Elementary

Use for generic karuta!

For a numbers lesson I often also:

• count together (take turns, slow, fast, deep, high, mickey voice, etc)
• sing numbers song
• Missing Flashcard game
• math problems
• count with a partner, take turns
• magic number game. take turns. you can say 1, 2, or 3 numbers. person to say 12 is the winner. 

A nicely-designed pdf that is best used printed out, laminated, and used with whiteboard markers. Best used right before summer vacation. 1. Divide the class into their hans/groups. 2. Give each han a paper. Have them practice the sentences. 3. Have half of the han be interviewers, and the other half be interviewees first. 4. Place the papers throughout the classroom, and give each interviewer group 1-2 whiteboard markers. 5. Have the interviewees float around and answer each question. The interviewers will tally on the paper.

This was a little difficult for my ES 4年 students but they did enjoy it. The PPT asks what time it is in other countries, if it is noon in Japan.

You'll have to explain time difference (Japanese: jisa) first.  You can use the picture at the beginning of the PPT to help, and the homeroom teacher. It might take time, but it's a valuable concept to know. They study it in 4年 I think.

Next, you'll have to explain the premise that it is noon in Japan. Just keep reminding them during the PPT.

Here is a nicely designed battleship worksheet pdf for upper-level ES.

It is to be played in pairs, after having already taught the sentence structure and vocab.

It's important to emphasize that the game is NOT about what YOU can/cannot do, but about where your ships are.

Also the students tend to stress about drawing a ship, so either show an example they can copy, or let them just draw circles or a line or something.

This is the grassroots 2018 elementary school presentation.

In this lesson, I've included my verb flashcard set. I made for 6th graders in an attempt to expand their verb choices so they could at least make more interesting sentences using the "I can~" grammatical framework.

I've used the end of year mini comics lesson a number of times, but the original lesson doesn't include any editable templates so please consider this an updated version of that lesson.

Summary: This lesson combines English, origami, and Christmas into a fun cultural exchange activity. The students will follow your verbal English instructions while you slowly go through the Youtube tutorial step-by-step. At the end of the activity, they'll have a Santa Claus or two to take home.

Preparation:

This game as a bit if prep, but if made and laminated the cards can be used for a number of games in the future. The game plays like the classic card game WAR (may be known by other names).

Prep:
Print and laminate (I recommend having a colored backing to limit cheating) a deck of alphabet cards for each pair of students. I use a deck consisting of each letter 2x

Very easy and simple game. 
In pairs roll a die and move a token (eraser) the correct number of spaces. Following the picture on the space, say the target sentence "I want to be a ___"
If space as a chute\slide, slide down. If there is a ladder, climb up.

After practicing numbers 1-59 and how to say the time, give the students the attached worksheet after giving them the following instructions: 

IMPORTANT: Make sure the HRT makes the students cut their alphabet cards out before class!

After reviewing the alphabet and the grammar point "What ~ do you want?" demonstrate how to play the game with the HRT (or a student volunteer). 

1. Introduce the 4 seasons and talk about the differences among them. Have the HRT help generate ideas and output from the students.

2. Introduce the sentences "What season is this?" and "It's ~" using gestures and pictures of seasonal events/things. Practice the sentences. Examples: 

Draw a 5x5 (or 4x4 or 6x6 etc.) grid on the board and fill in each square with a random date. Secretly choose one of the squares to be the "mine" but don't tell anyone (except maybe the HRT). Split the students into groups and decide the order of the groups. Have the students janken; the winner of the group chooses one of the dates and says it in English. If the square is safe, replace the date with a number indicating how far the "mine" is.

This activity is basically a more physical version of the counting activity in the Hi Friends 1 textbook.

PREP

Print out two copies of the attached files on a color printer, then laminate and cut out the objects. This should net you 20 cards of each object type. 

Put magnetic stickers on the backs of the cards. 

TEACHING "HOW MANY~?" (or review if you have already taught it)

1. Put some cards on the board and demonstrate a sample conversation with the HRT (or a student volunteer).

After students have already learned numbers, colors, shapes you can use this lesson to review and get them into the holiday spirit (if your school is Christmas friendly)!
They will create Christmas cards by requesting specific shapes from their partners.

This activity is really simple: watch the Peppa Pig Christmas special, and get the kids to do the worksheet while they watch. It went down a treat with my 4年生 kids!! The worksheet has typical Christmas-y events that happen throughout the episode. Students just have to label the events in chronological order. You can pause throughout the video to ask questions and to check their understanding. You can explain cultural differences like calling Santa 'Father Christmas' and why having a snowball fight is impossible in Australia. The kids will not understand most of the English. That's fine.

Summary: This lesson is based on the Japanese New Year's Game "Fukuwarai," where one person closes their eyes and another person directs them to place the parts of face on a blank face. The face always winds up looking funny and everyone laughs. This lesson recreates that game but with added Jack-o-Lantern flair. They color a blank pumpkin worksheet, then design their own Jack-o-Lantern face parts out of construction paper and play the game with a partner using up, down, right, left, and stop.

Model the dialogue with the OTE: 
S1: "What's this?" (show #1)
S2: "何これ?!  Oh, is it a cat?"
S1: "No, it isn't. What's this?"  (show #2)
S2: "Hmm, is it a cucumber?"
S1: "No, it isn't. What's this?" (show #3)
S2: "Ah! Is it an eggplant?"
S1: "Yes, it is."

Have the students pair up along desk columns and rotate the columns to switch partners, or walk around and talk to random partners, or race in teams up and down the rows to complete the dialogue. 
So many options.

Tired of ugly bingo cards? Want some color in your life?

Look no further! Thanks to this wonderful website you can now have beautiful, colorful lowercase alphabet cards in your life. (Uppercase alphabet file available on their website as well.)

Laminate them and use them forever!

1. Once you have explained and demonstrated the rules, have the students move their desks into groups of 4. (Lunch groups are fine too, but be sure to keep the numbers within 3-5 students per group.) 

2. Have each student take out a pencil (colored is okay!) and an eraser (or something similar to use as a game piece).

3. Give each student an ABC Bingo Card and have them write their names. 

4. Give each group an ABC Sugoroku game sheet and  a 6-sided die. 

Rules: 

This is a fun activity that any grade could do (including elementary school 6th or precocious younger grades). I did it as an “introduction to the dictionary” for my JHS 1st graders.

