英語ノート
EigoNoto.com

Turn a common activity on its’ head-
after introducing and then Listening and Repeating a set of flash cards to a class, next have the whole class say the word on the flashcard before you do (or, Repeat After Them).
Doing this is a user-friendly test for the students, because no student is being singled out to show if they know the word or not. Yet for those who don’t know the word, they get needed input from their classmates, and then from the teacher. And for those students who know the word, the teacher saying the word again afterward is also an effective way for students to double-check their own pronunciation.
Just a simple twist, but my students responded very well to it!

www.EigoNoto.com copyright 2010 Elton Ersch


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A new teacher asked me what to do for elementary and junior high school self-introductions.  This is my reply to her, and I thought it a worthwhile post for EigoNoto.com, too....


For Elementary School

I try to make my introdutions for the elementary students both a little wacky-fun and interactive.  I also like to get them accustomed to the idea that when I'm there, it's time to speak English. To that end, the interactive part allows them to participate in a non-threatening way.
My self-introduction is pretty simple:

A very simple, yet fun and effective way of telling stories is to have students take turns, 1-by-1, telling one sentence of a story. After one student says a sentence from the story, then the next student has a turn to say one line.
Grouping can be done in a variety of ways:

• Students can be in groups of 3-4, telling the story 1-by-1 together;
• The whole class can be divided into groups, and each group (and each member within each group), in rounds, take turns telling one line of the story;
• The whole class can tell the story, volunteers giving the next sentence of the story.  This works well as a time filler at the end of lessons in Grade 6, Lesson 8: use Momotaro, The Peach Boy, or another well-known Japanese children's story.

In Grade 6 Lesson 8 students are asked to make an original story, or geki. Having students first do this in Japanese in small groups, and then doing the same story again as a whole class, is a very fun and interactive way to tell the story of The Giant Turnip, or any other well-known story.

I originally used this activity with traditional Japanese children's stories with adults, in English, in conversation classes- and it was a great success there, too.

This is an adaptation of the Black Box activity used in Grade 5 Lesson 7. In this adaptation, not just one student-at-a-time, but ALL students can be involved in the activity (after demonstrating). This allows students to experience not only asking What's this? and presenting a hidden object, but also feeling for themselves the hidden object.

Materials: Textbook, and an object from inside a pencil case.
Blackboard:
W) What's this?
L) It's a/an OO.
ALT/HRT: (To demonstrate) Hide an object from inside a pencil case in the fold of a textbook. Janken and do the conversation- Loser FEELS the object without looking and tries to answer. Demonstrate first together, then with a few students to practice/demonstrate.

Here is an example of drawing a picture on the blackboard one line at a time. This activity is used in Grade 5 Lesson 7, What's this?

From EigoNoto.com

This is a step-by-step activity for introducing a short speech or dialog to students. The whole class works together to figure out what is being said- and all share the sense of success when they’ve done it!

This is a free-moving pair activity that can be used for a large variety of language patterns. The answer patterns can vary greatly- this video shows students how to practice answering 'How Many?', but answering is usually much more simple and straightforward.

This video shows Hashimoto-sensei and I preparing the class to play Interview Bingo. This activity is a pair activity, so students get a lot of practice saying both the question and answer patterns.

Here is an in-class video explanation of the EigoNoto.com Janken 4's activity-
Grade 5 Lesson 4, practicing numbers 1-20

To save the file and play in it your classes (as audio OR video), double-click on the video (or right click--copy link location). Then copy the url (the address in the browser window) and convert it to playable audio at http://www.zamzar.com/url/.

The idea of Multiple Intelligences tells us that there are many ways students remember best- and not all students do it the same way.  For this reason, it is important for us to teach in ways that will empower all students to do their best- for 2 reasons:

There are so many English words that Japanese students already know. When there is a page full of pictures in the workbook, it is a great time to empower the students with the awareness that they already know a lot of English! This simple activity seems very simple or obvious, but it is too easy in the classroom to just tell the students what the words are. Asking them to cooperate, then offer the 'answer', does a lot towards building their confidence.
Here is a step-by-step activity for getting the students to tell you what the words are in English. I call it Words You Already Know, or WYAN.

Watch the video to see 4 3rd-grade junior high school students speaking together, prompted only by ConFluency Card Set 3 cards.  In the first part, I asked the students to talk about Christmas and New Years; in the second part, about food.  Otherwise, the content is entirely theirs.

Want to teach your students to SPEAK ENGLISH, not just STUDY it? The ConFluency Card activity teaches and practices Conversational Fluency. The activity was chosen by peers for presentation at local and national teachers conferences. 

This is a gesture version of Dictionary/Pictionary (similar to Charades). It can be played alone, like Dictionary, or as one part of Dictionary-Pictionary-Gestionary, when students must, from a list of 3-5 words, do each of the patterns (draw, say or do) at least once. These three games together help students to practice both expressive, and receptive, skills in different ways of communication, all important to anyone trying to communicate!

This game is a drawing version of Dictionary.  To begin, one team member from each group, in turns, comes to the blackboard.  The teacher shows the student a word (this can be in the native language), and the student must draw a picture on the blackboard as a hint to the word.
Later, play continues in small groups like Dictionary, except students draw the clues.

