Technology in the English Classroom

We are increasingly surrounded by technology, and this is even more true for our younger students.  Smartphones, tablets, video games, car navigation systems, electronic ticketing for trains; these are just a few examples of the digital world in our daily lives.

As teachers we must often compete with these kinds of distractions for our students' attentions, so it can be very effective to openly accept and adapt some of them for use in the classroom.  I'll be using the term "technology" here to describe the tools that go beyond what would commonly be found and used in a traditional classroom, such as textbooks, flashcards, and worksheets.

Cameras, computers, CD players, tablets, and smartphones can all get students to sit up and be involved in the class, provided they are paired with the right lesson plan and attitude.  However, before plugging in that shiny new iPad, there are a few vital points to think about.

1) Plan out the lesson first, with the target English and what you want your students to have learned when you are finished.  After you have made the plan, then add multimedia and technology to enhance it.  The technology itself should not be the basis for the lesson.

2) Not all lessons need or can benefit from using technology.  Sometimes a good old-fashioned storybook is the best tool for the job.

3) Always have a back-up analog version of your lesson prepared.  Technical difficulties and compatibility issues will come up at the most inconvenient times.

4) Try to let your students have an active role in the lesson (interacting with or influencing the activity) rather than a passive one (sitting quietly and watching a video clip).

5) There are countless apps and programs for teaching English, but when you are planning out how to use one in your lesson, think carefully about how it will match the needs and interests of your particular class.  Many of the apps that I will recommend are very adaptable to different levels of English ability and can be personalized to make the experience even more memorable for students.

In the next post I will share some of the websites, apps, and ideas that my students and I have enjoyed using in the classroom.

Short Speeches

I have my 5th and 6th grade students present short speeches in English several times throughout the year.  This not only allows them to utilize the vocabulary and target sentences that we have been studying, but also helps them to practice the skills that are essential for public speaking in any language.

For the 5th grade, the speech topics are "I like/don't like..." and "This is my..."  6th graders use "I can/can't..." and "I want to be a..." 

Example:
Hello!
My name is Martin.
I like badminton.
I don't like math.
Nice to meet you!

Apart from the grammatical points and pronunciation, I ask them to focus on 5 important points: Voice, posture, eye-contact, speed, and gestures/body language.

To introduce and explain these points, I give a short speech of my own to the class 5 times, but each time I perform it in a way that is lacking one of the points.  By speaking extremely quietly or at a very high speed, the students can easily guess each piece of advice that I want to give them, and it also brings some humor into the lesson, which helps to make it memorable.  I ask students to watch and listen to me carefully, and make a note on their speech cards in the box labeled "advice".

After checking their understanding of these points, then we can write the script of the speech itself.  Together we write out the basic structure, such as "Hello! My name is...", but the details should be decided and written by themselves.  These speeches are a perfect chance for students to express themselves and their own world in English, and they should not be limited to the handful of vocabulary terms in the textbook.  Students should use dictionaries if they are available, or ask their teachers to help with any difficult words that they may not know, such as "unicycle" or "track and field".

Once the scripts are written and they have had sufficient time to practice, I ask the students to present their speech one by one in front of the class.  I make sure to tell them that I am not grading them or choosing the best, and they can use their scripts during the speech if they want to, as long as they do not just read from it.  The majority of the students do their best to memorize their speeches.

If possible, it can be worthwhile to take a video of the speeches, so that students can watch themselves later and self-critique.  It can also be effective to show students their own speeches after a year or so, so that they can see how they have improved over time.

Polite English

Students are used to learning about and using polite words in their own language from a young age, so familiarizing themselves with these kinds of words in English can be very useful.

The phrases that I have selected for my lesson are "please", "here you are", "thank you", "you're welcome", and "I'm sorry", as well as terms that the students have studied before, such as "good morning/afternoon" and "how are you?"

After practicing the new words, I ask the students if they know how to say "thank you" in any other languages (apart from Japanese and English).  After this I show them a quick video clip of people from many different countries saying "thank you" in their native language.  Here is the video:

To practice "please", we play a version of Simon Says, using different commands with "please".  If I say "stand up please" or "clap your hands please", the students should do that, but if I only say "jump" or "touch your nose", they shouldn't do anything.

