Hello,
As promised here's a run down of what we did in Fukuoka in July. This workshop
was for the ETJ so it was strictly non-commercial. Rather than lots of
games/songs it was an entry level "ALT Elementary School Workshop"
+ a second of hour of requested games and themes!
Thanks to everyone who attended for being so genki!
Lesson Planning: Warm Up
Start each lesson off with: Warm Up
- Gets the kids genki. Says "This is fun." "This is something
different".
- Get the kids to respond quickly to your actions so you can control things
if they get too genki.
- Add in extra words each week. ( e.g. sports, musical instruments, "zip
it")
- If you have less than one lesson per week get the kids to repeat what you
say
Then into a review of the previous lesson e.g. we did the "What's your name?" song. ( See also this article on reviewing.)
- Review, review and review like crazy.
- It's not "what you've done in class", it's "what the kids
can actually do"
- The first rule of Genki English: Confidence is the key, if you think you
can, you can!
- Get the kids doing activities amongst themselves as soon as possible.
Then if you have time, do the Lines Quiz.
- Solves the "Hello, what's your name?" "Eh...?" ( +
blank look ) problem
- Gets the kids used to answering questions straight away.
- Good for getting kids used to "How are you?" vs. "How old are you?"
- The second rule of Genki English: Losing Doesn't mean losing, it just means
"try again"
Lesson Planning: Main meat of the lesson
- Teach Song then Game to Practise the target language
- Go straight to using a song without any drilling of language. Saves a lot
of time.
- Always include actions, cute pictures, melody, as many senses as possible
to maximise chances of remembering each word.
- Teach what kids want to be able to say, not what you want to teach.
- Keep the happy, funky, cool stuff for the end. End on a high note.
- Teach one question + around 8 answers per lesson.
- If 8 is too much, split it in two and do a mini game in between, like we did with the "I like everything game"
- A game for a game's sake is no good. Every game is there to practise the
English in a fun way.
- Be as genki as you can when teaching the song, then get the kids doing
the game as quickly as possible so you can get on with preparing the next
stuff.
- Include the previous lessons' English in the current game. No lesson is
in isolation.
- Use a stopwatch to add excitement.
- Ask the kids if they can make the time limits or not. If they think they
can, they can!
- Finish off with a happy ending.
After this we went through a couple more song/game combinations.
- How old are you? with Mingle for lower grades.
- The kids ask "How old are you?" and you answer with the age.
They get in to groups of that number.
- Say "I'm sorry?" several times so they ask again louder.
- Losing doesn't mean losing, it means "try again!"
- For older kids try the How are you? Bingo game.
- This version gives the kids lots of speaking practice.
- Food + Balloon Game for younger kids.
- For older kids use the Food Worksheet game, make an order and they have to give you the price.
- For older kids get them to think as well as use the English.
- In both games, use mingle to make groups.
Targets, goals, and 6th grades
- What are your goals for one year of study?
- It's not what you do in class, what do you expect the kids to be able to
do?
- What about after 4 years?
- If you don't have a goal, in 4 years you'll be right back where you started.
- Why not make your target as having the kids being able to say anything
they wish to say in 4 years?
- They don't need to be fluent, they need to be able to express what they
feel in English.
- If there's an obstacle in the way, find a way to go round it. e.g. don't
know the word "grandma"? Say "my mother's mother"
- Then in years 5 and 6, actually use the English e.g. the Pet Project or School Lunch Project
- Why are your kids learning English? What's the aim? What are you going
to achieve?
- Decide and go there!
- You are a role model for your students
- You hold the key to their future and their success.
- Do your best in class, thinking of what is best for the kids, of where
you are going, and what you can do to make their dreams come true!
And remember if you every need any help from me then simply get in touch!
I'm also going to be back in Fukuoka on August 20th for a workshop at the
Maruzen Bookstore in Tenjin. You need to book now as places are limited,
but this time it will be a commercial workshop where I'll be going through
the new CD5 songs and games and you'll be able to buy them at a discount
on the day. Details are on the schedule page of the site.
Be genki,
Richard
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