'Good Morning Takamatsu' Elementary School Textbook & DVD Project

From November through to January, my fellow JETs and I have been working on a whole new curriculum for elementary schools in Takamatsu City. Bringing our background with filmmaking and video production into play, Angie and I produced, directed, filmed and edited all of the content for a brand new DVD for elementary school English education, featuring videos of all of the Takamatsu City ALTs.

The "Good Morning Takamatsu" textbook.

This April, elementary schools from all around Takamatsu City received the "Good Morning Takamatsu" textbook and DVD set. It's now in use in classrooms all around the city, for students between first and fourth year (who currently have no official national curriculum at this age).

The title screen for the "Good Morning Takamatsu" DVD.

Here's a small video from local news coverage on the launch. Note that this video also features me doing several of my best animal impressions:

The project was commissioned by our former supervisor, Sunao Hiramatsu. The lessons of the curriculum were all written by ALTs in Takamatsu City, and compiled into a single volume by Ben Jacques-Parr (with the curriculum being decided upon in dialogue with everyone). The textbook was illustrated by Gary Wilkinson, who also put together the fantastic logo which also doubles as the DVD cover. Lessons were translated into Japanese by Nick Powers, and proofreading was undertaken by Mary Thanh Vo.

The videos produced by myself and Angie (or Gavin Hugh and Angharad Sian Reynolds if we're being formal) include: a self-introduction montage from all of the city ALTs; alphabet, number and phonics videos; videos which correspond with lessons in the textbook; and a number of game demonstrations for use as activities in the classroom. You can watch the self-introduction video on my YouTube channel below:

The "Good Morning Takamatsu" DVD.

I've included a sample of stills from the DVD content; it was a lot of fun to complete, and a very satisfying project to bring to life in the space of just four months.

It was great to be able to put my video production skills to this task. Unfortunately, as this project was commissioned by the Takamatsu City Board of Education, it will only be distributed to schools within Takamatsu City accordingly. So, sad news for the other ALTs in Japan who may have wanted to use it (although luckily the Takamatsu ALTs were each rewarded with their own set).

Still, I think this was a very positive project to try and improve the English education curriculum in the local elementary schools, and I'd love to hear about or see similar projects from local JET groups in other parts of Japan.

Curry Nights at Thali Spice

Dinner at Thali Spice in 2012.

Something of a tradition here for the Kagawa JETs. Usually on Thursday evenings, almost every week, members of the foreign community in Takamatsu (and the nearby area) descend on the Thali Spice restaurant in the Shotengai shopping streets. It's a Nepalese and Indian restaurant, and it's damned good.

This tradition mostly started by having dinners with departed-ALTs Jasper Wood and Danny Blackwell, as well as Arran Chambers. The four of us would frequently meet during Jasper and Danny's time in Japan, occasionally joined by a few other people. In addition to that, I often found myself coming along with non-JET American Sam Jones, where we'd often get together and talk movie reviews or just hang out with a group. Eventually these traditions just sort of stuck, Thursday after Thursday.

With Matt Katch (left) and Sam Jones.

And so, as more and more foreigners have started to come more and more frequently, the restaurant finds itself full of foreigners nigh-on every Thursday night. With good reason, too; the curries are exceptional.

My traditional set.

For my own part, I'm afraid I'm not usually terribly adventurous; I usually get the same meal every time I go, because I enjoy it so much. In actual fact, the waiters can repeat my order back to me before I even give it these days (which may give you an indication of how often I go there). I almost always getting the mutton masala, spice level three, with a huge butter naan bread and a lassie to drink. At least I'm consistent.

I have to say, it will be a sad day when I finally leave Japan and I won't be able to have any more of these curries again. Until then, well, expect to see me there on Thursdays.

Movie review madness.

The Teaching Basket / Bag

My teaching basket!

Every ALT should have a teaching basket (or bag). I consider it to be a primary aid when teaching.

My recent "upgrade" to a bag.

The concept is fairly straightforward. Take a basket or bag to all of your classes which contains a whole host of supplies that may be necessary. By having this at every class you go to, you're always prepared and never caught off guard with a need to do activities which you aren't prepared for.

The current contents of my bag.

If you're at a single school, then a basket is preferable as it can be easy to transport from class to class, with all of the items neatly organised. I've shifted more recently to a bag, however, as I can take it easily around multiple schools in my bike basket (a lot more difficult with a basket). The downside of a bag, of course, is that objects are basically going to be shoved inside and not as neatly organised.

Click to enlarge.

I'll take you through the contents of mine, in case you want to copy some of the ideas.

(1) Eye-mask: for blind-fold games. Ideally, carry two.