First, I gave them a blanked-out map of the school, and the worksheet. My OTE gave me the map of the school when I originally arrived so I’m not entirely sure where it came from, but someone at your school should have one.

The PokeBalls and PokemonGO Pokedex can be adapted to any directions lesson. I used the props for both 6th grade ES and 1st grade JHS. 

6th grade ES

Each student has a copy of the target words and has practiced them in previous lessons.  Read and repeat the words once as a warm-up.

Make square cards (about a little smaller than your palm) in the various colours you will teach. Each colour set will have numbers (some the same, some different) written in large font on them.

Scatter your pre-made colour number cards around the blackboard, making sure they are as evenly spaced as possible.

1. One student is selected to put his hands into a black box. He closes his/her eyes while the item is selected and placed in the box.
2. The class will ask the student “(Name), what’s this?” The student sticks his hands into the box and must try and guess what it is by touch.
3. If he knows the answer, he must answer “It’s a ~.”
4. If he can’t guess, he answers “I don’t know” and the class reveals the answer “It’s a ~.”

1. Place typhoon cards, an AM clock, and a PM clock on the board.
2. Split students into 3-6 groups.
3. Choose someone (HRT or student) to keep score.
4. The teacher says a time, for example, “It’s 5:33 AM.”
5. The team that raises their hands first may go up to the board and move the clock hands to the right time.
6. If they are correct, they pick a typhoon card for their team.

Try to secretly glance at the real clock and call out that time. Point out that it is the actual time.

Every student starts this game with three colored strips of paper (ohajiki are ok), plus one mini flashcard (they are in the back of the textbook, or you could make your own.) The goal of the life game is to use English to get as many lives as possible, while avoiding death. 

A player makes a true or false statement about a card and tries to put on a “poker face” so that the other player cannot see if he is telling the truth. The object is to put all the cards down on the table.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Mardi Gras! 

• Show pictures of the festival, people with masks, and dancers.
• Show the students a calendar of the month of Mardi Gras. 
• Show them a map of the United States and where New Orleans is located.

1. Review the color vocabulary: red, green, blue, yellow, black, white, orange, pink, and purple.
2. Review the school supply vocabulary while showing them the supplies: paint, paint brush, string, plate, water, towel, and photo.

ACTIVITY:

1. Using the given color

INTRODUCTION:

Review school supply vocabulary:
stapler, eraser, pen, pencil, pencil case, paper, and scissors.
Show students example of real-life school
supplies (preferably their own supplies) and review the vocabulary again.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Sing the alphabet song. Even though your students may not be very active during the song, you still should stay upbeat and entertaining.

• If your school does not have a CD with English songs, you can easily find one on the Internet or iTunes.

2. Review the letters of the alphabet.

I used this for Hi Friends 2 Lesson 3, but it could be adapted for any “can/can’t” vocabulary.

1. First, teach the 10 activities from pg. 10 as well as “I can/can’t ~.”

2. Give each student a blank 3×3 bingo card.

3. Tell them to fill in the card with the activities. (It’s up to you whether you want them to write in romaji, katakana, Japanese, or draw pictures).

4. Before they actually fill out the card explain that you will be telling them your own (true) answers about what you can and can’t do.

1. Draw dashes on the board corresponding to the number of letters in the target word.
2. The students have to work out the word by guessing one letter at a time. Students can be selected however you like.
3. For each incorrect guess a part of the hanged man is drawn, with the 10th miss causing the students to lose.

You can put the students in teams against each other or have them all against the teacher.

ACTIVITY

1. Students are placed in groups of four or five. They do janken to judge who starts first.


2. The first student tosses a marker (coin, stone or bean bag) into a square on the hopscotch map. The marker must be completely in the box and not touching a line or bouncing out.

ACTIVITY:

1.Read the students the story San-Biki no Kobuta in Japanese

-Even if Hirigana is difficult for you, show your own enjoyment through using voices for the characters, gestures and hand motions, or actions related to the story.

2. Review the main words of the story with the students in English

Three 　Sanbiki さんびき                     Straw  　　　Wara わら

Wolf 　 Ookami おおかみ                   Brick  　　　Renga れんが

Pig(lets)  Kobuta こぶた                      Wood (stick)  　Ki き

INTRODUCTION

This is to be used at the end of a Body Parts lessons. The vocabulary I used: Head, Eyes, Mouth, Nose, Ears, and Hair.

INTRODUCTION

These books are Colleen’s idea!

For the last lesson of the year, gather together all the material you have covered and turn it into a book so it can be easily reviewed.

INTRODUCTION

Review the key phrase and countries on the handout. All of the countries shown are within theEigo Noto books, though Spain is in Eigo Noto 1, and Canada, Norway, Greece, and Ecuador are all in supplementary areas of Eigo Noto 2.

INTRODUCTION

Before doing this lesson, students should be familiar with the days of the week.

Review lesson name vocabulary with the students.

INTRODUCTION:

Teach students right, left, froward, and back.

INTRODUCTION:

• Before the lesson, set up your own “What’s this?” bag by placing each of the classroom objects inside.
• Reach into your bag and pull out an item.  Ask the students “What’s this?”  Once the students respond, put up the appropriate flashcard and have the students place the item on their desk.
• Repeat until all flashcards have been put on the board.

Classroom items: pen, pencil, marker, eraser, pencil case, ruler, tape, glue, colored pencils, book.

INTRODUCTION:

• ALT introduces the vocabulary to the students.

ACTIVITY:

Review

INTRODUCTION:

Before the lesson, make up a poster with “Can you 〜 ?” questions.

Review “Can you 〜 ?/I can 〜 ” with the students.

INTRODUCTION:

Spend one class completing a handout about the information students will include in their introduction.  Use grammar points they have learned the year before.  An example is:

1. Hello, my name is (             ). 
2. I like (     ). 
3. I want to go to (       ). 
4. I want to be a (        ). 
5. Nice to meet you.

ACTIVITY:

The First Class

ACTIVITY

Write the numbers 1–10 on the board. Often western 2s and 7s (and sometimes 4s) are written differently from the standard Japanese style. Have a brief discussion with the kids about it. Have volunteers come to the board and write the offending number the Japanese way.

Practice counting aloud both forward and backward and at random.

