英語ノート
EigoNoto.com

With all of these chants and short dialogs to write on the blackboard,　I find there are times when I’d like to keep the students busy while I write. This is an easy-to-do activity I use to have seat pairs practice vocabulary while I'm writing.

Pairs play Janken first, and then the Winner (using pictures on a page in the Eigo Noto that I have chosen) can:

• Say the word in English, and the Janken Loser says the word in Japanese (or visa-versa);
• Say a short phrase, ‘Hot dog, please.’ or ‘Blue shoes.’ for example, and the Janken Loser points to the picture in the Eigo Noto;
• Say a word, and the Janken Loser says the word group (dog - animal; red -  color; soccer - sport).

Using this kind of activity, it’s easy to keep the kids practicing English for a few minutes while doing other things.

There are so many English and foreign words that Japanese elementary school students already know.  One EigoNoto.com activity, WYAN (Words You Already Know), shows how to activate this knowledge in the classroom.
The common word families used in the Eigo Noto are

food, sports, animals, colors

My own experience shows that these are the groups of words most students know, as well. Keeping these groups in mind will help you the next time you need to prompt students to tell you some English words they already know.

Recently while teaching Grade 5 Lesson 1 I was reminded of the importance of teaching vocabulary in word groups. There are words that usually or always have a certain order; in this case, blue shoes. Lesson 5-5-1 teaches colors and clothing names; the vocabulary can be taught separately, but there is advantage in teaching the words together. As a rule, when possible, try to put a few words together when doing Listen and Repeat (and Point) activities. Or,  for such activities as Pair Karuta, Ohajiki game, Eraser/Keyword game, use whole sentences or questions.

A simple rule to remember is: Don't teach vocabulary as single words. And if you must, try to teach single words in word groups, or word families.

Many adult students of English tell me they know a lot of English words, but are confused about putting them together to make a sentence or question. Drilling and practicing with words in chunks, or groups of words that are in a common order, should help familiarize students with this common order.

There is a corollary here for making chants, as well. When making a chant, grouping words together in ways that help students become familiar with common patterns will help them, too. An easy example that comes to mind is What color/What color/What color do you like? Students so often ask the question

What do you like color? 

that extra drilling and practice, both listening and speaking, of the correct word order can only help.

Many of the EigoNoto.com activities are much more fun for the students if there is an easy way for them to mark points. This is especially true for the Maru-Batsu (O/X) Game. I have been suggesting an Australian Points Map, but have discovered a simpler way...

There are little marching teachers and children at the bottoms of the pages in the Eigo Noto. 

Using these as a way for students to keep points is very convenient- starting from the first page of each lesson, students circle one marching figure for each point earned in an activity. Then for each new lesson, students begin scoring points anew on the first page of the next lesson.
A reminder about giving points- give larger amounts of points for games of luck (those that are Janken/RPS-based, for example), and smaller amounts of points for activities that are skill-based. Giving points like this will help lower-level students to earn as many points as their higher-skilled peers.

EigoNoto.com copyright 2010 Elton Ersch

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Here are some strategies for helping students get the most out of group interaction.

1. Students in groups need to be close enough to maintain eye contact, talk quietly, and share resources.

2. Groups of 4 seem to work best in most cases.  Sometimes, odd numbered groups of 3 or 5 are required. Have 5 students sit around 4 desks, not 5, so they don't sit too far apart.*

3. Maximize student commitment towards achieving the best possible outcome.  Awarding points to groups competitively or based on other criteria work well for this.

4. Make each group member accountable.

5. Teachers may need to train and monitor students in skills for effective collaboration.

6.  Groups need to maintain some continuity in membership.  The ability to work together effectively is a skill that takes time to develop.

Accuracy checking, or testing, is something that is done explicitly or implicitly in almost every class.  It can focus on either comprehension or productive ability.  Listed below are methods and activities that test these abilities in ways that try to minimize students’ affective response.  By minimizing student stress in the classroom, we help to maximize student motivation.