(2) Plasters: mainly for elementary school, in case some of the young kids hurt themselves.

(3) Extendible Pointer: for pointing to specific things on the board.

(4) iPad Connection Cables: for hooking my iPad up to projectors, which can be useful for slideshows, videos or playing games. I have both a standard VGA output cable and an HDMI output for newer projector models. It's definitely good to carry both for whatever tablet you might be using.

(5) Bingo Counters and Shuffling Bag: for use with bingo. The counters are all home-made, from 0 to 100. Basically, you shake the bag and withdraw a number for playing bingo.

(6) 0-20 Bingo Counters: often used in elementary school classes that haven't learned up to 100 yet. These are kept separate from the main Bingo counters for ease of use. Just switch the two sets of counters between the bag.

(7) Fruits Basket Cards: always a popular game. I carry the cards around in an elastic band, just in case we have a spare ten minutes at the end of a class to play it.

(8) Magnet Box: a set of magnets for pinning slides and pictures to the board.

(9) CD of Songs: a collection of child-friendly songs, primarily for elementary schools. Contains songs such as "Happy Birthday", "ABC", etc. This was originally given to me by fellow ALT Julia Mace. I recommend making one of your own and taking it to your classes in case you need it!

(10) Spare Stickers: a set of loose, individual stickers I inherited from my ALT predecessor. Good to hand out as small prizes.

(11) Chalk Pens: holders for chalk, allowing you to get a firmer grip and not to get chalk all over your hands. You can switch out the chalk when it runs down too far, and I use them for different colours, each marked with a different coloured sticker so I can tell which is which without needing to take the cap off. These can be hard to find, but try your local 100円 store (or a 'Home Centre Daiki').

(12) Whiteboard Markers: as above, useful for writing on a whiteboard. I keep black, blue and red.

(13) Counters: great for board games and similar activities. You'll probably need at least as many as you have students in each class, which in Japan averages at about 40.

(14) Magnetic Timer: great for timed activities. Stick it on the board and set it for two or three minutes, then leave it. It'll go off when the students run out of time to complete their activity. Also great for the "Bomb Game".

(15) Character Ink Stamps: useful for marking worksheets or books which students have completed.

(16) Whistle: great for calling a class to attention at the end of an activity, or if they're getting a little too rowdy!

(17) Box of 12 Dice: again, great for board games or similar activities.

(18) Stopwatch: similar to the magnetic timer, but with a bit more flexibility. Like the magnetic timer, it can be used for timed activities or to time students. It can be carried around the classroom a bit more gracefully, too.

Wallets.

In addition to what's shown in the images above, I also carry around a few wallets full of materials with me.  I used to have space to keep these in my basket, but they don't fit so well into the bag with the other contents, so I usually just carry these along with the bag to each class. These contain as follows;

(1) Mario Cut-Outs

Characters and objects for Mario-themed activities.

A set of Mario cut out characters. These can be used for the "Blackboard Character Race" game (as listed here), or else for other activities where the student selects which Mario character they want to be their team mascot. All of the items are magnetic and can easily be placed on and moved around the board.

(2) Weather and Temperature Cards

Weather and temperature cards.

I like to use these cards to start off a class at elementary school. Some of these are hand-drawn, while others were printed from the internet. All were coloured by hand using colour pencils to give them consistency. Again, they're all laminated and affixed with magnets for easy placement on the board.

At the start of the class, students are always asked; "How's the weather today?". They'll usually respond by saying it's sunny, or rainy, or cloudy, etc. The corresponding card is then placed on the board. If the class is capable enough, I'll also use the thermometer and say; "It's hot / cold / mild today."

There's a slight mistake in this set where "cool" looks like it's warmer than "mild". I think it should probably be the other way around, so I'll be correcting that soon.

(3) Stickers

Stickers!

Of course, stickers are always on hand to be given out as prizes for students who do well. They can also be used like the character stamps and placed on worksheets or other bits of work the students have done to show satisfaction with them.

I collect loads of these sticker sheets, and any spare ones from sets get merged onto into sets to avoid having too many loose bits of plastic. Put simply, the kids love having stickers.

(4) Novelty Erasers

Erasers shaped like a variety of fruits, animals, cakes, stationery, and other things.

These prizes are especially great, purchased from Daiso for only 105円 for a set of three. I usually stock up on around ten packets at a time, and award them to students who do exceptionally well in a game.

If a student gets one of these, though, I make sure to give the other students at least a character stamp at the same time; it's best not to try and make students feel envious of one another. It's best to give a few out at a time to a team, rather than singling out an individual student with an especially good prize.