Next, circulate the room and have students take turns standing and telling you the number. Be sure to ask them numbers out of order.

INTRODUCTION:

This is a lesson that can be modified to revolve around reviewing vocabulary through Pictionary.

INTRODUCTION

• Introduce vocabulary using flashcards. Keep the words simple. No more than eight words. I use: sun, moon, star, comet, planet, rocket, spaceship and alien.


• Practice as a group then as individuals.

ACTIVITY:

1. Introduce shapes (circle, square, triangle, heart, diamond, cross, star)
2. Hand out worksheet, students take out colored pencils.
3. While students are writing their names on their papers (in romaji) arrange the color flash cards and the shapes (separately) at the bottom of the board.
4. Collect students name tags and put them into an envelope/hat or small box.
5. Pull a name out of the hat and call the student up to choose a color. They must tell the class the color name and hang it in the middle of the board.

INTRODUCTION

Introduce the new animals.

Introduce the phrase “What’s this?” and “It’s a/an ~ .”

ACTIVITY

Demonstrate. Cover one animal card, ask ‘what’s this?’, and then make the appropriate animal noise. Allow for an answer. Do this for all the animal cards.

New Vocabulary: The Daily Routine

Wake up, go to sleep, take a bath, eat breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner, go to school.

ACTIVITY

1. Before reviewing the new vocabulary, first review the different times on a clock. This includes 1 to 12, and 30 minute times (See Note 1).

2. Teach the new vocabulary featured above. Use pictures to illustrate the vocabulary. For example, if the vocabulary is ‘go to school’, make sure to also have a picture of a student going to school.

INTRODUCTION:

Teach the initial introduction phrases. then move on to the activity.

ACTIVITY:

1. Demonstrate the activity with four students.
2. Two students will be ‘IT’. They must tag the other students. If a student is tagged, they must freeze on the spot.
3. A student may un-freeze if they are greeted by a free student.

A. Hello, my name is ~.

B. Hello, my name is ~. Nice to meet you.

*SHAKE HANDS*

A. Nice to meet you too.

INTRODUCTION:

The students should have learned the phrases ‘What do you want/ What would you like?’ previously using food. Refresh this language. Also review shapes, size and colors.

ACTIVITY:

Demonstrate the activity using the OTE/two students.

INTRODUCTION

Review all of the subjects that the children study in English.

ACTIVITY

The aim of the game is to get as many subject cards as possible.

INTRODUCTION

Review the various jobs. They will be covered in the next lesson if you follow the stated order of the book. Discuss what job each professional does.

ACTIVITY

Demonstrate the activity using two students for an example.

INTRODUCTION

Use the map of the world (one globe per group is also possible) to find Japan. Find various other countries, e.g. Jamaica, South Africa, India, UK, etc. This is useful to gauge what they already know from social studies class.

INTRODUCTION

I did a lesson on Australian animals, where I introduced the vocabulary whilst reading the famous Australian children’s story Possum Magic by Mem Fox. I also had a copy of the same book in Japanese (ポスおばちゃんのまほう) which was read by the Home Room Teacher (HRT). This idea could be adapted to suit a variety of different sets of vocabulary, depending on the chosen story book.

INTRODUCTION:

Introduce the sports vocabulary and grammar points by asking the HRT/students “What sport do you like?”

Practice the English pronunciation of each sport, paying close attention to those sports that are katakana words (basketball, soccer, dodge ball etc.)

ACTIVITY:

Find Your Team Game

INTRODUCTION:

• Introduce the lesson by teaching shapes and shape names.

ACTIVITY:

Before class, prepare construction paper shapes with or without lamination. Prepare one big circle, triangle, square, oval and rectangle with increasing numbers of smaller shapes (i.e. 2 medium circles and 6 small circles, etc..).

INTRODUCTION (10–15MIN)

• Review numbers 1-10 and introduce the names of face cards (Ace, Jack, Queen, King)
• Demonstrate the key phrase “Do you have~” by interacting with the homeroom teacher.
  • Ask him/her to pick a card from the deck and show the class.

A fairly low-prep activity to practice verbs, and associating them with physical gestures.

A fun, fairly low prep game to get kids familiar with actions and verbs you’ve introduced. Can be a little chaotic, but works fine in classrooms, even with a lot of kids. Ties in with Halloween activities.

Write an easy self introduction, it should be between three and five minutes. This time includes repetition of key words and important points.

Start your first lesson by telling the students that you will be doing a self introduction. Tell them that when you are done, they will put their hands up and announce what they understood. Ask the HRT to translate your instructions.

Note: This lesson may be used alongside the ‘Can’ chapter in either Hi Friends! or Eigo Note.

Students will need to have been introduced to the ‘Can you ～ ?’, ‘Yes, I can.’, and ‘No, I can’t.’grammar points.

ACTIVITY

In groups (lunch groups with do fine), students are given a worksheet, and a teacher who is regularly at the school. Anyone’s fair game, even if you’re fairly sure they don’t speak any English.

Game Explanation:

This game is based off the 6th grade lesson 4. Students work in pairs to make their way around the school to collect Pokémon. Each group will get one ping pong ball (poke ball) and one paper (Pokedex). The Pokedex should contain a simple map of the school (I asked my Vice principle for a floor plan and then traced it and made a simple copy) and a list of Pokémon (see Pokedex file).

Have teams guide a blindfolded student towards a box that has a balloon in it and spikes facing downwards (don't worry, the spikes aren't dangerous).

You need to buy two blindfolds and a ton of balloons. You also need to make an explosion box. I do this by putting thumbtacks in the top of the lid , so that they poke through and then taping them in place.

I review direction vocab with the kids first "turn right, turn left, go straight, and stop." You can also add words like "behind", but it's not really necessary.

Simple and fun English board with English Pokemon names and the meanings behind them. Use for any level you think would be interested in Pokemon!

If your students have practiced numbers a bit before and are good at listening, this lesson will be easy. If not, you may have a challenge on your hands, but you can adjust by doing less of the dot to dots or opting for the easier ones.

Make sure you cut off the answers before you make the student copies of the dot to dot sheets!

A fairly easy color lesson suitable for Elementary school. Students must know numbers already.

For the karuta cards I recommend cutting colored paper into 5x6cm pieces and laminating them.

Copy the coloring pages onto A5-sized paper (two pages printed on A4 and cut it in half) because the bigger the page is the longer it takes them to color it.

