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Thank you for buying our CD! This CD is a
little bit special so we're going to try
and help you get the most from it! As a general
rule the CDs are suitable for the final year
of kindergarten through to first year junior
high.
First of all your CD has 3 sections. Put
it in a normal CD player and you have the
7 songs complete with vocals. Then you have
the same songs but without the vocals, so
the kids can sing along on their own. Finally
if you put the CD in a suitable computer
you'll get the CD-ROM section!
These resources can work on their own, but
the way to get the best use of them is to
use them together with games and actions
to create a fun, effective learning environment!
Music
Just playing the CD to the kids won't unfortunately
make them fluent! The Genki English songs
are designed to be simple enough for the
kids to be actually able to sing them. First
of all a parent or teacher should teach the
kids the meaning of the words, and go through
the pronunciation. This can be done by a
native teacher, or by a non-native teacher
using the software. On the Genki English
website there are numerous games that can
be used to practice the English used in the
songs. Finally, once the kids can basically
sing the song, you should have a go at singing
along with the CD. Keeping the CD to the
end keeps the kids' interest level up! If
you are teaching children in Japan, then
please make sure you don't use "katakana"
when teaching the song as children should
learn the correct pronunciation by listening!
During subsequent lessons, the vocab can
be easily revised by singing the songs.
Songs are great as a learning tool as the
melodies aid memorisation of the words. Similarly,
using actions and dances helps the kids to
remember the words, and makes them more fun!
Suggested actions for the songs include:
CD Vol II
1. "How old are you?". Try pairing
up to sing the "How old are you?"
part, then try splitting the kids into groups,
one group sings "I'm 5 years old",
the next one group sings "I'm 6 years
old" etc. On the "I am 5!"
part, get the kids to do a big Madonna Vogue
style pose on the number!
2. "Fruit market" Prepare several
picture cards, one for each item of fruit.
The teacher (or maybe a student) holds up
the relevant card and sings "What's
this?" and the students all shout out
"It's an apple" etc. For the "What's
that?" part, have one person hold up
the card, and a different person points to
it from a distance and sings "What's
that?". For the "Welcome to the
Fruit market" section, get the kids
to pair up and do a type of arm-in-arm folkdance!
3. "What time is it, Mr Wolf?"
This song has a march feel, so during the
chorus the kids can march along on the spot.
For the "1 o'clock, 2 o'clock"
part they can crouch down low and sing in
a low voice, then from 5 to 8 o'clock they
stand up and sing loudly, and then back crouch
down, singing quietly from 9 to 12 o'clock.
For "It's dinner time!" the kids
all shout out!
4. "What's your favourite colour?"
Holding up the colour picture cards in time
with the music is very good. Another idea
is to split the kids into groups, and give
each group a full set of colour cards. They
have to listen to the song and arrange the
colours in the order that they hear them.
5. "Where are you going?" I often
use pictures of my travels abroad to illustrate
the words used in the song. In this way the
kids get to see some foreign culture.
6. "What are you doing?" Doing
actions that correspond to the lyrics is
very effective. For "I'm eating"
the kids pretend to eat, for "I'm drinking"
they pretend to drink etc. "I'm dancing"
is always an interesting one to watch! Getting
one kid to go round the class as a detective
singing "What are you doing?" to
the other kids is an idea.
7. "The Monkey Family" This is
the most difficult song, but it is also the
most fun! A good idea is to give the kids
pictures of the family members. The kids
listen to the song and have to figure out
the family tree.
15. "Rocket Launch" Everyone crouches
down and you start the countdown. As you
approach zero you begin to stand up and stretch
your arms. Finally on zero everyone jumps
up into the air!
CD ROM Section
The software on the CD is written just like
an internet page. This means that most Windows
95 or newer PCs, or newer Mac computers should
be OK. You don't need to be connected to
the internet to use this software. However
if your machine is slightly older, you may
need to install "Flash" in order
to get the pages to speak. You can do this
by selecting the file in the Flash directory
of the CD.
Each song has its own software page. On the
left are the lyrics to the song. Kids can
play around with the lyrics, repeating the
lines one at a time till they get them right.
On the top right is the description of the
words used. It's a good idea for the kids
to spend 10 or 15 minutes playing round until
they know all the words!! If they are speaking
the words as well as listening to them, they
can get their pronunciation correct! Finally
they'll be ready to try the quiz! Adults
will find it tricky, kids will just play
and continue till the end. The idea is that
you listen to the words spoken and then click
on the correct picture! If you have a group
of computers, then getting all the kids to
start the quiz together and then finding
who can finish fastest is a great idea!
I keep finding out new ways to use the CDs,
and the information here is just a guideline.
Adjust the ideas, think of your own, and
above all have fun! You can find out more
information, games and ideas on the songs
page of the Genki English website at www.GenkiEnglish.com
You can also contact me with any questions,
problems or suggestions at cd@genkienglish.net
Be genki,
Richard
c 2000 www.GenkiEnglish.com
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