Comprehension-

• Responding in Japanese (spoken or written), whole class or students 1-on-1 with teacher.
• Groups/Classes chorally answer before getting individual answers.
• O/X Game- listen, repeat & respond (this is a more indirect student self-test of comprehension and meaning.)
• Pair Slap.
• Play Dictionary--say the clues in Japanese in a sentence or question; the students respond with the English word or sentence/question

Production-

• CROSSFIRE/Linefire- Listen & Repeat and other conversation skills mostly concerned with form
  1-on-1 Translation with Teacher- student responds in English.
  Hot Potato (see testing option at end)- losing student stands and says a sentence/question for all to hear.
  

Click on the player to hear an audio of the greeting in the EigoNoto.com Lesson Plans.
Teacher to Students- Listen & Repeat (some or all)
Hello, Hi, Hey, Howdy, G’day, Good Morning, Hola, Aloha, Bon Jour, Bon Dia, Bon Journo, Ni Hao, Konnichiwa, Anyohaseyo, Sambaino, Kiola, Selamat Pagi (am) (pm-Siang), Shalom, Jambo, Asalamalekum, Zzdrastvet-yah, Namaste.

Streaming Audio, Click the Play Button:

Direct Audio Download: Click Here

I have learned Spanish, Indonesian and Japanese. When I first used those languages with native speakers, the first phrase I needed to know was, ‘Speak slowly, please.’ I am sure this will be true for most students, as well.
I have prepared English for Communication and Classroom English posters for you to download and display in your classrooms. ‘Speak slowly, please’ is included on the posters.
A good time to introduce the poster and the phrase to your classes is when playing the Eigo Noto CDs. The CDs are often too fast for the students to understand. So when the students can’t understand the CDs, direct their attention to the posters, tell them the importance and meaning of the phrase, and then ask them to use it with you when they want to hear the contents of the CD at a slower speed. Then you can read the contents of the audio to them at a slower speed.

There are many ways students can demonstrate comprehension in the Eigo Noto lessons. They don't have to respond in English to show they understand.
Some ways you can know students understand:

• Students point to pictures in a textbook when you call out the English word or phrase
• Students respond in Japanese
• Students respond with body language or gestures
• Play Karuta with cards in pictures or Japanese

A simple technique for language LEARNING (not STUDYING) I used with my son at home in Japan (he speaks mostly Japanese) was to repeat back to him in English everything he says to me in Japanese (‘Onaka ga suita’, ‘Oh, you’re hungry now?’). He’s four now, and demonstrates comprehension in most things I say to him (though his Japanese ability has already surpassed mine....).
This technique is easy to apply in the classroom, too. If you want to make yours an 'English Only' classroom, give it a try!

日本語の説めはビデオであるー
See the video to see how to do this in class-



This is especially true for vocabulary. There are so many English loan-words in Japanese. Helping students to realize this is an easy way to empower the students, because they already know English!
When you introduce a new pattern: ask the students if they know any words that can be used in the pattern. To help the students get started, you can suggest some words in Japanese that you think the students will know.
Another point to remember is: many students already study English. Instead of telling meanings yourself in Japanese, ask all of the students if anyone knows the meaning of something you've presented. Presenting the material in context, in a storyboard or conversation, gives the students powerful clues to guess the meaning, too.

Click to see the EigoNoto.com activity WYAN- Words You Already Know.

Since Eigo Noto lessons are communication lessons, not studying English for a test, encourage answers that are almost right, or in ways that can help lead students to the correct answer.

Teaching Conversation Skills in your classes does two things:

1. It teaches the skills students need to use all the English they learn (imagine someone giving you a ball, bat and glove, but never showing you how to use them or play baseball!)
2. You are helping them to be Life Long Learners. After all, using English outside the classroom is what students are training for. Empower them to learn from every conversation!

The basic Skills are so simple you may not believe it:

• Listen & Repeat
• Repeat, Change One Word

Listen & Repeat is how we ALL learn language- when we are born we speak -or read- nothing. But by only listening, we learn to speak. Magic! And Repeating is also the most basic Communication Skill ('My telephone number is 596-9602.' '596-9602?' 'Yes.').
In the classroom, you can do this skill with:

• Janken 4's
  
• CROSSFIRE
• Get The Picture (GTP)
• O/X (Maru-Batsu) Game
• Janken Conversation Rounds or Row Practice/Row Races

Repeat, Change One Word teaches students to create new language. I can say, 'My name is Elton.' But only repeating this will not be true for you; you must Change One Word. This is commonly called Pattern Practice.
Very importantly, practicing this skill helps give students a feel for the language which, like playing the piano or guitar, lets them do it without thinking about it.
In the classroom, you can practice this skill with:

• Hot Potato
  
• Janken 4's
• CROSSFIRE
• Janken Conversation Rounds or Row Practice/Row Races
• Interview Bingo
• Get The Picture (GTP)

To learn more visit the Conversation Skills page at www.conversationalfluency.com

Here is a list of (opening) greetings taken from the Sho-Gakko Gaikoku-go Katusdo Kenshu Guidebook by the Japanese Ministry of Education.