This is a two part lesson. If you have to teach it as a single lesson the students need to do the coloring sheet prior to your lesson.

• First practice turn right/left, go straight, go back, stop, etc.
• Next, have students stand and move the way that you direct.
• Next, students give directions to move a magnetic arrow on a map of Kyoto. You can print out photos of the temples separately and use them again next year.
• Have students sit and ask for a volunteer. The volunteer wears a hat so their eyes are covered.
• Hide something in the room (like a chalkboard eraser) and the students raise their hands to give a direction  (turn left! etc.).

• Students place the cards face down on the floor/table.
• Students turn one card over and say the name of whatever is on the card out loud.
• Students then try to find another one of the same type.
• If they find a pair, they can keep it and try again. If not, the next player takes a turn. For example, if the first card is an apple, the student must say “apple” and turn over another card. If the next card is also an apple, they can keep the pair.

Teacher(s) teaches new vocab with flashcards on the blackboard. Get the students into teams (4+), assigning each team a number. Write the team numbers on the backboard (for scoring purposes). Select 5 flashcard and line them up on the blackboard. Draw a chalk outline around these flashcards to help the students see which cards they need to memorize.

Demonstrate with the HRT how the game works:

The children, who should have already practiced the directions earlier in class, are paired, told to get out their caps and then clear the classroom for all available space. Each pair jankens and the winner is declared the master and the loser the servant/robot/anything submissive really. The idea is that the master will give directions to its servants via the commands while the servant does not move in any way not ordered by their master. Additionally, the servants must wear their caps, white side up, while the masters wear their caps around their necks.

This lesson is a result of discussion at Job Training 2012. Special thanks to Matt Mullins, Chris Shirley, Malaya Viloria, David Howard, and Rory Harnden.

This is an adaptation of the Keyword Game, in which students race for an eraser once the ‘key word’ is called.

This lesson is a result of discussion at Job Training 2012.

This lesson is a result of discussion at Job Training 2012. Special thanks to Laura Jourdain, Jennifer Nishizaki, Matt Pedler, Jimmy Nguyen, Jessica Dovey.

This activity is a race style game where the students will have to balance a beanbag while moving along.

Split the class into around 6 teams.

This classic kids song is not to be underestimated. Done correctly, it will be so fun that the entire class will be in peals of laughter. Sometimes simple is best.

I think everyone knows the song, but a quick look on youtube will refresh your memory. However you will not need a copy of the song in class, just singing the words is enough.

The first time go through it slowly with the students, getting everyone to do the actions.

This lesson is a result of discussion at Job Training 2012. Special thanks to Andrew Foley, Suen Rowe, May Wu, Antonio Vega, Charles Prete Jr.

After reviewing body parts, divide the class into 2 teams.

Draw 2 large cartoon people on the board. Try to make them around the same size. As you draw them try to review the names of all the appropriate body parts.

1. Go through the dates in a month and months of a year. Have students repeat after ALT.
2. Ask the question ‘When is your birthday?’ Model the response, ‘My birthday is October 1st’.
3. Hand out the bingo sheets to the students. Make sure there is enough space on the worksheet to write in the dates.
4. Also pass out the smaller cards.

INTRODUCTION:

Introduce the vocabulary. After pronouncing each month you can write a corresponding katakana character as a hint on the picture card.

Write “When is your birthday?” and “My birthday is in….” on the board and ask students what they mean and practice pronunciation. A good idea is to start by breaking down the phrase.  Repeat with all of the months.

ACTIVITY:

Hand out the worksheet, and write on the board:

Hello,

When is your birthday?

My birthday is in 〜 .

Sign, please.

BEFORE CLASS:

1. Make large capital letter cut-outs from card stock.

SUKI SUKI JANKEN

Level ES 1-6

Duration 5-10 minutes

Grammar point I like ~.

Objective To interact using pictures and simple English phrases.

Resources simple pictures printed on thick paper & cut, colored pencils, pens, or crayons

Preparation:

This is to teach students about the Christmas traditions of advent calendars and writing letters to Santa using the grammar point “I want/I would like”.

The advent calendar is in the form of a Christmas tree and can be used to decorate the students’ classroom. Students will each get a present-shaped piece of card and on one side write their student number and on the other side write their present request to Santa. The format I used was “To Santa, I would like a ~ please, thank you, (name)”.

These are some resources and short activities that can be used when practicing “What's this?” and “It’s a ~ .”

SILHOUETTES

This is a quick quiz showing the silhouettes of various characters. If the students are already comfortable with “What's this?” it would be a good time to use “Who is this?” with these characters.

ACTIVITY:

• Students have to make a band by finding a group of 5, all playing a different instrument.
• Students will have a card saying one of the following: singer, drums, guitar, recorder or piano.  The example phrase to say is “I can [play the drums/sing, etc.]“
• By speaking to other students and using the example phrase, students try to find 4 others with cards different from their own to create a band. When they find a students with a different card, they say, “Join my band.”

For example:

ACTIVITY

• Students are put in groups, each with a pack of cards. Demonstrate the game with the HRT and a pack of giant cards first.
• One student puts down a card and says the number.

ACTIVITY

• Each student is given a number.
• Go around the circle listing the numbers and asking them to put their hand up so everyone knows their number in English.
• Start a clapping rhythm.
• The first student must say their number and another student’s number.
• The second student must then repeat their number and say someone else’s number.
• If a student cannot say their number in time to the rhythm they are out.
• Continue around the circle until everyone has had a turn.

ACTIVITY

1. In groups give the students a map of the world in jigsaw pieces.

INTRODUCTION

Show month cards and get students to repeat. Guess with the picture clues when the HRT and ALT's birthdays are.

ACTIVITY

• Hand out the month cards and get the students to think of one thing that happens in those months such as a festival or what the weather is like. Present their choices to the class in month order.

Birthday Ice Cream

INTRODUCTION:

Teach students the words run, jump, skip, hop, dance, walk and crawl. Do this by having students do the action with you.

1. Give each student a color card.
2. During the song, students stand up and turn around when they hear their color.
3. Students sing each color.

The lyrics to the song are:

Red and yellow and pink and green,
Purple and orange and blue.
I can sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow,
You can sing one too!

Listen with your eyes,
Listen with your eyes,
And sing everything you see.
You can sing a rainbow,
Sing a rainbow,
Sing along with me.

