Livening up a very bored 6th grade elementary class

6th grade elementary kids- the bane of my year! It took me a while (well nearly a year) to figure them out. You see these kids have totally outgrown elementary/primary school They're aged 11 and 12, have lost their genkiness, have developed a bit of attittude, don't want to volunteer for anything in class or be shown up in front of their class buddies or even be seen to be trying hard. The boys have even got stubble (well some) and the girls hairy legs (sorry but its true!). Basically they're growing up...

So faced with a class of 40 x 11 and 12 year olds who are half falling asleep its a pretty difficult challenge trying to get them interested! One of the things I have recently started doing (thanks to my friend Kari for the suggestion) is playing a game called "crossfire" (also known as crisscross or rows & columns game) It's a simple review game and always guarantees they'll enjoy it whilst reviewing past subjects. It can take 5 mins (if you hurry them), no moving of tables or pupils, they just stand up. See below for rules*

It's such a fun game and I always try and spice it up a bit by showing them revolting food (from genki English website- i.e worm ice cream, snake salad) and asking them "Do you like snake salad?"

I have learnt that 6th graders don't really respond well to manic racing games (although sometimes I have played them and they work, ie the soldiers & ninjas game- look at Genki English site) They like to be creative and think for themselves. I try and apply real life to much of the target language they learn. For example, lesson 5 is directions so we had the pupils draw a map of Oyabe City (which is really small so like a town) and then direct me to their favourite places in town such as the video game shop or the park. If your town is too big you could make a map of the school and have pupils direct you to places.

Also for birthdays, we had the pupils interview each other and work out what their star sign is. If you have time you could even have the teacher give them their star sign forecasts for the year (make it positive of course!) Trust me they're interested in this sort of thing at this age.

I also had the 6th graders form a band to practice "Can you play....?" a few lucky pupils were the band managers and had to form a band. They loved naming their band and had a lot of fun.

So if you're a new ALT faced with a class of 6th graders at elementary, I hope this helps a bit!

* Crossfire can be played many ways. Either the whole class stands up or it can be played in rows.
Either use questions (how old are you?, when is your birthday? etc) or flashcards. Flashcards make the game go much quicker, increasing the level of energy.

I play with all students standing up. I either ask a question or flash a card. The first student to raise his hand and say the English word for the picture card or answer the question can choose to either have the pupils standing in his/her horizontal row or vertical column to sit down (technically "saving" their friends). Keep going until one student or a row/column is left standing. I sometimes feel bad having only one student left standing so usually ask the last few people standing a question they can answer together.

Japan: what next contd...

Hmmm. So after much deliberation I've decided to leave Japan, boo hoo. I'll be so sad to go as there just seems to be so much I haven't done yet that I still want to do! I mean I haven't climbed Mount Fuji, haven't eaten the famous poisonous puffa fish and played taiko drums in a festival.

There were no suitable jobs in Chiba so I gave up on that idea. As much as I want to go to Laos & Vietnam I can do that anytime in my life sooooo I decided to go volunteering in Japan for a while. I've organised it through a scheme called WWOOF (stands for willing workers on organic farms). It's a worldwide organisation where you can basically pay a small fee to register (￥4000) and you volunteer at places such as organic farms, art & craft studios, hotels/ryokans, environment centres and outdoor sports centres. In exchange for about 6 hours work a day you get full board and lodging. Since its quite expensive to travel around in Japan it offers a good solution to tourists who don't have a huge budget. Of course, it also offers a real insight into the Japanese way of life. I think its worth a try anyway! So I'm off to Kyushu, the southern most island of Japan, to work near Kumamoto City and then to Okinawa (an island even further south of Japan which is apparently tropical this time of year!) for a further 2 weeks. I'm fed up with the cold to be honest ; )

I won't have regular access to email/web from April 1st but I'll try and let you know how it all goes!

Heading off to China and Mongolia after a short spell of wwoofing, mainly to research a business idea but also for a little holiday too.

OK signing off!

ALT Lesson Plans with Eigo Note, 5th grade. Lesson 7 What's this?

My 5th graders already know what "What's this?" means! Yikes 4 x 1 hour lessons to cover "What's this?" and "It's a ....." is a bit too much so I decided to shorten it to just 2 lessons instead.