Of course, stocking up on these can be quite pricey, so I advise not going too crazy with them. That said, the students absolutely love them.

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There's nothing worse than having a spare five minutes at the end of a class with nothing prepared, so having all of these things on standby and backup in a basket or bag is a great way to make sure you're never caught completely off-guard (or at least, you can be slightly more prepared to deal with those situations than you would be otherwise).

I'd say having a teaching basket has made my life as an ALT remarkably easier, as I always feel much more prepared and ready to adapt to circumstances.

More Elementary School Games & Teaching Ideas

Last year, I posted a small post during the summer months on a few ideas to try for teaching elementary school classes. I was subsequently surprised, and still am, to note that it remains one the most highly visited pages on my entire blog at time of writing (!). This is despite the fact it only consists of three games (and, at the time, a little English handout that I'd made).

Accordingly, I've decided to extend my writing on this topic with a few more ideas I've been using over the past year. I hope you find some of them useful in your teaching!

Rock, Paper, Scissors (in English)

Pretty obvious this one, and a lot of you will already know it!

The most obvious game students should be instructed in how to play "rock, paper, scissors". This is immensely popular in Japan, known as janken. It's very easy to slowly teach the kids the words “rock”, “paper” and “scissors”, and to play the game accordingly.

For anyone who has to play the game in Japanese, perhaps for a very young class, the words you'll need to chant are; "Saisho wa guu, janken pon!"

Janken can be very important in the event of a tie-breaker. It can also be used in a number of other games in this list, such as the "Horseshoe / Zig-Zag" game below.

You can get the full instructions here; http://jet.wikia.com/wiki/Janken

“What’s this?” Blindfold Game

Students volunteer to come to the front one by one. The teacher ties a blindfold to them so that they cannot see. The teacher then reveals a secret item that has been concealed. The teacher shows this to the class so that they are aware of the item, but they are not allowed to say what it is. The teacher gives the item to the blind-folded student, who has to guess what the item is.

One way to play this game is the conceal all of the items in a bag, which has scraps of newspaper or another material in the way, with the student pulling the items out at random. I often use this variation at Christmas time, with tinsel being used in a gift bag. The students pull out various items such as Christmas cards or a small Christmas tree, etc. It's always proved to be very effective.

This can be used as a great way for practicing the names of stationary, fruit, or any category of items. Again, the class can be divided into teams to introduce a competitive element.

Cup-Bowling Game

The class is divided into two teams. A teacher creates a cup tower from paper or plastic cups at the desk at front of the class. The centre of the room is cleared, and a line is marked on the ground around two or three metres away from the cup tower.

The teacher asks various easy questions to the student. Students who answer correctly have the chance to play for their team. These students stand behind the line facing the cup tower, and throw a small, soft item (e.g. a foam ball, or a packet of tissues, etc) at the cup tower. For each cup that the player manages to knock over, a point is scored for their team.

The teams compete for a number of questions, and the team with the highest number of points wins. If one team is losing or is generally weaker, the teacher can move the marked line forward for that team to allow them to score points more easily. The teacher can also rebuild different cup towers in different formations that are more challenging for the students to hit.

Picture Bingo

The students are given a blank bingo grid with only a few squares. The students fill the grid with pictures of whatever vocabulary is being taught in the lesson.

Following this, the students play bingo with the teacher calling the words. The use of pictures allows low-level learners to associate the words and their sounds with the pictures without the need for knowledge of how to spell the words.

"Bingo!"

To make the game last a little longer, I recommend only giving the students a victory if they have managed to get two "bingos" on the same grid.

Colour-In Activities

"The triangle is orange!"

Simple colour-in activities can be effective by providing the students with blank worksheets with images that need to be coloured in. Students should colour in the pictures according to the instructions of the teacher, for example; “The hat is green” (after which, the students would colour the hat on their worksheet green).

For example, in the worksheet above, the students have to colour each of the shapes in sequence according to the instructions of the teacher. In the worksheet shown, the first instruction would be; "The star is yellow". This would be followed by; "The triangle is blue", and so on.

This can be an effective way of both teaching the vocabulary for colours but also for any other category of simple target vocabulary which appear as the objects being coloured.

“Let’s Draw a…”

 

"Let's draw a Witch!"

Students are given a blank piece of paper and assigned the task of drawing something, such as a monster, or a house, or a general scene, etc. The students draw different stages of the picture at a time, with the teacher reading each stage aloud which the students have to incorporate into their drawing; e.g. “This monster has four eyes,” etc. This pattern continues until the picture is completed.

