gunmajet.net

These are some warm-ups I have used in class. They went over well, figured I share them with you guys. Give them a shot, tell me what you think. Peace.

This is a link to the MEXT guidelines for foreign language study. These guidelines are from 2003 but I believe they have not changed. By reviewing this information, it should give ALTs a better understanding of the foreign language learning goals at your school, sentence patterns, grammar, and situations in which foreign language use is determined useful.

http://www.mext.go.jp/english/shotou/030301.htm

Play a reverse jeopardy style quiz game to teach about Valentine's Day. Point value is decided on the difficulty of the question. For low level students you may need translation help.

In a group of 4 or 5, take turns choosing the questions (Can teach "I would like the question for _____ points.) The students have 20 secs to find an answer. If they can't the question is opened up to all groups. (ready, go! First group to stand or ring a bell can try to answer). The group to answer correctly keeps the card. At the end, add the points to choose a winner.

Can be followed by description of V Day or talk about the history.

I used this for the deaf school, but can be used at non-special needs schools as well.

Some pictures, worksheets, and activities related to Valentine's Day. They can be used as is, or to make karuta cards, or other activities.

A few Christmas resources I found recently.

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.)

Similar to the game "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" This activity has a distinctly Christmas theme. Can be done in groups or individually, depending upon level and student preference.
Students are given a MISSING poster and a "police report" as well as their own "clue" paper in order to keep track of the countries visited and clues given.
The first clue is given on the "police report," leading them to find the first country by looking for key words in the short paragraphs about Christmas traditions for that country. Once Ss find the first country, they can read the clue pasted on the back of the country description. Ss read the next clue and go from there. When Ss think that they know the answer, they tell the JTE or ALT where Santa's sleigh is.

Warm up: your choice

Intro: introduce vocab needed for activity (if any)
form groups
pass out posters, etc.
　　　　
Go over instructions and read the first clue together. Then, set Ss loose to solve the mystery. Hints may be necessary and some monitoring is necessary as well to keeps some Ss on task.

I gave out Christmas stickers when the Ss found the sleigh, but tis not necessary.

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

Use these black and white images to make karuta cards or other things.

You can also create gestures that represent all of these images.