Materials: English-English dictionary; lists of 3-5 words, as many of the same list as there are teams, and as many different lists as there are small group members.

The skills in this activity help students learn how to say something when they don’t know the word itself- one of the greatest challenges for beginners who still have a small vocabulary.

All-class 2-team activity for practicing any set of vocabulary (15-25 work well). Time: 15-20 minutes.
Materials: 3 sets of vocabulary cards (one each for each pair of six teams).

One row of students makes one team;  paired rows compete. Place 2 rows of desks together, and lay 15-25 vocabulary cards (words in English or Japanese, pictures, numbers, etc..) 
Beginning from opposite ends of the line of vocabulary, the first student from each team begins touching and saying the word for each card.  When the 2 players meet they play Janken; Winner continues as before, Loser goes to the back of the line for his/her team and the next student starts from the first card.  When players meet, they play Janken..... The first team to touch and say all of the words to the end of the line wins.

In Japan, Janken is a game of inexplicable popularity with both young and old.  Often this popularity alone can turn an otherwise hum-drum activity into one that brings smiles to the students' faces and encouragement to continue.
But also very importantly, in conversation classes Janken unequivocally decides the order of speaking- who will go first, and who will follow. These two points have made Janken a very important asset in my bag of teaching tricks.
If you use points in your classes as a motivation tool (see the EigoNoto.com Australia Points Map), giving large amounts of points for winning at Janken is a way to help lower-level students, who may not score many points in ability-centered activities, to earn as many points as their higher-ability peers.

Janken or Rock-Paper-Scissors
Janken 4's -No materials or preparation! -日本語のビデオ説めもある
THE warm-up activity beginning all of the EigoNoto.com lessons.  Works for any language pattern- Teaches conversation skills, too! See an in-class explanation on video
Janken Conversation Rounds -No materials or preparation!
*This activity was chosen by a group of elementary teachers as the main activity for their English classes. It is the best way to teach and practice Conversation Skills. It can be used for meaning- or pattern-focus, and for all of the language structures.
Maru-Batsu (O/X) Game -No materials or preparation!
EigoNoto.com version of the classic Japanese game. Very powerful learning activity.
Hot Potato -No materials or preparation!
A small group creative substitution activity. 
Get The Picture (GTP)
see an in-class explanation on video
Pair Karuta  -No materials or preparation!
A very simple version of the classic game.
Interview Bingo
see an in-class explanation on video
CROSSFIRE/Linefire
Eraser/Keyword Game
Pair listening activity from the Eigo Noto text.
Ohajiki Game
Listening activity from the Eigo Noto text. A blend of Bingo & Karuta...
Sugoroku
My version of the classic game. NOW it's really communicative!  With a link to download the board.
Row Practice/Row Races -No materials or preparation!
Find 3 People -No materials or preparation!
Find 3 People-Tell the Teacher -No materials or preparation! 
Liar! Liar! -No materials or preparation!
Hand Sandwich -No materials or preparation!
A fun way to finish off a pair activity (with a winner & loser).
Clue Bingo
Pair Slap -No materials or preparation!
Individual Student Translation
Short notes on how to lessen the stress...
Hebi Janken
Teams compete to get to the end of the line of vocabulary cards first.
Dictionary -(can be done with) No materials or preparation!
Builds an important skill for language learners- how to say a word they don't know!
Pictionary -(can be done with) No materials or preparation!
Builds an important skill for language learners- how to draw a word they don't know!
Gestionary -(can be done with) No materials or preparation!
Builds an important skill for language learners- how to act out a word they don't know!
WYAN- Word You Aleady Know. Students already know a lot of English words- prompt them to tell you what they already know!
Listen, Repeat and Point- Turn on students' power to remember.
Repeat and Change the Pattern Speaking- No materials or preparation!
A simple activity to help students perform short speeches.
Interactive Introduction- No materials or preparation!
A simple step-by-step way to introduce new language patterns. You do the speaking, the students learn the rest as a class.
Drawing an Explanation One Line at a Time- for Grade 5 Lesson 7 What's This?
Black Box Activity Adaptation- Let's all the kids participate, not just one at a time. For Grade 5 Lesson 7
Story Telling in Rounds

Time- 10-15 minutes
Materials- Clue Bingo Print (example). A pair of dice.
All students get a Clue Bingo print or simply a blank bingo grid (5X5). Everybody writes in 25 letters, numbers, words, or whatever your target is. The students can write in Japanese; you write the words 1-by-1 in English on the blackboard, asking the students after each for the meaning in Japanese. You can give the students 26-30 words to choose from to make the game a little more interesting (it will take more time).
To Play-
Choose a student using the dice. This student calls out any letter, number, word, etc. they like. All students cross this off on their prints. It helps the students if you also cross the word off on the blackboard.

The Eraser/Keyword Game is a listening comprehension game from the Eigo Noto activities. Paired students face their cleared desks towards each other and place an eraser in the middle. A ‘keyword’ is given, perhaps by placing a flashcard on the blackboard. A teacher then says that keyword or another. The goal for the students is to take the eraser first when the teacher says the keyword, but not to take the eraser another word is said.
Instead of saying only one word, the keyword can be part of a Q&A pattern, or in a short dialog:
‘What fruit do you like?’ ‘I like blue.’
‘I have a green pen.’ ‘I have a blue pen.’