Welcome to the new school year! Β At this time of year I get a lot of teachers asking about ideas for their first lessons. Β Here are the three articles I usually recommend if you’re brand new to teaching:
First lesson of the year, if you speak the lingo
First Lesson when you donβt speak the lingo
First Lesson in Junior High School
Plus if you haven’t seen it yet, my one hour “The Basics” video workshop should give you a whole range of new ideas to try.
Plus of course it’s always a really good idea to review the songs you did just before the holidays, especially if the kids didn’t have Genki English at home.
Top Five
And for those of you with experience, Β here are this year’s top 5 lessons to start your new year off with a bang!
2. Β Superhero
I’d love to hear your top 5 themes for the beginning of term, please write them up in the comments!
I teach in Japan and I like to kick off the second semester with Left and Right. Most schools are preparing for their Sports Festival (Undoukai) and already working on dance routines and other physical activites so Left and Right fits in seamlessly. Also Mr. Bump is easy to set up and great fun to play. A GENKI first lesson is always an important first step to a fun and stimulating term!
In Japan, Rock Paper Scissors has been a winner every time for all classes. I can walk into a class of 6 year-olds for the first time, speak no Japanese and get them smiling, and off to a good start in a matter of minutes. It works because RPS is a popular game in Japan and EVERYONE knows it. You don’t try to teach to say the actual words right off, just use gestures and they catch on right away. I know that Richard has a video of him teaching it somewhere on this website.
1 Disco Warm up.
2 Hello, How are you?
3 What’s your name?
4 How old are you?
5 What’s the weather like?
These songs are for new starters. For the other children I generally do a massive review. I also like to take requests for songs and themes that classes want to work on in the first couple of weeks. I then start to follow a plan for each individual year group. Of course Halloween and Christmas form a large part of the first term back too.