Teaching the Junior High
School Textbook
The aim of this section is to provide an example of how to turn a typical textbook unit into a series of communicative activities that are more effective and memorable for the students. For this, we have based the lessons around: New Horizon 2, Unit 2: “Yumi Goes Abroad” (pp 14-17). However these types of activities can be suited to virtually any lesson at any level.
While many JTE’s may be familiar with activities such as these, it is our hope that many AET’s (particularly one-shot AET’s with little prior teaching experience) may find these sample lessons particularly helpful as a guide for teaching communicatively.
When you introduce a new topic, it is important to get the students interested in what they will be studying. There are a number of good introduction activities:
1) Related Materials
Bring in pictures, souvenirs, or things related to the topic. Make a dialogue about the things you have and ask students some questions.
e.g. This unit begins with a dialogue
about vacation plans. So objects related
to vacations may stimulate interest in the rest of the unit: Pictures of an
airport in Japan or the AET’s home country; world
map; old boarding pass; video tape of airport or vacation trip to a foreign
country; etc.
2) Brainstorming
Write a theme on the board, and students think of some things that fit the
topic. As students raise their hands, the teacher writes them down. Encourage your students to use English, but for new words it’s okay to use “How do you say __________ in English?” Lead your students by giving them hints about other answers (Passive eliciting). This will also introduce your students to the new words in the Unit.
e.g. Unit 2 is about taking trips during vacation time. Let the students thing about words and concepts related to traveling.
<Insert hand-drawn sketch of a blackboard with a brainstorming session on it: “Traveling” or “Trip” is circled in the center, various words around the board include: Sightseeing, airport, train station, foreign country, luggage, suitcase, packing.>
3) Quiz
Another good introduction is a quiz related to the topic, where students must guess the answers. Any type of quiz is okay so long as the students can understand.
e.g. For Unit 2, let’s talk about Buddha statues:
1)
Where is the largest
Buddha statue in
2)
What country do you
think has the largest Buddha statue in the world? How tall do you think it is?
A different type of quiz is where you give the students a print with multiple-choice questions. After they have answered, to through and explain the correct answer so they can understand the subject.
e.g.
1)
Leshan is in which country?
a)
2) How tall is the Buddha Statue in Leshan?
a)
10 meters tall b) 37 meters tall c) 71 meters tall
3)
How old is the statue?
a)
600 years old b) 1,200 years old c) 2,000 years old
4)
What is near the statue?
a) the sea b)
a river d) a farm
4) Dialogue
For team-teaching classes, an excellent introduction to the unit is by a dialogue. Students are very interested in hearing their teachers speak with the AET, so will listen to the contents carefully. Choose a theme related to the unit and make a simple conversation.
e.g.
J: “Do you know the tallest
Buddha statue in the world?”
A: “I
think so. It is in
J: “That’s
right, it’s in the city of
about the
statue?”
A: “It’s very tall and very old. I think it is near a large river.”
J: “Ah, I see.
Why did people build the statue?”
A: “I’m not sure.”
J: “I think we should study more about the Buddha in Leshan.”
There are lots of ways to introduce new words apart from translation. It is important for students to understand the true meaning, and be able to use each word in a different sentence. Some methods are:
a) use the flash cards, then make a sentence using that word.
e.g. “Sit.” “We sit at our
desks in school.”
b) Use the picture cards and point as you say the word
c) Use demonstrations or point out actual examples of the words:
e.g. Say “Sit” as you sit down.
Say
“Foot” as you point to your own foot.
d) Use English explanations as alternatives to translation:
e.g. Sink = When something falls to the bottom of a river (Use
a gesture
with your hand)
Monster = A scary animal or person
Priest = a religious person who
works at a temple or church.
