英語ノート
EigoNoto.com

This video shows 3 ways of writing English sentences, questions and answers on the blackboard in patterns that will help students remember. Writing these ways all of the time will help students understand better, and more quickly, too. 

I've done a lot of Telling The Way lessons- they can be one of the most difficult lessons for students. Using the Where Is The Barber chant and a map drawn on the blackboard, I was amazed how well the students did with this material.  This was the first time for them to study this pattern- check out the video!

The video shows a really easy way to help students remember LEFT and RIGHT.

This is a free-moving pair activity that can be used for a large variety of language patterns. The answer patterns can vary greatly- this video shows students how to practice answering 'How Many?', but answering is usually much more simple and straightforward.

This video shows Hashimoto-sensei and I preparing the class to play Interview Bingo. This activity is a pair activity, so students get a lot of practice saying both the question and answer patterns.

Here is an in-class video explanation of the EigoNoto.com Janken 4's activity-
Grade 5 Lesson 4, practicing numbers 1-20

To save the file and play in it your classes (as audio OR video), double-click on the video (or right click--copy link location). Then copy the url (the address in the browser window) and convert it to playable audio at http://www.zamzar.com/url/.

Here are some different gestures for CRAZY used around the world!

インドネシアのジャンケンのやり方の説めはビデオデある。
Watch the video (in Japanese) to see how to play Janken Indonesian style!

日本語の説めはビデオであるー
See the video to see how to do this in class-



This is especially true for vocabulary. There are so many English loan-words in Japanese. Helping students to realize this is an easy way to empower the students, because they already know English!
When you introduce a new pattern: ask the students if they know any words that can be used in the pattern. To help the students get started, you can suggest some words in Japanese that you think the students will know.
Another point to remember is: many students already study English. Instead of telling meanings yourself in Japanese, ask all of the students if anyone knows the meaning of something you've presented. Presenting the material in context, in a storyboard or conversation, gives the students powerful clues to guess the meaning, too.

Click to see the EigoNoto.com activity WYAN- Words You Already Know.

Since Eigo Noto lessons are communication lessons, not studying English for a test, encourage answers that are almost right, or in ways that can help lead students to the correct answer.

日本語の説めビデオであるー


(This activity is a grouping variation of Janken Conversation Rounds.)
This warm-up activity that is useful for:

• reviewing language patterns from the last lesson;
  
• recycling vocabulary and language from earlier lessons; and
  
• teaching Conversation Skills.
  

It allows students to practice a conversation more than once, yet saves time since students don’t need to move from their desk area.
On the blackboard, write a conversation pattern, for example:



W)Do you like fish?
L)Yes, I do./No, I don’t.
+Repeat the Same Question (Do you like fish?)
W)Yes, I do./No, I don’t.

Ask students to think of an original question by replacing the parts you’ve chosen (written above in italics. On the blackboard, I always use yellow for the parts students will change.).
To Play: Students stand at their seats, and first play Janken with the seat partner next to them. When these two have finished the conversation, next the 2 students in front and back of each other (as though the students are in groups of 4) play Janken and do the conversation. Last, the two students diagonally opposed to each other play Janken and do the conversation. When these 3 pairs have finished, they sit down in their seats. Time: less than 5 minutes.

I always walk into class with a pair of dice in my pocket. Here are the ways they can be used:

-Roll two dice to choose a student-very effective in choosing a volunteer (for O/X Game, to choose the cross-point student to begin CROSSFIRE, etc.). With a little use, the students become resigned to the fact that their turn to perform was chosen at random by the dice.
With students sitting in rows of 6 across, and 4-7 deep:

• One die counts the rows of students from left-to-right. The second die counts the rows of students from front-to-back. Thus the front row lefthand-most student is number 1-1, the back row righthand-most student is number 6-6, and so on.

-Roll one die to choose a row to stand up for LINEFIRE.

-If you give out points, you can offer a choice of a set reward (6 points, for example) or the total of 2 rolled dice.

-When doing chants with Yes/No answers, roll a die to choose the Yes or No answer- 1, 3 or 5 = Yes, 2, 4 or 6 = No. This does a lot to keep students engaged while doing a chant.

-When doing an activity such as a Quiz Show that awards points to the (usually) higher-skilled team, give them points equal to two rolled dice. BUT, if the dice roll any pair (1-1, 2-2, etc.) take away ALL of the points awarded until that time!