Rin
July 28th, 2008, 11:49
Before I came to Japan to teach English, I taught mathematics to 7th-graders in America (or what would be Junior High School 1st-graders in Japan). Needless to say, there is a humongous difference between mathematics education and foreign language education; so, despite my teaching credentials, I really was jumping into the deep end on this one.
If your Elementary schools are anything like mine, you may end up creating all of the lessons and teaching the class yourself. Fortunately, with one exception, all of my JTEs will be rather supportive and keep the class under control and participate in the lesson.
One of the things I fell back on for my elementary lessons is what worked for me learning Japanese. I think we can all agree that wrote memorization is frankly boring, but there really is no way around it if you are to effectively learn a language. It’s pretty hard to put into practice words that you don’t know.
I try to make it fun for the kids though. I use funny voices, or radically change the volume of my voice. I start out by using a slow, clear voice to pronounce a word, and have them repeat it four times before moving on to the next card. When I put the card down on the small table in front of me, I make sure to set the next card next to it, then the next one on top of it. This has an effect of auto-shuffling the cards.
It is important that flashcards are not practiced in the same order every time. The goal, in using a flashcard, is to create an association in the brains of each student between the content of the card and the word they are saying. The last thing you want them to do is develop an association between the flashcard and the one immediately before or after it. They won’t always be in situations where the word they’re looking for happens to be in the context of a tiger and a monkey. They need to be able to picture a lion in their heads and say “lion,” without reference to the tiger and monkey flashcards that came before and after the lion one.
Another problem that this solves is that of our tendency to naturally remember the first few and the last few items in a series. Ever try to remember an eight or ten digit phone number without breaking it into smaller pieces? You remember that it began with an 8 and ended with a 9. The same problem applies here. If they feel like there is a beginning and end to the list (not that hard to do), they’ll remember the first couple and the last couple of cards you showed them, and forget the rest.
Once I finish saying each card four times, I go through the newly shuffled pile again, saying each three times, then again with two times, and then one. If I see that they need more practice, I’ll go another one and maybe another one.
I then make them all say each card once together without my help. This is a good way to listen for the mistakes. Kids will clam up and be afraid to speak individually, but as a group, they’ll loudly and proudly yell out “O-REN-JIIII” just as everyone else yells “peaches”. Or, if they get the word right, they might say “PEACH” when everyone else is using the plural. If you are hearing a lot of mistakes, or a lot of mumbling, you may need to go over the vocabulary a few more times. Make sure to make it fun. I like to tell them that if the Principal in the staff room can’t hear them, then they aren’t being loud enough.
Finally, I have the first two people at the two opposite sides of the class janken (do rock-paper-scissors). The winner gets to decide if go first or if their row goes last. You would be surprised at the number of kids who decide to go first, much to the chagrin of their row. I tell the row to stand up, and when they say the word on the card (the cards are continuously auto-shuffled whilst doing this), then they may sit down. This is an excellent way to find out who is having the problems and who is doing well.
This part is tricky though. The kids, especially younger ones, will tend to start crying at the drop of a hat, so it is best not to force them to stand there for minutes on end. Sometimes little hints can help if they aren’t getting it. Another technique I use is to count down on one hand five, long seconds. If they still haven’t gotten it, then I have the class tell them all together.
Also, be careful not to let them ask their friends. As often as not, their friends will inadvertently tell them the wrong answer. Then not only do they lose face for getting it wrong, but so do their friends. Try not to let the JTE be too pushy about it either. I had one JTE who insisted that every kid had to say the word, and would not let up. He was screaming and yelling at one kid who wouldn’t say it, and wouldn’t let me either give them a different card, or just move on to another kid. Sometimes, there’s nothing to be done about it.
Remember, you’re a language teacher, and the entire point of your being there is to help teach English (or whatever language you were hired to teach, be it French, German, or whatever). You’re not just there to play games, and it is important that your time spent there ensures that they come away from that lesson with at least a few of the vocabulary and a simple, related conversation.
In a similar vein, make sure that the games you play with the kids actually help them learn English. Think of ways to make them better for that purpose. For example, which serves the children better? Bingo, where you call the items, and they listen, and circle the items on their card, or Reverse Bingo, where each of the kids take turns saying the items themselves, in an attempt not to get Bingo, and get everyone else out? I would say the latter – they not only get the listening practice, but speaking practice as well.
Which is better? Fruits Basket where the middle person simply says a few words, or God forbid, just screams “Fruits Basket,” or a Fruits Basket game where the kids must ask the middle person a question and the middle person must answer? I go a step further, actually, with Fruits Basket. I rule that in order to get everyone to move, they have to list off all of the items individually (No “Fruits Basket!”), and that if they only use one item, they cannot use their own. Lately, I’ve added a rule that if someone uses one item, then next must use two, and the next three until all of them must be said.