If the students understand the contents, it is easier to understand the grammar and vocabulary. One good method is to paraphrase the story into easy English, while using the picture cards. The pictures are really helpful for the students because they give them a visual clue. You can also use a video tape, audio tape, or large pictures that accompany some textbooks. (The New Horizon series has excellent audio tapes and large-scale picture cards to augment each lesson)
1) Students explain the story
Using each picture card, a student
explains what is happening in the story in their own words.(e.g.
“This is
2) Question and Answer
You can make the questions easy or difficult depending on the level of your students. Lower level students can answer the easy ones, while good students are challenged with harder questions. “Who, what, when, where, how, why” are good questions and you can use the picture cards to help.
“True or False” quizzes are not always good because students have a
50% chance of guessing correctly, so they may not test true comprehension. If using T or F, have students stand and make
O or X with their arms.
This makes every student involved in the activity.
<insert drawn picture of person making O and X like on 1995 p.21>
Ask some questions not answered in the text. Students give their own opinion after thinking about the story. (e.g. “Do many people visit the Great Buddha of Leshan now?” “Do you think people enjoyed making the statue?”) It’s important to challenge your students, or they will become bored with any activity. By asking their opinion, they must think about the meaning of the story, and not just read out an answer.
5.
Reading practice is most effective if done in the language lab using the drill tape. But this is not always possible. Reading practice is important, but that does not mean endless chorus reading.
Students should only repeat after a teacher or tape one or two times. After that, they should read at their own pace with the teacher(s) walking around to help with any problems, or to answer any questions. A good activity is for all students to read the text out loud for 5 minutes at their own pace. After that, point out some common problem areas on the board and answer any questions.
Being able to use new grammar means that students understand the meaning. Memorizing one example (or model sentence) won’t help them recognize that grammar pattern outside the textbook. It’s important that you teach them how to use that grammar themselves, so they can apply it to other situations.
When teaching new grammar, you will need to use some Japanese. Please try to include lots of English examples as well, and have students make their own sentences. The following are examples of activities you can do to practice the grammar of the text:
1) Information Gap Activity for Pair Practice
Students work in pairs (Partners A and B). Each student has a print, but the prints are different. They can take turns asking questions and fill in the spaces on their print. Don’t put the answers in order. These means the students have to listen carefully to the question then find out the answer.
e.g. This activity is based on the
target sentence:
“It’s easy for me to read Japanese”
PARTNER A:
PARTNER B:
2) Interview Scramble Activity
Almost any class will enjoy a scramble activity. You give the students a task (and a print if needed); they stand up and move about the classroom asking each other questions. You may need to give them a goal to aim for, or turn it into a contest. Award extra points if they ask a member of the opposite sex, or a teacher, etc. Be sure to join in and check that students are being active.
Here’s an example of a scramble activity based on the same grammar point as the previous activity:
<Scan diagram on 1995, p24>
3) Writing Practice
Give the students a worksheet about the new grammar and vocabulary. Have them start the sheet in class and complete it for homework. The worksheet should be a review of what the students studied. You can collect it in the next class to evaluate whether students understand it or not. If there are lots of mistakes, you can spend more time on the problem areas.
e.g. WORKSHEET
instructions: Make a sentence that uses all of these words:
ex) (easy/me/read/Japanese)
It’s easy for me to read
Japanese
1)
(Soccer/easy/Kazu/play)
_______________________________________________________________________
2)
(Jennifer/read/Kanji/hard)
__________________________________________________________________________
3) (Ichiro/easy)
____
4) (hard/me)
___
5) (easy/me)
___
Instructions: Make a sentence for
each new word (don’t use the text!)
1)
Buddha
_______________________________________________________________
2)
Meter
_________________________________________________________________
3)
Sit
____________________________________________________________________
4)
Foot
___________________________________________________________________
5)
Carve
_________________________________________________________________
6)
Mountain
______________________________________________________________
1) Q & A Activities
Ask some questions using the new words. By doing this, you are checkin g hat they can recognize and understand the new words in different situations. This activity can be done as group work, then check some of the answers orally. These are example questions using new words from Unit 2.
What is the largest mountain
in
What famous large ship sank?
