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In Japan, especially, giving/receiving directions using the railway/subway systems can be quite useful. This lesson practices just that. It uses quite a few worksheets (which can be cut down to suit your purposes.)
Intro: JTE/ALT have a "conversation" giving/receiving directions. "How can I get to the bank?" "Take the ~line to ~station. The bank is near the station."

Ss form pairs. Pass out the listening exercise.
Ss listen to the JTE/ALT asking directions to the places listed on the worksheet (bank, Tsutaya, etc.)(JTE/ALT decide the location of each place) and then mark the places on their WS.

Pass out the dialogue WS.
Ss practice the dialogue and the suggestions in the box below.

Pass out WS A and B.
Go over the directions. Ss will ask each other how to get to certain places on the map. (To make this activity a bit more challenging, I had my Ss ask for directions from different stations each time, rather than always starting at Badtz Maru station.)

When pairs finish, give them the writing exercise. Ss help Kitty find go to the Mini Stop by writing out the dialogue and the directions (using the map of course.)

Teach your students how to make Christmas cards.
Note: I credit the snowman to Bahia. Thanks!

See attached

This isn't really so much a plan, but something that seems to be working well, and is enjoyable for students and teachers alike. Essentially students pick new names for themselves and make name cards, from that point on they'll be referred to as that in class. Teachers may also pick names (I currently teach with Scarlett-sensei and Xavior-sensei). It might also be fun to pick out a new Japanese name for yourself (I'm 'Akira').

I grabbed a list of the top 100 baby names from last year in the US and 'translated' them into katakana. I had a couple Japanese teachers go over it, but they may have missed a few... so some of the names might not be 100% accurate. In any case I suggest reading the list out loud so the students can hear the names.

I also made tried to make it clear that this was optional, and I knew lots of people with Japanese names in the US. If they didn't want a new name that was okay. In addition they were free to pick names not on the list. I was expecting to get a few kids to want to be named "Spiderman" or "Jack Bauer", but only one student picked an odd name: "Pork" (he was clear he wanted it to mean 'pig-meat').

As a fun side-activity I've begun researching the meanings of the names they've chosen. Xavior-sensei (for the record, he chose that spelling) was disappointed to find out that his name actually means "New House". I think he was expecting something more sinister.

This lesson plan takes an entire class period, but it is possible to do it in 45 minutes if you have a short class. The activity reviews the "be going to" pattern as well as general questions using the topic of summer vacation plans.

Give each of the students one of the attached handouts. Give them 10 min to fill out the required information about their summer vacation plans. (Fast writers can fill out the second one if they wish.)

Next, have the students exchange information via conversation. This can be done without the use of the sheets if the question prompts are written on the board. Continue this for about ten minutes as well.

Finally, collect all the papers. Have the students get out thier notebooks and a pencil. Now, using the collected sheets, give the students a quiz. (Ex: He is going to go to Niigata. He is going to swim. He is going to go with his family, by car. Who is he?) The students should write who they think the person is based on the conversations they had earlier. You can make the person with the most correct answers the "winner" should you choose to do so.

*You will need this font to print the worksheets correctly.

This is for use after the students have come back from summer vacation. The object is to get the students to review past tense verbs. You should remind the students that they do not need to combine past tense verbs with was as many of them tend to make this mistake. (I was ate the fish.)

As an introduction to this activity you can tell the students about your summer vacation. You can make up a crazy fictional summer vacation if you think yours was too boring.

The students should be allowed to write about anything they did during the summer vacation, but encouraged, if they can, to write in paragraph form instead of just writing a list of things they did.

The students may find dictionaries helpful and I tend to add a list of useful adjectives on the back of the worksheet as well. Fast writers will have no problem filling up the sheet in ten to fifteen minutes writing time.