Rules:

-Students MUST NOT say the answer out loud in Japanese or English

-Have all students STAND UP

Game:

1. The ALT/HRT either writes a particular word/picture on the board or shows the students a flashcard.

2. If the students know what the word/picture is in English, they must raise their hand. The ALT/HRT will acknowledge that their hand is up at which the student will race to front and whisper the answer to the ALT/HRT.

INTRODUCTION:

Review the action vocabulary and animal vocabulary from the chapter.

INTRODUCTION:

• Teach animal names to students using “Do you like 〜 ?”
• Teach animal sounds

Ask the students what the Japanese version of animal sounds are and let them guess the English version

• Story/Song with Old McDonald Had a Farm

Let students fill in the blank for the animal name in the song, ask how many animals are in the picture

3年and４年

First I made two sets of 12 cards with pictures of my hobbies, country, favorite food (Japanese and American), favorite color, etc. with magnets on both sides of the card. (Be sure to either laminate the picture with a colored piece of paper in the background or glue it on afterwards so the cards aren`t see through)

Numbers listening comprehension

Before using this worksheet you should have previously introduced numbers 1-60 as that is the highest number on the worksheet. I created this sheet as a precursor to telling time.

Students learn to describe their clothes using "I have ____  ____." Students will learn when to use "a~". I recommend that you teach it the correct way, but don't worry about it if the students make mistakes. Students really enjoy drawing the clothes their partner describes.

This is a really easy game to review numbers at ES. It's a great warm-up activity.

The ALT or HRT will say a number, and the students have to get into groups of that number and sit down. The fastest team wins that round.

Some variations:

Once the students have sat down they have to count how many people are in their group together.

For 5th and 6th grades, I tell them they are not allowed to use Japanese which is a great challenge. I hear lots of creative English.

Prof. Oak helps us name and describe facial features. Watch as your students slowly come to realize that the bald, featureless face of infinite creepyness is actually good ole "hakase".

After teaching occupation vocabulary, "What do you want to be?" and, "I want to be a ~ ."

This is simply a voting activity to see which cartoon character is the most popular. This activity was an unexpected hit! The students really wanted their favorite character to win.

After teaching "What color do you like?" and "What food do you like?" this game is a fun way to finish the lesson.

Created with Ashley, Gracia, and Cam Taylor at Summer Job Training 2014.

This song links weather and emotions. The song is sung along to the tune of Frère Jacques. (You already know this song.)

This game is derived from a classic Japanese children's game of the same name. In this description of the game, animals will be used as the target vocabulary, though the game can be used equally well for colours, foods, sports, etc.

All students are assigned a different target vocabulary. For example, in this case, we have cats, elephants, lions, birds, etc. Students may have a card with their word, or remember their word.

This game is very similar to other games, such as karuta or bodyball, but instead the students try hitting targets on the blackboard with fly swatters.

You will need 4 fly swatters.

1. Divide kids into 4 teams and draw up a scoreboard.
2. Place flash cards towards the top of the board.
3. Draw a circle (target) under each flash card.
4. Get 4 students to come to the front of the room and give them all a fly swatter.

Ready...

I made a dope worksheet with custom flashcards featuring various emotions in emoticon form for everyone's entertainment. (I didn't make the emoticons just edited them.)

Use the flashcards to go over or introduce emotions.

Then move on to the activity.

Use this worksheet to play a (time depends on your students level) emotions janken game.

Every kid gets a worksheet.

These mini comics are a fun way to finish the year and the students get something to take home with them. They are a little difficult but the students can take their time and you can go around the class and help out. Make sure you check the content and change it to suit your schools.

Here are some links on how to make the mini-comics:

Videos:

Youtube

Teachertube

After teaching/reviewing body parts (and singing Head Shoulders Knees Toes a couple of times), divide the class into groups and get them to stand in rows in front of the blackboard.

Draw a body and a neck of a robot for each group. Explain that they now have to draw the rest of the robot as a group.

Stand at the back of the room and get the last student of each group to come to you.

This activity is based very closely on an Englipedia post, but I made it a competition across all the classes in the grade.

To conduct the race, first work out an order for students. I had them sit in rows and we snaked around the class.

Start the stopwatch when the first student says Sunday (or another pre-agreed day). The next student says Monday, next Tuesday and so on, until you get through the whole class and stop the timer.

Simple  yet entertaining days of the week worksheet featuring your favorite Sesame Street Muppets.  I downloaded a boring worksheet from some site(I unfortunately forgot the name of). I then used Photoshop and altered all the images to make it more interesting.

I attached the worksheet, but for some reason it is not showing up. So just right click and save image as or copy and paste into a different program like paint or photoshop.

Use this worksheet for a quick review, or introduction to the days of the week.

First I had cards with the Japanese days of the week (日曜日、月曜日, etc.) on the board, then I put cards with the English days of the week written in katakana under the correct Japanese day. (サンデイ、マンデイ、チューズデイ，ウェンズデイ、サーズデイ、フライデイ、サタデイ) If they know the alphabet, I would use that, but I taught this to 4th grade so they didn`t know. We did a lot of reviewing and repeating, then I gave seven students the seven katakana cards and they had to put them under the correct Japanese day of the week. (Review of past material plus this intro took around 10 minutes.)

1. Students line up in 2 or 3 teams in front of the blackboard. Each team has 2 or 3 balls (in case they miss on the first throw).
2. On the count of 3 all students ask the teacher a question such as, "Where do you want to go?"
3. The teacher replies with an answer such as, "I want to go to~" + a flashcard.
4. The first student in each line must throw and hit the correct flashcard on the board.

This activity is for the grammar point, “What is this?” in the first year of One World.

After introducing the question, “What is this?” and teaching the response, challange the students to guess what some cards you have made are.

For example,

Awesome ALT: “What is this?”

Genki Student A: “It’s a watermelon!”

Awesome ALT: “No, it’s not a watermelon.  It’s a…”

“… frog!”

Whole Genki Class: “Heeeeee~!”

Awesome ALT: “OK, one more, what is this?”

This game is a take on the regular twister game where you touch the colored dots with your hands or your feet. Instead of the colorful mat, the students will move their hands or feet to other body parts while trying not to fall down. The teachers joined in too and it was hilarious!

