I must study.
The speaker hasn't studied enough to know about the distinction between the two forms or has had the same problem as the previous speaker.
Either way his listeners know he's non-native, and understand him. Besides, it's not really a mistake, it's just not the first choice a native speaker would make. At least not me.
A little more about that here.
Is it just me or is it the case that American English speakers don't use must not and mustn't so much. It sounds oh so very British to me. The remark that speakers of British English use have got to may well be true but I know that I ( I confess I'm American) use it often.
Anyway to put in in a simple rule. Must expresses what the speaker thinks is necessary while have to ~ expresses a rule that is imposed on the speaker.
By the way, when you see this worksheet on the google docs site it might look a little off-center and otherwise skewed-up. But when you see it on the google docs print preview you can see how it will look when you print it out.
But, to keep it really simple, one of the distinctions seems to depend on whether or not the obligation felt by the speaker is subjective, in which case must is the grammar of choice, or objective, calling for have to~. Which is to say whether or not the obligation arises from an internal condition, ie, knowledge of a social norm and the necessity of abiding by it, or an external condition, ie, an externally imposed rule like a deadline.
The problem with making bipolar distinctions like this is that the conditions overlap and awkward constructions are still understandable. Case in point.
There's a test tomorrow so I have to study.
Okay, an externally imposed obligation, no problem with using have to.
There's a test tomorrow so I must study.
The speaker has done badly on previous tests, this has caused him to impose a strict study-the-day-before-the-test regimen on himself. When he speaks this sentence he'll probably put extra stress on must.
(Spoken by a non-native speaker) There's a test tomorrow so I must study.
The speaker hasn't studied enough to know about the distinction between the two forms or has had the same problem as the previous speaker.
Either way his listeners know he's non-native, and understand him. Besides, it's not really a mistake, it's just not the first choice a native speaker would make. At least not me.
A little more about that here.
Is it just me or is it the case that American English speakers don't use must not and mustn't so much. It sounds oh so very British to me. The remark that speakers of British English use have got to may well be true but I know that I ( I confess I'm American) use it often.
Anyway to put in in a simple rule. Must expresses what the speaker thinks is necessary while have to ~ expresses a rule that is imposed on the speaker.
By the way, when you see this worksheet on the google docs site it might look a little off-center and otherwise skewed-up. But when you see it on the google docs print preview you can see how it will look when you print it out.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Grade 3 Unit 3 Homework to Do
Here's a worksheet that gives the kids a chance to practice some grammar from Unit 3. Work to do, book to read, letter to write, that kind of adjective. It must have a name. It's an infinitive modifying a noun so maybe it's an infinitival adjective or an adjectival infinitive. It doesn't seem to me to lend itself to a q/a format very well.
What do you have to do tomorrow?
I have a car to wash.
Sounds a little stilted. Like the kind of English you only encouter in a classroom, but that's what the JTE wants for that day, so...
There's some space on the left to add an illustration. I've been using Roy Lichtenstein prints and editing the word balloons to show example sentences. It's really easy to do with Microsoft Word but not so easy with the Google Documents. Or maybe it is and I just haven't found it yet. There's an online tutorial for Google Docs but I haven't had time to look at it yet.
Anyway. Copy the second page of the worksheet several times and cut the things to do into sections. Enough for each kid to have one. That's what he/she has to do tomorrow. Now they have to go around the room and ask the example question. They answer according to the paper slip they are holding. When the kids write down the information they have to adjust the grammar. The spoken answer may be I have a toilet to fix, but when it is recorded, Tomoyuki has a toilet to fix.
Now that they've had a chance to practice you can do a second round without having the tasks predetermined and the kids can answer according to their actual plans for tomorrow. Or, as a happyo, go around the room and ask the kids what they have planned for the next day. Doing a second round with a fresh worksheet eliminates the problem of shyness. And replaces it with the problem of having the usual suspects speaking Japanese instead of English.
What do you have to do tomorrow?
I have a car to wash.
Sounds a little stilted. Like the kind of English you only encouter in a classroom, but that's what the JTE wants for that day, so...
There's some space on the left to add an illustration. I've been using Roy Lichtenstein prints and editing the word balloons to show example sentences. It's really easy to do with Microsoft Word but not so easy with the Google Documents. Or maybe it is and I just haven't found it yet. There's an online tutorial for Google Docs but I haven't had time to look at it yet.
Anyway. Copy the second page of the worksheet several times and cut the things to do into sections. Enough for each kid to have one. That's what he/she has to do tomorrow. Now they have to go around the room and ask the example question. They answer according to the paper slip they are holding. When the kids write down the information they have to adjust the grammar. The spoken answer may be I have a toilet to fix, but when it is recorded, Tomoyuki has a toilet to fix.
Now that they've had a chance to practice you can do a second round without having the tasks predetermined and the kids can answer according to their actual plans for tomorrow. Or, as a happyo, go around the room and ask the kids what they have planned for the next day. Doing a second round with a fresh worksheet eliminates the problem of shyness. And replaces it with the problem of having the usual suspects speaking Japanese instead of English.
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