We played a fun mystery box game suggested by Eigo Note for the first lesson. We also played a Silhouette Quiz which they enjoyed. I showed them some famous optical illusion pictures (like the vase or two faces, see http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/gex_opti.htm) on the projector and they had to tell me what they saw. I would say "What is it?" each time.

Anyway a short post for a short section! Feel free to download my two lesson plans below


Grade 5 Lesson Eigo Note Lesson 7- (5.28) What's this? part 1

Grade 5 Lesson Eigo Note Lesson 7- (5.29)- What's this? part 2

Have fun!

ALT Lesson Plans with Eigo Note, 5th grade. Lesson 6 What do you want?

Hmmm...this is a difficult one. The target language is "what do you want?" but I tried to explain that a waiter is more likely to ask "What would you like?" as its more polite than "what do you want?". I then thought that people do ask "what do you want" but its generally kept to friends and family members otherwise it comes across as a bit curt.

So for the first lesson we just practiced foreign words and I had the kids work in groups to think of foreign words in a few categories (i.e classroom, games, food/drink etc) Hilarious when I asked one group they came up with "Pocket monster next generation"! Well I guess they are foreign words..I also had Mr Donut..ok fair enough. Second lesson it was Christmas so I had them work in groups asking each other "What do you want for Christmas?" (although I still don't quite agree with them saying "I want an ipod"- not polite! but I let it pass)


Then I decided to do something totally different than Eigo Note since the rest of the lesson seemed to be based on ordering parfaits and I just didn't think it was an effective way of learning "I want...." (Also it seems that in Eigo Note they only really practice the question but not the answer- i.e "What do you want?" and then the response is just "peach, pineapple and melon please")

So I found a fantastic learning English website though a teacher run by NHK, a TV station in Japan. It's basically a robot called Gabby and a family. They produce short video clips that concentrate on a specific language per clip and my kids find them really funny (especially 5th and 6th graders- the 10/11/12 year olds who can be so difficult sometimes) See http://www.nhk.or.jp/gabby/ja/frame.html (wait for Gabby to load and then hit "watch" button at the bottom)


One of the scenes (episode 09-1 is "I want") features a character called Jack who eats loads (I want pizza! I want chicken! I want....I want.....) but he then gets a bit chubby and has to exercise. So I had the kids watch it and then they had to act it out as a drama in groups. They really loved it. I've posted a video above of one of the performances.

Download my lesson plans below for more detail (if you want):

Grade 5 Lesson Eigo Note Lesson 6- (5.24) What do you want? part 1

Grade 5 Lesson Eigo Note Lesson 6- (5.25)- What do you want? part 2

Grade 5 Lesson Eigo Note Lesson 6- (5.26)- What do you want? part 3

Grade 5 Lesson Eigo Note Lesson 6- (5.27)- What do you want? part 4

Hope your 5th graders enjoy making the dramas as much as mine did. Thanks NHK and Gabby the robot!

Jess

The wonderful Shirakawago in the winter

When mum and I decided to take a last minute trip to Shirakawago last summer we weren't expecting such a beautiful spot, see my other post about Shirakawago in the summer. The only thing we weren't able to do back then was to stay in one of the farmhouses aka "minshuku" (they get fully booked early in the summer) so I was so excited that I had the chance this weekend to return for a winter wonderland scene and to stay in a real minshuku! So we set off on the bus from Kanazawa on Saturday, an easy 1 1/2 hr trip (￥3010 rtn) and the heavy dumps of snow started to re-appear as we climbed up the mountains through the mile long tunnels.

Got to Shirakawago, well Ogimachi in fact, and found our thatched minshuku (Japanese farmhouse style B&B) stayed called Yoshiro, a bit spit and sawdust but ran by an old Japanese couple who turned out to be so sweet that it just made it a "real Japanese experience" that you could simply never get staying in an impersonal hotel. More to that later.