Next I use a Hot Potato game for practicing "here you are" and "thank you".  I give one student a plastic microphone, and they pass it around the room, using the target vocabulary.  As they are doing this, I play some music in the background.  When I pause the music, they stop passing, and I ask the student who has the microphone a simple question.

The main activity is a type of Go Fish card game, using cards with easy pictures on them, such as common foods and classroom objects.  Students make groups and each person receives 7 cards from the deck.  The remaining cards are placed face down in the middle.  One by one, each student asks one other student in their group for a card, such as "pizza please".  If that student has the card, they give it to them and say "here you are", and the first student says "thank you".  If the student who is being asked does not have the card in their hand, they say "I'm sorry", and the student who asked draws 1 card from the pile in the middle.  Then it is the next student's turn.  If a student has 2 of the same cards they put them down in front of them, and that counts as 1 point.

Here are the files for this game: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7lt2hgtnjs9n63c/AACnZsfbNubETZ4Q3iJNp4mSa

It is very important to make sure that students continue to use these polite phrases.  In later classes throughout the year, I check their usage during other games, or when passing out papers and materials.

How many?

There are many games and activities that are suitable for teaching about numbers.  My 6th grade students learn how to count from 1 to 100, and I try to pay specific attention to their listening and pronunciation of numbers that have very similar sounds in English, such as 13 and 30.  As with many of my lessons, the most effective activities are those that let students use different senses and learning styles.

The "How many?" quiz is challenging and engaging, and has students working together in groups to guess the answers to various questions.  After explaining each question and giving some visual hints, I set a timer for 1 minute, while each group thinks together and writes their answer on their worksheet.  After 1 minute, each group announces their guess, and finally I reveal the correct answer.  Here are some of the questions that I use:

1) How many bones in your wrist?  The correct answer is 8, and I show an x-ray image of a human hand, so we can count all the wrist bones together.

2) How many paperclips?  I take a handful of paperclips and connect them into one chain.  Then I walk around the classroom holding the swinging chain and ask the students to count how many paperclips there are.  Keep the chain moving!

3) How many cities in Niigata?  In recent years many parts of Niigata Prefecture have combined and merged into larger cities and wards.  Students try to guess how many cities (not including towns or villages) there are presently.  Right now there are 20.

4) How many marbles?  I prepare a small jar full of marbles, and ask students to guess how many are in the jar.  Each group has 10 seconds to handle and look at the jar, but they must not open it up.

5) How many keys (black and white) on a full-size piano?  There are 88.

6) How many dimples on a golf ball?  This is usually the final question, and the most ridiculous.  I let each group hold and look at a golf ball for 10 seconds, while giving them a hint that the answer is between 100 and 1000.  On a tournament golf ball there are 336 dimples.

The key to this kind of quiz is choosing questions that will challenge different kinds of topics.  Try to appeal to the students' interests in sports, animals, science, etc., while also using some realia and tactile materials.

Tools for the classroom

This is a photo of the box that I always carry with me into the English classroom. Regardless of the grade level (elementary through junior high school), these are some of the tools and materials that I use in nearly every lesson.

A set of flashcards for the weather, days of the week, and months is useful for opening the class with circle time.

The box of stamps is for checking student work and for role-playing activities such as using a passport when you travel.

The timer is essential for keeping track of the time spent in each part of the lesson, and letting students know that it's time to check their answers or move on to the next activity.

In quiz games I often use the "O" and "X" buzzer, which helps to create a game show atmosphere and get the students' attention

The wires are for connecting my iPad to the TV screen in each classroom, which I use for showing pictures and short movie clips

Finally, I have a time schedule for each school taped on the bottom of the box lid, which helps me to quickly check the time left in each lesson (each of my 7 schools has a slightly different schedule).

What are your essential tools?

Gairaigo

Gairaigo refers to words and expressions that have entered into the common Japanese vocabulary from foreign languages such as English.  All students know and use these kinds of words on a daily basis, but many of them do not think about where they came from or how they are pronounced in their original form.

Everyday words such as "ice cream", "soccer", and "computer" are often difficult for younger learners to identify and use in real English, so it can be very effective to help familiarize them with both the proper pronunciation and usage, especially as these are often high-frequency words.

A fun and memorable way to practice gairaigo words can be seen in this video, from Romandad100 on YouTube.  He has a lot of great ideas and videos for teaching English, so please check them out!