Who is your favorite movie monster?
What time did you work
on your homework last night?
Another good group activity is to
have students answer questions using the new words. It will be better if the students work in
groups to think of an answer. Give them
some time to make an answer, then choose one member to
speak. For example, write a few words
from Unit 2 on the board:
Priest Buddha Saved Sank
Ask questions like these:
What happened to
the Titanic?
What big statue is
in
How did Superman help
What
person works at a temple?
2) Drawing Activities
Almost all your students enjoy drawing and it’s easy to make activities where they can combine words with pictures. If they can explain something with a picture, it shows that they understand. The first activity is to let the students make a short story using a new word.
<Sample sketch and description 1995, p27>
3) Skit making <Link to skit making in activities section>
You can ask the students to write simple skits using the new words from the program. This will make them think about the many uses for each word. In groups, they write a skit (any topic is okay) and then present it for the class. At first, you will need to give them lots of help and show an example. Gradually, they will become good at thinking in English, and of course their presentations will improve.
A: What are you doing this weekend?
B: I’m going to visit my grandmother tomorrow.
A: Where does she live?
B: She lives in
In most English classes in
Students need practice at expressing themselves in English, and should be encouraged to be creative. The following are some writing activities to use in your classes:
1) Diary
A diary is one of the easiest forms of writing. You write about things that happen in your
everyday life. Give your students
practice at expressing themselves about things they are interested in. For
Unit 2, you can use diary entries talk about taking trips abroad. Or about the differences
between the Buddha statues of
Introducing Diaries:
a) Talk about diaries (who writes one? When?, Why?)
b) Show them a model diary entry (make an example entry about the
homeroom teacher, a famous person, etc.)
c) Teach them some structure and give them some leading questions.
(e.g. What did you eat? Where did you sleep? Are you
okay? What games do you play?)
d) Advise the students to write about a typical day in their life.
e) Role play: Write an entry as I they were a person visiting Leshan.
f) Have some students read their diaries and discuss the differences
in life style.
2) Cloze
When teaching your students to write freely, you can help them by providing a framework. A good activity is for students to make a story using the structure of the textbook. <This is similar to Mad Libs, but without clues>
e.g.
When I was
_______________________________________________________ A teacher said to me,
“______________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________.” “I can’t!” I said.
“__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________.”
3) Theme Writing
Give
your students a topic and have them make a short composition about it. Make the topic interesting, or something
related to their daily lives. Tell them to use easy English that they have
already learned. Don’t let them write in Japanese first or it because a translation
exercise, not creative writing. Collect
the compositions, and write comments rather than a grade. (You don’t need to correct all their
mistakes.)
For
Unit 2, I would ask students to write about trips they have taken in the
past. First I would guide them with
questions like: Where did you go? How
did you get there (by plane, train, car)? Who went with you? What did you do there? Did you enjoy it? Do you want to go again?” Then some students should present their
compositions, and perhaps draw a picture to illustrate.
There are lots of ways to review material including:
1) making skits about the unit (you will need at least a whole lesson for preparation). Encourage the groups to give a dramatic presentation using props, etc.
2) students write their opinions and have a discussion. (First teach them key phrases to use when expressing themselves (i.e. “I agree with…”))
3) summarize the story in their own words
4) draw cartoons to illustrate the story and write some dialogue
5)
write a letter (e.g. to the
tourism board of
6) in groups, prepare a report about some topic related to the program
7) make a crossword about the contents and new words
8) have a quiz
There are so many
activities that are easy to do. Please
don’t be afraid to try new ideas in class.
Remember that it will take some time before students are good at new
things. By teaching interesting and
communicative classes, your students’ abilities at English will greatly
improve!
References:
Ota, A., Ito, K., & Kusakabe, T. (Eds.). New Horizon English Course
2. Revised Edition. Tokyo: Tokyo Shoseki.
Some parts also quoted from Communicative English Guide
(1995 p.18)
Next
back