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!