Supplementary Materials for Elementary (A year's worth of 5th & 6th grade materials!)

[Ebi]

I'd like to share with you some materials I've developed over five years as an elementary school ALT. There are nearly 100 MS Word documents in the zip files attached to this post, but please don't let that intimidate you. The files are small and they are all clearly labeled so you can easily pick and choose.

What are they?

The vast majority of the materials are what I call "key phrase cards". They are large (usually A3 size) and feature one key phrase chosen from the elementary textbook ("Hi, friends!"), along with the katakana reading and translation in Japanese. In addition, I've included supplementary flash cards, activity cards, and few extra goodies. A lot of these can be used in JHS classes and/or special needs classes as well, so please take a look even if you don't teach elementary.

Take a look at the "Key Phrase List" pages to see a preview of the key phrases/vocabulary that's included. You can also print those off and give them to your Home Room Teachers for reference. Note that not all of the extra materials are listed, so please look at the files too.

Why do I need these?

These fill a gap in the current elementary school curriculum ("Hi, friends!"). Students are expected to learn key phrases for each lesson, but they are not taught how to read or write so there is very little English inside the textbooks. They are expected to simply learn by listening and repeating. However, I find students remember key phrases/words better if they are provided visual cues to focus on. Some schools have flash cards to practice vocabulary, but no schools have materials for practicing key phrases. The other materials I included fill similar gaps. I also made some flash cards to use if your school doesn't have any.

How do I use these cards?
I've included a guide with tips for each lesson, but the short answer is: use them however you want! I've designed them to be completely customizable, so make them your own. The simplest way to use the cards is to stick them on the blackboard after you teach each phrase so students can refer to them during the lesson. I also use them for review at the start of lessons. All other materials have special instructions that are discussed in the guide.

If you have any feedback, questions, comments, complaints, or concerns please send them my way! I welcome any constructive criticism.

(Downloads are in the next post.)

[Ebi]

Downloads

5th Grade Materials Include:

Key Phrase List
How to Use Guide

5-1: Hello! (3 key phrase cards)
Key Phrases: "Hello." "My name is ~." "Nice to meet you."
5-2: I'm happy. (2 key phrase cards, 11 flash cards)
Key Phrases: "How are you?" "I'm ~."
Flash Cards: "good/fine" "hungry" "happy" "sleepy" "so-so" "sad" "sick" "tired" "great" "hot" "cold"
5-3: How many? (4 key phrase cards)
Key Phrases: "How many ~?" "How many apples?" "1 apple" "2 apples"
5-4: I like apples. (5 key phrase cards)
Key Phrases: "I like ~." "Do you like ~?" "Yes, I do." "No, I don't." "I don't like ~."
5-5: What do you like? (2 key phrase cards, 5 flash cards)
Key Phrases: "What" + "do you like?"
Flash Cards: "animal" "color" "food" "shape" "sport"
5-6: What do you want? (3 key phrase cards, 8 flash cards)
Key Phrases: "(What) do you want?" "I want ~." "Where is ~?" [*You'll need the "What" card from 5-5]
Flash Cards: "money" "a present" "a smartphone" "a game" "a dog" "a cat" "a book" "cake"
5-7: What's this? (2 key phrase cards, 1 flash card)
Key Phrases: "What's this?" "It's a(n) ~."
Flash Card: "eggplant"
5-8: I study Japanese. (3 key phrase cards, 19 flash cards, 4 pronunciation cards)
Key Phrases: "(What) do you study?" "I study ~." "What day is it?" [*You'll need the "What" card from 5-5]
Flash Cards: "subject", "on", Days of the Week ("Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday", "Sunday"), School Subjects ("English", "Japanese", "math", "science", "social studies", "music", "P.E.", "home ec", "arts and crafts", "calligraphy")
Extras: Pronunciation cards for Thursday (TH, UR, S, D + AY)
5-9: What would you like? (2 key phrase cards)
Key Phrases: "(What) would you like?" "I'd like ~." [*You'll need the "What" card from 5-5]

Download Link: 5th Grade Key Phrase Cards & Materials.zip

6th Grade Materials Include:

Key Phrase List
How to Use Guide

6-1: Do you have "a"? (3 key phrase cards)
Key Phrases: "Do you have ~?" "Yes, I do." "No, I don't." "How many ~?" "one bird" "two birds"
6-2: When is your birthday? (4 key phrase cards, 15 flash cards, 1 vocab sheet)
Key Phrases: "When is ~?" "It's ~." "My birthday is ~." "What's the date today?"
Flash Cards: "your birthday" "Christmas" "Halloween" "January" "February" "March" "April" "May" "June" "July" "August" "September" "October" "November" "December"
Vocab Sheet: Days of the Month
6-3: I can swim. (5 key phrase cards, 12 flash cards)
Key Phrases: "I can ~." "Can you ~?" "Yes, I can." "No, I can't." "I can't ~."
Flash Cards: "play the piano", "play the recorder", "play soccer", "play badminton", "play basketball", "play baseball", "play table tennis", "play kendama", "swim", "cook", "ride a bicycle", "ride a unicycle"
6-4: Turn right. (5 key phrase cards)
Key Phrases: "Where is ~?" "Go straight." "Go back." "Turn right." "Turn left."
6-5: Let's go to Italy. (6 key phrase cards, 1 set of activity cards)
Key Phrases: "Let's go to ~." "What country is this?" "Where do you want to go?" "I want to go to ~." "I want to eat ~." "I want to see ~." [*You can use the "What do you want to do?" cards from 6-8]
Activity Cards: 9 countries (America, India, France, China, Australia, Egypt, Brazil, Greece, Spain)
6-6: What time do you get up? (3 key phrase cards, 16 flash cards)
Key Phrases: "What time do you ~?" "What time is it?" "at"
Flash Cards: "play the piano", "play soccer", "play basketball", "eat breakfast", "eat lunch", "eat dinner", "swim", "get up", "go to bed", "go to school", "go home", "study at school", "study at home", "watch TV", "clean my classroom", "take a bath"
6-7: We are good friends. (5 key phrase cards, 5 flash cards [3 versions])
Key Phrases: "I am ~." "We are ~." "Let's go to ~." "strong and brave" "good friends"
Flash Cards: Three sets of Momotaro character cards (Momotaro, Monkey, Dog, Bird, Onigashima)
6-8: What do you want to be? (9 key phrase cards, 1 vocab sheet)
Key Phrases: "What do you", "want?", "want to do?", "want to be?", "I want ~." "I want to ~." "I want to be ~." "I want to be a ~." "Because ~."
Vocab Sheet: Jobs (includes all 16 jobs featured in lesson 8)
Extra: "What do you want?" worksheet

Download Link: 6th Grade Key Phrase Cards & Materials.zip

[Ebi]

IMPORTANT!

If you don't have the font "AR P丸ゴシック体M" installed on your computer, these files will not display correctly.

If you're not sure if you have it installed, test by opening the "Yes, I do." file (from either 5-4 or 6-1). Is the Japanese text rounded? Does the "Y" look rounded and match the text next to it? If yes, then you have the correct fonts installed. (The fonts are included in Ichitaro and JUST systems, which are pretty standard on Japanese computers.)

If not, then you need to install the font "AR P丸ゴシック体M". For your convenience, I've uploaded the font here: [Click to download]

Just download and open the zip file. Double-click the font file to open. Push the "Install" button and it should add it to your fonts folder.

[5100]

There are nearly 100 MS Word documents.

Lightweight.

Downloads:

It's a good thought, but I'm not seeing anything.

[Ebi]

Lightweight.

Ha ha, yeah. I'm not claiming this is super impressive. These are just small tools I use in elementary school classes. But I figured I'd share since I have a complete set for the school year.

It's a good thought, but I'm not seeing anything.

I just added them. I needed to resize some of the images to make the file sizes smaller which is what caused the delay. Please let me know what you think.

[gibbity]

Well shit. .... ebi should be getting some sort of badge for all this stuff lately. Really helpful for me at least. Being a clueless non teacher and all. Great stuff ebi. Thanks.

[Ebi]

You're welcome! Let me know how it goes if you use them in your classes.