Students form letters of the alphabet with their bodies, in pairs. This activity was adapted from the Body Alphabet activity on JHS Englipedia.

Instructions:

1.     Tell the students they are going to create their own dream dinner.

2.     Give each student a recipe worksheet. Before they start thinking about the foods their dinner will include, practice saying each foods name a couple times.

3.     Have students cut out food on meal card page

4.     Practice dialogue with JTE and demonstrate on large example on board.

This is a classic elementary math game used when studying probability. I use it in lessons that introduce numbers and counting.

Students only need to know numbers 1 – 6 to play, but it is better if they know how to count to higher numbers such as 45.

To play:

This lesson is a result of discussion at Job Training 2012. Special thanks to Laura Jourdain, Jennifer Nishizaki, Matt Pedler, Jimmy Nguyen, Jessica Dovey.

Appropriate for lower level elementary, or perhaps nakayoshi, depending on what they like.

It may be appropriate for a lesson including body parts or directions such as up, down, left, right, in, out. (Similar to the Hockey Pockey)

PREPARATION:

Find 5 large, clear pictures of common places (e.g. park, my friend’s house, beach, school, station) or famous cities (New York, London, Tokyo, Seoul, Toronto) and 5 large, clear pictures of common activities (watch TV, listen to music, eat ice cream, etc). If possible, label each picture clearly and legibly. Print out 2 sets.

ALT draws a large 5×5 grid on the whiteboard/chalkboard.

Set up the x-axis for places and the y-axis for activities.

This game can be adapted to a wide variety of key questions, phrases, and vocabulary instruction and practice.

For the purpose of this explanation, we will assume the lesson is:

“How are you?”
“I’m ~ (happy/sad/fine/sick/angry)”

INTRODUCTION:

1. Review the colors using color cards: yellow, white, black, red, brown, pink, blue, and orange. The color cards should be the size of an

Credit goes to Luke Orme for the the original conceptualization!

Attached are Word and PDF versions of the rules. Loosely bilingual (Japanese/English) for your convenience. (If there’s weird Japanese, I apologize.)

Zombie Janken 2.0 rules

Disclaimer: Kids + zombies + janken  = potential chaos. However, it usually doesn’t get too crazy even in a classroom.

1. Warm-up (5 minutes): count together with the class to 30 and review the pronunciation for 13 vs. 30, the TH sound, 14 vs. 40, etc.

This lesson is a result of discussion at Job Training 2012. Special thanks to Matt Mullins, Chris Shirley, Malaya Viloria, David Howard, and Rory Harnden.

Activity

This activity can be used with any vocabulary you have pictures for.

1. Attach the flashcards to the blackboard with magnets.
2. Divide the students into teams.  They likely have pre-existing "han" of 4-6 students, or you can divide them up yourself.
3. Have one student from each group come up to a spot, with everyone the same distance away from the blackboard.
4. Say a vocabulary word.  The goal is for the students to hit the vocabulary card with the paper plane.

This is a technique that you can use at the end of a game such as the Life Game or Rock Paper Scissors Numbers to determine who got the most (or least) amount.

Every student starts this game with three colored strips of paper (ohajiki are ok), plus one mini flashcard (they are in the back of the textbook, or you could make your own.) The goal of the life game is to use English to get as many lives as possible, while avoiding death. 

1. Each student gets five small objects (ohajiki, glass beads, etc).
2. For two minutes, they play rock paper scissors with however many students they can.
3. The winner must ask for a glass bead from the loser.

Winner: One, please.
Loser: Here you are.
Winner: Thank you.

1. After the game, every student must say how many glass beads they have in English.

The winner is the student with the most beads (or, occasionally to mix things up, the least beads).

The object of this game is to be the first to say the sum of the hands.

1. In pairs, play janken.
2. Add the total of your hands.
   Rock = 1
   Scissors = 2
   Paper = 5
   Challenge: Play with two hands, or more than one person.
3. Play 5 times with a partner.
4. Change partners.

1. Break class into small groups. Groups of five are ideal.
2. Give each group a piece newspaper. The students place it on the ground, unfolded.
3. On your cue, two groups janken against one another (choose one hand-representative, but everyone must say the English).
4. If a team loses or ties at janken, they must fold their newspaper in half. Teams must try to stay standing on their island no matter how small it gets.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until no one is left standing.

1. Place plastic cards of colors/shapes around the room.
2. The teacher demonstrates how to play the game by saying, "When I say, 'Clap at red,' you go to red, and clap." and various phrases using a mixture of colors/numbers and actions.

You may also say "Clap to red," in which case the students clap on their way to something red.

*Build up to color+shape+action. For example, let the children try finding the colors first. Next, add shapes. Finally, ask them to do all three: "Eat a pizza at a blue star."

Possible actions:

I've only used this for colors so far, but it can be used to review any vocabulary.

In a nutshell, play Duck, Duck, Goose with the students.  But instead of using the animals, use the target vocabulary.  For instance, if you are teaching colors, choose one color to be the "goose."  (I usually do this in a big dramatic way, making Wheel-of-Fortune sound-effects until the students tell me "stop!")  Separate the "goose" from the other vocab.  In this instance, let us say that orange is the goose word.

This game is from Genki English.

1.  Make pairs.
2. Each student shows a number of fingers on one hand.
3. When you say, "Go," the two students turn to face each other.
4. The first student to say the correct sum of fingers shown by both hands is the winner.

   For months of the year, the students have to ask in unison, "When is your birthday," and when you say, "Go!" they turn and say the corresponding month (7 fingers=July). For this version, they should only hold up 0-6 fingers.

Activity:

1. Explain to the students that each letter of the alphabet will be represented by a different number. (A = 1, B = 2, c =3, and so on.) Once students understand this, give them an example problem on the blackboard to work out.  For example: 3-1-20, once deciphered, reads as "CAT."
2. Split the class into two or more equal teams. Each team should have the same number of students so that everyone in the classroom has a chance.

Part 1 - Asking for English equivalents of Japanese vocabulary
(5-10 minutes)

Target Dialogue 1:

HRT:  What's (Japanese word) in English?
ALT:  (English equivalent).

Introduction

Review numbers 1-20 with flashcards. (Other vocabulary will work for this too)

This lesson plan is a result of a discussion at Summer Job Training 2012.  Many thanks to Amanda Ribarchik, Trichelle Williams, Ashley Williams, Nathan Boerke, and Sandy Cheng for their contributions.