An iPad and electronic keyboard are not necessarily needed to do this activity, as I use laminated pictures instead.  It may not be as flashy, but the rhythm and drama of "ehhh?!" is still a lot of fun.  My favorite point of this activity is that in the second half, the students can take on the role of the teacher, and tell me the correct Japanese pronunciation of words that English has borrowed, such as "karaoke" and "Godzilla".

After the activity, I always point out to the students that Japanese is not the only language that borrows from others.  Many languages are interconnected by people and culture, so every day, even without knowing it, we use words from all around the world!

How are you?

This is a lesson that I often use early on in the year, as it fits well into the circle-time system that I begin each class with.

Starting the lesson, I ask the students what kind of greetings they might use every day with their friends, family, and teachers.  Just as in Japanese, we also ask "how are you?" often in English.

After practicing the pronunciation of the question, I tell the students that we will first learn 6 different answers that we can use.  I show one picture of a face at a time, and ask the students to guess what the feeling/emotion is.  For my lesson I use happy, hungry, sleepy, sick, hot, and cold.  After practicting each word, I remind the students that they must use "I'm..." with each one (I'm happy, I'm hungry, etc.).

Once they are familiar with all 6 feelings, I tell them that I want to check their gestures.  Our faces and body language can tell people just as much as the words that we use, so it's important to show these feelings to help with our communication.  I announce each feeling and ask the students to show me their "happy face", "sick face", and so on.

After the gestures, I tell the students that we will play a card game.  However, first we must make the cards.  Each student is given a paper with 4 equal boxes on it.  A volunteer chooses any one of the feelings, and then all the students write "I'm ______!" at the top of one box on their paper.  For example, if "happy" was chosen, then everyone writes "I'm happy!"

Next, I ask the class to think about what makes them happy, and give them 2 minutes to draw a picture in the same box that they just wrote in.  They can draw anything they like, as long as it is something that makes them happy.  We continue in the same way for the remaining 3 boxes, with students drawing simple pictures of what they want when they are hungry, sleepy, sick, hot, or cold.  There are only 4 boxes on the paper, so 2 of the 6 feelings will not be used.  It is essential to give the students a strict time limit for their drawings, as many of them will enjoy drawing for the entire class period!

After the drawing time is finished, I ask each student to cut their paper into 4 pieces, so that each feeling is 1 card.  Finally, I explain the rules of the game and model it with the teacher or a volunteer student.  All students begin with 4 cards, and find a partner.  Then they play rock, paper, scissors.  The loser asks the target question, "How are you?"  The winner can respond with any of the 4 feelings that were selected, "I'm happy/hungry/etc."  If the student who asked the question has that card, they give it to the winner.  If they do not have it (they gave it to another student in a previous match), they can say "Sorry!  See you!"  Then they both move on to find new partners.  Students should keep their own cards a secret, so the winner of each match may ask for a card that they can't get.

The game is played for 5 or so minutes, and then students sit down and count how many cards they ended up with.  We check together to see who has 1 card, 2 cards, 3 cards, until the champion (or champions) is found.  As the class ends we review all the feelings once again, and I tell the class that I will always ask "how are you?" at the beginning of each class, so they should try hard to remember them.

Circle-Time

Circle-time is a simple and effective way to review previous lesson content and to create a rhythm in English classes.  As I have multiple schools to work at and my classes are often spaced irregularly, it is very helpful to have a way to open each lesson which is instantly familiar to all the students and lets them know that English time has started.

I begin each lesson with the same set of basic greetings and questions:
1) Good morning/afternoon!
2) How's the weather?
3) What day is it today?
4) What month is it?
5) What is the date?
6) How are you?

For the last question, I walk around the room and ask several students at random.  Depending on their answers, I will ask some follow-up questions, such as "what do you want to eat?" (if the student says they are hungry) or "what time did you go to sleep?" (if the student says they are sleepy).

This is the basic structure of circle-time, and as the class progresses through the textbook/curriculum, further questions and reviews can be added on.  By the end of the school year, I will have included some or all of these topics:
7) All the days of the week
8) All the months of the year
9) Counting 1-20, then up to 100 by tens
10) The alphabet
11) Phonics sounds
12) What time is it?