おはようごさじます Good Morning.
こんにちわ。 Hello/ Good afternoon.
みなさん、こんにちわ。 Hello, everyone.
英語の時間です。 It’s time for English class.
みんないますか。 Is everybody here?
今日はだれがお休みですか。 Who’s absent today?
今日は何曜日ですか。 What day is it today?
金曜日です。 It’s Friday.
今日は何月何日ですか。 What’s the date today?
４月２５日です。 It’s April twenty-fifth.
今日の天気はどうですか。 How’s the weather today?
晴れています。 It’s sunny.

Here is a list of (closing) greetings taken from the Sho-Gakko Gaikoku-go Katusdo Kenshu Guidebook by the Japanese Ministry of Education.

今日はこれで終わります． That’s all for today.
今日の授業は楽しかったですか． Did you enjoy today’s class?
また次回会いましょう。 See you next time.
気を付けて。 Take care.
さよなら。 Good-bye./See you.
また（月曜日に／来週）会いましょう。See you (on Monday/next week).
良い週末を。 Have a nice weekend.

Here are some questions for the HRT to ask the students at the end of an English class. Questions and answers in Japanese:

• What did we talk about today?
• Were there some words you already knew?
• Did you learn any new words?
• What was fun or interesting?
• What was difficult?
• How can we make that easier next time?

It is easy just to ask "What was fun today?", but this doesn't help to focus the students on the more important things they may have learned. Still, this is a good LAST question, so students will finish the class remembering that it was FUN!

The CD player is the HRT’s best friend in the English classroom. It is your resource for teaching, and learning: native pronunciation, rhythm and stress, vocabulary, anything and everything. Use it often!

Varying the tempo within my lessons for young learners has helped me to more than anything else to maintain their involvement. Some things you can do in class are:

• Alternating sitting and listening/watching activities with movement and/or song
• Alternating fast-and-slow, or LOUD-and-quiet, sitting-and-STANDING, with clapping and without clapping during activities
• Changing your voice, higher and lower, during an activity

Try to be attentive to the students movements and restlessness during quiet activities- when either start to interrupt regular class behavior, it's time to get the ants out of their pants with some action!

The English in the Eigo Noto is very basic--some of the students will know the meaning already from juku or other practice. Even if the students are seeing/hearing the language for the first time, it is important to train them to guess the meaning for themselves, not to rely on the teacher to tell them. So before giving students the meaning of something in Japanese, simply ask if anyone knows what the meaning is. Since meaning often depends on context, you have some options:

• explain or demonstrate how the language is used in a situation that the students are familiar with
• show a flashcard or refer to pictures in the textbook

One teacher I saw on TV said he never tells his students an answer. Instead, his technique is to provide the students with the materials they need to find the answer themselves.

See the EigoNoto.com activity to do this at WYAN- Words You Already Know.

I try to remember that someday, when school is finished, a student may be in a situation and need to find the answer by themselves. It is for this time that our training in the classroom needs to prepare the students.

Asking an individual student to translate your spoken or written English word or structure into Japanese can be an effective way to test comprehension of meaning and to reinforce it for the entire class. It also follows the good teaching practice of not telling an answer, but rather challenging the students to elicit it.
Beware, though, that this is a test. The student's answer will be either correct or not. And all of the other students are watching and listening. This raises the answering student's affective filter and anxiety level.
To lessen the anxiety, I usually ask the whole class to first chorally give me the translation, giving everyone the challenge. Then after this, I ask for a volunteer, or choose one by rolling the dice, to tell me the correct translation. Asking for a volunteer or choosing a volunteer by dice, rather than choosing one yourself, lessens more the stress on the lone answering student.