Volunteer students may wish to show their presentations to the rest of the class (if they have drawn a creature, they may say “This is…”, or for individual objects; “This is a…” etc).

Horseshoe / Zig-Zag Race

The desks of the classroom are arranged in a horseshoe or zig-zag pattern, with two teams of students on each side. On each of the desk are placed pictures of target vocabulary. When the teacher shouts “Go”, the students race down the rows of desks. The students must touch all of the pictures on the desk and say the words aloud (e.g. touching a picture of a lemon, the student must shout “lemon”, etc).

"Apple!"

When the students meet somewhere in the middle they must play “rock-paper-scissors” (janken). Whichever student wins gets to continue touching and moving down the desks. Whichever student loses is sent to the back of their team. Another student will step forward from that team to take their place, repeating the same process until they again meet the oncoming student and play another game of “rock-paper-scissors”.

Whichever team manages to get a team across to the other side wins a point for their team. At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins.

Character Blackboard Race (Mario)

NB. This game is based on the Englipedia entry here!

The class is divided into teams. The teacher shows the students several small character cards and affixes them to the board. Students choose which character they would like to represent their team.

The teacher draws a small “race course” on the board which has a clear start and end point, and places the character at the starting point. The “race course” is composed of spaces much like a board-game. Each team is given a dice.

The teacher asks the students various questions, to which the students answer by raising their hands. A player with a correct answer gets to roll a dice for their team, and the character of their team is moved along the “race course” in a similar manner to a board-game. The character that reaches the end of the course first wins the game.

This game can also be modified to include “power-ups” much like a racing video-game, whereby students can move extra spaces or be sent back depending on the icons which are placed on the spaces upon which they land.

“What’s Missing?” Game

Playing the "What's Missing?" Game with flags of countries.
The students shut their eyes, and a card is removed, which they then have to remember.

Pictures of the target vocabulary are placed on the board. The teacher ensures that the students are familiar with all the vocabulary (perhaps by repeating the words with the students before the game begins).

On the count of three, the students close their eyes, and the teacher removes one of the pictures from the board. The teacher then says “open”, and the students open their eyes again. The students then have to raise their hands and guess which card has been removed from the board.

The teacher repeats this process several times, each time removing more cards from the board (starting with just one card, then two, then three, etc). Each time the students have to guess which cards are missing. At the end of the activity, all of the cards are removed from the board, and the students have to remember all of the words that have been used in the activity.

Keyword Game

An eraser.

As above, pictures of the target vocabulary are placed on the board. The students sit in pairs with an eraser or other small item sitting in front of them. The teacher slowly chants through the words of the vocabulary, which are repeated back to the teacher by the students (e.g. fruits: the teacher says “lemon”, which is repeated by the students saying “lemon”, etc).

Before the round begins, a keyword will have been selected and told to the students by the teacher. While chanting the words, the students need to listen for this keyword. When the teacher says the keyword, the students need to grab their eraser (or other item) as quickly as possible. The student who manages to grab the item before their partner wins a point.

The process is repeated several times. At the end of the game, the student with the most points wins.

Whisper Race Game

Pictures of the target vocabulary are placed on the board. The students are divided into teams based on the rows in which they sit, and these teams stand in their rows in a straight line facing the blackboard and the pictures.

One student from each team moves to the back of the room, where the teacher will whisper a keyword to them simultaneously (e.g. “lemon”). When the teacher says “Go”, the students need to run back to their team and whisper the word from person to person down their team line. The person at the front of the team, upon hearing the keyword, needs to run to the blackboard and touch the picture of the keyword on the board. The first student to touch the picture wins a point for their team. The player at the back then moves to the front, so that a new player will be hearing the keyword and passing it forward. The game continues at least until all students have had a turn at hearing the keyword and trying to touch the keyword on the board.

At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins. Teams can be disqualified by the teacher’s discretion if they skip players or are seen cheating in any way.

Bomb Game

The teacher takes a simple timer and sets it for a limited time, such as twenty or thirty seconds. The timer is put into the bag, which becomes a "bomb". The students pass it around within the allocated time (it's best to have the students pass it in the rows or columns they are sitting in to avoid throwing).

When the bomb "goes off" (ie. the timer starts beeping), the student with the bag has to stand up and is given a penalty, such as having to answer a question in English or such. This game can become quite frantic and very fast-paced, which occasionally means the timer might get dropped or broken. As such, don't use a very expensive one - remember that you can probably get them very cheaply at the 100円 store.

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So, there's a few more games to add on to my previous list! A lot of these are very straightforward and will be known by a lot of you already. Hopefully a few of them, however, are new to you and might prove helpful in your classes.

Happy teaching!