My rules for teaching

Whenever I think about and plan out a new lesson, there are a few rules or guidelines that I always try to follow and incorporate into each one, regardless of the topic or target sentence. These are rules that I have learned from a lot of great teachers, not only those I have worked with, but also during my own time as a student.

1. Don't teach down to students. Showing a picture of a dog and asking, "what's this?" is not only insulting to the kids but also boring. Use different ways of introducing words, such as the sound of a dog barking or just showing the dog's tail, to challenge the kids and let them make the connections between their language and English. If the lesson is interesting to not only the students but also the homeroom teacher and yourself, it will be both memorable and effective.

2. Apply lessons to the students' world. At a young age, many children have difficulty with the idea of other countries and cultures. While it is important to help them become familiar with these concepts, it's also vital to make connections between English and the people and places of their day to day lives. If students can learn the words related to trains, grocery stores, soccer, and classroom objects, for example, then they can begin to think in English, which is a major step in learning the language.

3. Connect English to other school subjects. English doesn't have to always be about adverbs, prepositions, and the passive tense. It can be very interesting to cover some simple topics in science, art, or history, using English. ALTs come from some very diverse backgrounds and educations, so we should try to make use of our experiences and interests. Also, not every student enjoys studying English, but this way they may be able to use the language in service of a subject that they are interested in.

4. Engage different learning styles. Everyone has their own way of learning that best suits them (these are called "multiple intelligences"), so it's important for teachers to try and utilize a range of styles so that all of their students have an opportunity to get the most out of the lesson. Some are visual learners, who learn with pictures, whereas some are physical/kinesthetic, who learn by moving and using their sense of touch. Other styles include musical, interpersonal, verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, naturalistic, and intrapersonal.

5. Give students a teaching role. Of course, in the classroom there must be a clear understanding of who is the teacher and who are the students, but it can be effective to sometimes switch these roles and give the students an opportunity to lead an activity or choose the direction of a lesson. There are many games in which you can play as a class, with the teacher as the leader, and then switch into small groups with students taking on the leadership role.

These are a few of the points I try to always consider when thinking about new lessons and activities. What are some of your "teaching rules"?

Self-introduction and greetings

The first class at a new school or with new students will often be your self-introduction, which lets the kids get to know a little about you beyond the usual "my name is..." and "I'm from..." Pictures, maps, videos, and realia/props are essential, as they will really get students' attention and help them to visualize about who you are and the world that you come from.

It's also important to let the students be active participants in the lesson, so a quiz will work better than just a speech. I choose a few topics about myself, such as favorite food, sport, hobbies, and so on, and give three choices for each one. For example, I'll put three pictures on the board: a hamburger, a pizza, and a hot dog. I'll tell the students that one of these is my favorite food, and then give them 10 seconds to think about it. Then we check each picture, saying the name of the food together, practicing pronunciation, and finally taking a vote of who thinks each one is the correct answer. After that I reveal which one is my favorite food (pizza!), and then add a little cultural note, such as the many different styles of pizza in the United States (New York, Chicago deep dish, etc.). After 5 or 6 of these kinds of questions, I set aside a few minutes for the students to ask me any questions they might have.


For the final 10 or 15 minutes of class, I tell the students that now it's their turn to introduce themselves to me. For this I use a kind of "greeting relay race". After practicing "Hello, my name is..." and "nice to meet you", I give one marker pen (the baton) to each student in the back row of the classroom. I remind them that this is not a speed race, but they should try to speak clearly and slowly. Then the students in the back row introduce themselves to the person in front of them and pass the baton. When the baton reaches the front row, that student stands up and introduces themselves to me. After all the batons have reached the front, all the students in the first row move to the back and the rest of the students move up one row. We continue the relay, so that every student has a chance to speak with me. Depending on the level of the class, I add "I like..." into the dialogue.

Welcome!

Hello!  My name is Martin, and I'm an ALT (assistant language teacher) in Niigata, Japan.  I've been teaching English as a foreign language for about ten years now, in both junior high schools and elementary schools.

Over the years I've created and adapted a lot of games, activities, and lesson plans for many different topics and themes, so I decided to make this blog to share these resources.  I'll be posting on here every few days or so, describing recent English lessons along with links (from my Dropbox folder) to the materials I've been using.

I hope that some of these ideas will be useful for you!