Preparation:

1. Give every child a blank piece of paper.
2. Students write their names (in Romaji for older students and hiragana for younger students) on the slips of paper.

Part I:

I made this for the 6th lesson in Eigo Note 2, but you could use it for review with older kids.

Tell them you're going to call your friends in [home country] through the internet at the end of class. Get them worked up.

Practice the dialogue (attached) with them beforehand, in pairs, walking around, with you and the HRT/OTE. Do whatever you usually do to drill stuff like that.

Introduction

Review directions (left, right, straight/forward, back). One idea is to use a map and magnet to have students tell you the direction the magnet should go.

1. Students get into pairs.
2. Student 1 is a designer and asks Student 2 “Do you like (color) (clothes)?”
3. Student 2 answers “Yes, I do” or “No, I don’t.” and then use gestures and English words to explain.
   Encourage students to ask the teacher for new vocabulary or use books to show style/colors/ etc.
4. Student designs an outfit for Student 2.
5. Change places and allow Student 2 to do the same for Student 1

This lesson plan is a result of a discussion at Summer Job Training 2012.  Many thanks to Sam Wilhide, Bridget Cassie, Shane Gormley, Paul Colclough, and Eliza Jones for their contributions.

Introduction:

*Students will need pre-made paper airplanes or 3 minutes at the beginning of the lesson to make the airplanes.
+Make sure the labels are a decent size (especially the ones to be placed higher) and are created with word shapes in mind.

Activity:

1. Teach parts of the classroom: (10 mins)

This lesson is a result of discussion at Job Training 2012. Special thanks to Matt Mullins, Chris Shirley, Malaya Viloria, David Howard, and Rory Harnden.

Activity:

1. Learn 12 words using flash cards (i.e. country names)
2. Put the 12 cards on the board and number them 1 to 12. This numbering can be done in many ways. For example, if the cards are food cards, you can ask students which they think it the most delicious and order them in that way. If you are running out of time, you can order them yourself.
3.  Introduce the new grammar point (i.e. I want to go to...)
4. Split the class into 4 teams.

This game is played with a target question such as, "What animal do you like?" and a target answer such as, "I like dogs."  Vocabulary flashcards (around eight) should be placed on the board for all to see.

Prep:

Introduction:

Ask students what each color is. Ask if they like certain colors. Have the students repeat after you.

Color Train: 10 minutes

Give students the train tickets. Form a conga line and call out colors for students to join the train.

Type of Activity:  Whole Class Instruction and Jeopardy

Introduction:

1. Inform students that today will be about teaching parts of the body.

2. Draw pictures on the board that correspond with body parts as outlined in the song “Tooty-Ta”.  Teach the actions to go with the pictures and have students repeat the words. They can do the actions in their seats.

Introduction:

This is a team game activity aimed at honing the students' English listening skills.

This game functions much the way Typhoon would and is an excellent review game.

Attached is a set of 40 game cards and 8 team cards.  I made my deck by sandwiching a game card and piece of colored construction paper and then applying magnets and laminating. The deck will last forever this way.

Divide the class into teams as you see fit. I usually use rows or lunch groups for the sake of simplicity. Each team then selects a mascot from the 8 team cards.

Here is a set of “UNO like” cards I made using Photoshop. I usually use them at elementary during the “How Many” chapter but have found numerous uses for them outside that lesson. UNO cards can be a bit expensive here in Japan, so please feel free to print and laminate these instead. I recommend using a backing and laminating these cards so that 1.) students cant see through them; and 2.) there are 108 cards in a deck so you won’t want to have to make a new deck every time your kids rough them up.

The directions lesson has always been one of my favorites and is an excellent time to get your kids up out of their seats and moving around. To that end i have taken some inspiration from a Japanese game: "the watermelon game"—which most people should already be aware of—and taken it to its logical maximum fun level, a real life version of the iPhone app "Fruit Ninjas". This game will require a trip to the 100 yen store for sure, but it is definitely worth it.

I have been playing the keyword game with my students for years and it was getting far too repetitive so I decided to mix it up a bit.

Students play in pairs, left-hand side students are one team, and the right-hand side students are the other team. After playing each round, I count how many winners from the left side, and how many from the right. I give one point to the team with most winners that round. It can continue for as many rounds as there are vocab to learn but I don’t usually play it for that long.

Perhaps the only thing that kids love more than bingo and board games is a FUSION of both!

I came up with this idea because in some classes the classroom was too small for moving around in and the kids got too rowdy during exciting games. And the kids. Love. Bingo. And board games. SO. MUCH. (Not to mention that it's more about luck than skill, so even kids who aren't good at English have a chance at winning.)

INTRODUCTION:

Introduce types of weather to students using over-exagurated gestures.

GESTURES EXAMPLES:

Sunny: palms up around face, like you’re beaming with joy

Windy: hands cupped around mouth, blowing wind

Raining: fingers demonstrating rain drops falling

Snowing: shivering

Cloudy: arms covering head

Thunder: over-the-top jazz hands

A lesson devised to build upon the suggesting finished activity for Eigo Noto 2‘s “I want to go to Italy.” topic, in which students learn to express desires, and reasons for having them.

Rather than choosing an existing country to visit—as suggested by the textbook—students work in groups to imagine a new country, name it, design its flag and map, and reasons for visiting their country in the process.

Printable Classroom Objects themed karuta cards to teach Classroom Objects vocabulary.

Introduce new vocabulary then have students play any card game. Eg. karuta, catch game, etc.

I made these cards for a nakayoshi class, but they could work as a fun little warm up game for ES or JHS to review Classroom Objects vocabulary.

Printable Occupation themed karuta cards to teach Occupation vocabulary.

Introduce new vocabulary then have students play any card game. Eg. karuta, catch game, etc.

I made these cards for a nakayoshi class, but they could work as a fun little warm up game for ES or JHS to review common jobs/occupations.

Printable Valentine's Day-themed karuta cards to teach Valentine's Day vocabulary. Introduce new vocabulary then have students play any card game. E.g. karuta, catch game, etc.

I made these cards for a nakayoshi class, but they could work as a fun little warm up game for ES or JHS.

Printable winter-themed karuta cards to teach winter vocabulary.