So Yoshiro has only signs in kanji so both myself and Maylee were wondering whether we were just walking into someones house! (they rarely lock doors to these places) We knew we were in the minshuku when we heard the lady out the back shout "irasshaimase" (welcome) and she then appeared and took us to our tatami mat room complete with kotatsu (a table with built in heating device underneath and blanket) ready for our cold tootsies! After a quick cup of green tea (which I'm now starting to like...) and a biccie we headed out.

In Shirakawago there are about 3 or 4 gassho style houses converted into small museums. We went to Nagaske (since I visited the others on my last trip) Each one charges a small entry fee of ￥300 and you get a translated leaflet with a bit of history. The house belonged to the Nagaske family wgh were doctors for the Maeda Lords in Ishikawa Pref.

The 2nd floor is packed with medical instruments, gifts from the Maeda family as well as tools for raising silkworms.

In each of the gassho houses, usually in the middle of the living room downstairs stands an "irori"- an open fireplace used for heating (an absolute necessity in these winter months) and sometimes cooking.

Amazing that they can erect these gigantic houses with not a SINGLE nail! See ropes binding foundations together.

Met Raquel and Ayako at Yoshiro and had a good catch up under the cosy kotatsu (thats the table not a bed!) until it was time for din dins. As soon as we walked into the small tatami mat restaurant the old lady had us get to work stoking up the irori fire!

What could only have been her elderly husband then bought out these wonderfully prepared trays of food, just check it out!

OK I'll try and take you through the food here-

Top right: boiled spinach, slices of daikon (a huge white Japanese radish) & marinated fried chicken

Top left: mountain vegetable tempura

Top middle: Sato-imo (里芋) a tiny Japanese sweet potato

Middle left: Kinkan- a Japanese kumquat/tiny orange- (金柑), zenmai (an edible fern, the stuff that look stringy green beans but brown) and sutake, mini bamboo shoots.

Middle centre: Chopped tomato
Middle right: Silk tofu sprinkled with katsuobushi shavings (鰹節) which are dried fermented & smoked tuna flakes!

Bottom left: Grilled river fish called Iwashi (like a sardine)

Best of all that I forgot to take a piccie of (oops) was the hida beef (local speciality) & onion cooked on a mini stove we had each. Then came out a huge Japanese teapot of green tea.

The food was soooo yummy and after stuffing our faces we were just about to retire to our room when the little old lady (fairly mute up until now) comes out with her shamisen! You couldn't get more of a real Japanese experience. She played and sang some traditional Japanese songs and then asked us where we all from (2 Americans, me British and 1 Japanese) She then started playing again.

It took a while to figure out she what she was playing (kind of 'out of tune' sound) but then realised she was playing the Beatles' Hey Jude! (ironically Ayako, my native Japanese friend was the first to figure that one out..) and we all sang along. She then started belting out the American national anthem. Classic! We then had a try at playing but it's so difficult because unlike a guitar a shamisen doesn't have frets so its amazing that they know where to put their finger.

After a sing along we went back to our rooms and as always in a ryokan the little bed fairies had been busy. Our beds were all out ready on the floor but weirdly each one had a huge bulge at the bottom. We all had no idea what the bulges were (including Ayako) and they turned out to be mini plug in kotatsu heaters to heat the beds! I guess like our equivalent of a heated blanket except these things are wooden boxes (see photo below on left side). Hmmm fire hazard?

They obviously get in the way a bit but very cosy to have your feet next to.

The next day we were woken up at 6.34am by our neighbours in the next door room playing music. Don't expect peace and quiet staying in Japanese ryokans/minshukus, the rooms are only separated by thin wooden screens.


After another wonderful breakfast we had a stroll around the village, tried out one of Japan's infamous rice burgers, (yep packed rice instead of a bread bun- great for those on a yeast free diet like I'm supposed to be!) and then headed home.

Shirakawago is one of my favourite places so far in the Ishikawa/Gifu area. For anyone in Kanazawa wondering where to go, don't hesitate. GO! It can be easily done as a day trip (the village is actually really small) or if you want to stay a night make it a gassho farmhouse like Yoshiro for an authentic experience (Cost for 1 night dinner B&B was ￥8000 including a heating charge of ￥300, about £55) I reserved through the tourist info office in Shirakawago. Some of them speak English or send them an email info@shirakawa-go.gr.jp