This might seem overly complex, but the children generally get it quickly enough. Furthermore, they have a lot more fun than when the middle person just says one thing (their own), then the next does the same thing, again and again. Finally, I like to keep my item a secret, and see if the kids can guess it at the end of the game based on when I move. They get it right often enough, and everyone felt all the more clever for it.
If your Elementary schools are anything like mine, you may end up creating all of the lessons and teaching the class yourself. Fortunately, with one exception, all of my JTEs will be rather supportive and keep the class under control and participate in the lesson.
One of the things I fell back on for my elementary lessons is what worked for me learning Japanese. I think we can all agree that wrote memorization is frankly boring, but there really is no way around it if you are to effectively learn a language. It’s pretty hard to put into practice words that you don’t know.
I try to make it fun for the kids though. I use funny voices, or radically change the volume of my voice. I start out by using a slow, clear voice to pronounce a word, and have them repeat it four times before moving on to the next card. When I put the card down on the small table in front of me, I make sure to set the next card next to it, then the next one on top of it. This has an effect of auto-shuffling the cards.
It is important that flashcards are not practiced in the same order every time. The goal, in using a flashcard, is to create an association in the brains of each student between the content of the card and the word they are saying. The last thing you want them to do is develop an association between the flashcard and the one immediately before or after it. They won’t always be in situations where the word they’re looking for happens to be in the context of a tiger and a monkey. They need to be able to picture a lion in their heads and say “lion,” without reference to the tiger and monkey flashcards that came before and after the lion one.
Another problem that this solves is that of our tendency to naturally remember the first few and the last few items in a series. Ever try to remember an eight or ten digit phone number without breaking it into smaller pieces? You remember that it began with an 8 and ended with a 9. The same problem applies here. If they feel like there is a beginning and end to the list (not that hard to do), they’ll remember the first couple and the last couple of cards you showed them, and forget the rest.
Once I finish saying each card four times, I go through the newly shuffled pile again, saying each three times, then again with two times, and then one. If I see that they need more practice, I’ll go another one and maybe another one.
I then make them all say each card once together without my help. This is a good way to listen for the mistakes. Kids will clam up and be afraid to speak individually, but as a group, they’ll loudly and proudly yell out “O-REN-JIIII” just as everyone else yells “peaches”. Or, if they get the word right, they might say “PEACH” when everyone else is using the plural. If you are hearing a lot of mistakes, or a lot of mumbling, you may need to go over the vocabulary a few more times. Make sure to make it fun. I like to tell them that if the Principal in the staff room can’t hear them, then they aren’t being loud enough.
Finally, I have the first two people at the two opposite sides of the class janken (do rock-paper-scissors). The winner gets to decide if go first or if their row goes last. You would be surprised at the number of kids who decide to go first, much to the chagrin of their row. I tell the row to stand up, and when they say the word on the card (the cards are continuously auto-shuffled whilst doing this), then they may sit down. This is an excellent way to find out who is having the problems and who is doing well.
This part is tricky though. The kids, especially younger ones, will tend to start crying at the drop of a hat, so it is best not to force them to stand there for minutes on end. Sometimes little hints can help if they aren’t getting it. Another technique I use is to count down on one hand five, long seconds. If they still haven’t gotten it, then I have the class tell them all together.
Also, be careful not to let them ask their friends. As often as not, their friends will inadvertently tell them the wrong answer. Then not only do they lose face for getting it wrong, but so do their friends. Try not to let the JTE be too pushy about it either. I had one JTE who insisted that every kid had to say the word, and would not let up. He was screaming and yelling at one kid who wouldn’t say it, and wouldn’t let me either give them a different card, or just move on to another kid. Sometimes, there’s nothing to be done about it.
Remember, you’re a language teacher, and the entire point of your being there is to help teach English (or whatever language you were hired to teach, be it French, German, or whatever). You’re not just there to play games, and it is important that your time spent there ensures that they come away from that lesson with at least a few of the vocabulary and a simple, related conversation.
In a similar vein, make sure that the games you play with the kids actually help them learn English. Think of ways to make them better for that purpose. For example, which serves the children better? Bingo, where you call the items, and they listen, and circle the items on their card, or Reverse Bingo, where each of the kids take turns saying the items themselves, in an attempt not to get Bingo, and get everyone else out? I would say the latter – they not only get the listening practice, but speaking practice as well.
Which is better? Fruits Basket where the middle person simply says a few words, or God forbid, just screams “Fruits Basket,” or a Fruits Basket game where the kids must ask the middle person a question and the middle person must answer? I go a step further, actually, with Fruits Basket. I rule that in order to get everyone to move, they have to list off all of the items individually (No “Fruits Basket!”), and that if they only use one item, they cannot use their own. Lately, I’ve added a rule that if someone uses one item, then next must use two, and the next three until all of them must be said.
This might seem overly complex, but the children generally get it quickly enough. Furthermore, they have a lot more fun than when the middle person just says one thing (their own), then the next does the same thing, again and again. Finally, I like to keep my item a secret, and see if the kids can guess it at the end of the game based on when I move. They get it right often enough, and everyone felt all the more clever for it.