Introduce new vocabulary, then have students play any card game. Eg. karuta, catch game, etc.

I made these cards for a nakayoshi class, but they could work as a fun little warm up game for ES or JHS.

Printable spring-themed karuta cards to teach spring vocabulary.

Introduce new vocabulary then have students play any card game. Eg. karuta, catch game, etc.

I made these cards for a nakayoshi class, but they could work as a fun little warm up game for ES or JHS to review spring vocabulary.

This activity may be used as a general warm up/review of the ‘I like  ~ ‘ grammar point.

This is a game format to adapt to any grammar point with the students in groups.

Introduction

Draw a racing track on the board, get each group to randomly choose a Mario Kart character. Show the items from the mystery box and briefly explain what they do.

Game play

Ask the target question, this can be a general quiz question or related to any grammar point. Each group should write their answer down and correct groups get to continue.

Prep time: Several hours (you need to really love Easter). Actual egg hunt time: however long your school’s lunch break is.

PREP THE EGGS!

There are plenty of black and white easter egg templates online of varying complexity, so choose a few you like and print multiple copies. Colour them like your life depends on it. Number the eggs. Laminate the eggs so that they can withstand the toughest of conditions! You want your eggs to be like Bear Grylls.

This lesson is a result of discussion at Job Training 2012. Special thanks to Matt Mullins, Chris Shirley, Malaya Viloria, David Howard, and Rory Harnden.

• On each side of the CHAT square, the students write down four numbers, four names of the opposite gender (famous people, anime characters, or friends), and four careers.
• Once the board is complete, have the students write the first kanji or character of their first name and have them count the strokes.  This is their magic number.
• Starting at the C and moving in a clock-wise direction, each student counts their magic number.  Whatever choice they land on is then crossed off.  They continue this process (beginning with the next choice), until each bolded

• Print out large numbers 0-9 on pieces of paper. Attach each set of numbers to a different construction paper color. Laminate if you want them to last. There should be 1 set of cards for every 10 students, so if you have 25 students, make three sets, if you have 35 students, make 4 sets.

• Create a list of math problems using +, -, x, and /. The problems should only have each numeral used no more than once in the problem and answer. Ex. 5+6=11 does not work because the 1 is used twice, but 5+7=12 does because each number is only used once.

• Divide the class down the middle into two teams.  One team will be represented by colored in circles, others with empty circles
• Draw a grid on the board
• ALT asks a question to the class
• Students raise their hands
• HRT chooses the fastest student
• If the student is correct, he/she colors a spot on the grid.  That student can’t answer again
• Continue asking more questions until one team has 4 (or 3) in a row

ACTIVITY

Each corner of the classroom is designated with 4 keywords: number, emotion, vocabulary word, anything basically. One student is chosen to come up and be the caller. The caller counts down (from 10, 5, whatever you decide) while the other students quickly to move to a corner of the room. After the countdown, the caller calls out one of the keywords and whichever students that are in that corner are out and must sit down. When you get down to the final 4 students, they must each choose a corner and split up to make the game have a winner.

Introduction:

Open the lesson by reviewing how to greet people.

A fun lesson where the students get to decorate their very own egg for easter!

Materials needed:

1. When the kids are standing and ready for their greetings, say good morning/good afternoon/hello to them.
2. Once they answer good morning, ask them "how are you?" (You can add "how are you today?" in order to throw them off. Modify your expressions a bit to ensure that they can hear it though, because they tend to tune out and want to sit down asap.)
3. The most common response you will get are probably "I'm fine[...

An info-gap activity with an evil, mathematical component.  Show students how to read time on a couple different kinds of binary watches. Then, give the worksheets from this file to alternating rows. Have them fill in dots and then ask the student next to them to read the time.

1. Warm up and practice saying tricky times < 10 min

2. Show pictures of the binary watches and explain how to read them < 10 min

3. Info gap activity < 10min

Activity:

• Divide the class into 4 teams, A, B, C, and D.
• Teams roll dice for turn order. 
• At the beginning of each turn, the team sends one member to roll a die for their number of commands that round.
• The robot can perform 3 basic commands:

Go!  (straight/back)
Turn!  (left/right)
Shoot!  (straight only)

Evolution, or "Shinka" in Japanese, is a popular game that your kids may already know. It can be used with any grammar point or vocabulary. The goal of the game is to reach the final stage of evolution.

1) Introduce the vocab.

This is a fun game that fits a few different grammar points. Students practice a question-and-answer patterned grammar point while trying to collect all the different kinds of vocabulary. 

For explanation purposes I will use the grammar “Do you have a …?”

1. First teach students a vocabulary set of your choice. I did this when I did a mushi-tori (bug catching) lesson, so they learned the names of lots of Japanese insects.

Let's play B.S., also known as Doubt (dauto ダウト) in Japanese. It's a wicked-fun card game. 

For this game you'll need to make decks of cards. In each deck there should be four cards for each month. Four Januarys, four Februarys etc. (If your kids are up to it, you can just remove the Kings from ordinary packs of cards and have them remember 1–12 as January–December.)

Divide the kids up into groups of 5 or 7. The groups must have odd numbers, or the students will keep getting the same months over and over. Each group needs one deck.

Activity

The students play in teams (rows or groups) and they play in rotations within their team.

This lesson is mainly for elementary school, though could be used in first year junior high school.

I made this story to read to the students to teach animals and emotions.

A fun, all class activity in which volunteers attempt to guess the gestures the rest of the class are performing.

This lesson culminates in students practising writing letters to Santa Claus (or Father Christmas), cutting them out in the shape of their hands, and making a 'Christmas Tree' from the 'leaves'.

• Using either PowerPoint, or big pre-written cards, the teacher presents students with words/sentences.
• Students are to hold up their sign on the count of five, which has maru (○) on one side and batsu (×) on the other side.
• The teacher then reveals the correct answer.
• Repeat with further questions.

This can be used to quiz spelling, vocabulary or grammar points. The teacher makes sure some things are correct and somethings are incorrect.

1.  Arrange the flash cards on the board in a straight line. You can ask the students to rank them or decide the order yourself.
2. Point to the first card, for example 'banana', and say that you, the teacher and everyone else is a banana. Then point to the last card, for example 'gorilla', and say that you want to be a gorilla.
3. Greet the teacher and ask the target question using the first card.
   Eg. ""Do you like bananas?""