Classroom English for Students

I made a list of “Classroom English” for my students. I’m sure there are plenty more useful expressions to add to the list, but for now, this is it. Feel free to use it in your classroom.

Magic Wands

Magicians, like myself, use magic wands all the time. But recently, I have been looking for ideas on how to use them in the classroom more. Magic wands can be used with picture books. I use the Longman’s Young Picture Dictionary with my toddlers. I give each toddler and mommy a “magic wand” or “fairy wand”. The toddlers “touch” the pictures as we practice the words. “touch apple” ” touch cookies”. You can use magic wands to touch anything: “touch your knee”, “mommy’s hand”, etc. Another way in which I have used magic wands in the past is to give one magic wand to a student. That student has the magic power the command the other students. ” walk” “swim” stop” “go”. Use the magic wand with a music activity. Put the music on and the student has the power to “freeze” the others and the music. Even the teacher can use a magic wand “Sit Down” for Story time or “clean up”. Tanja from Super Simple Learning has posted a great activity on her blog. http://ewspider.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/collecting-butterflies/

Rock and Walk

I have been wanting to introduce musical instruments in the classroom for a long time. Finally the other day, I bought myself some instruments and gave it a try. The students sat down and I introduced each instrument. Tamborine, cymbals, etc. Each student had a chance to tap, shake, touch each instrument. Then I gave out one instrument to each student. All students formed a circle and I played Super Simple Songs “walking walking”. The band rocked out while walking, jumping running and swimming. The kids loved it. In the future I will be doing more with instruments. I recommend “101 Rhythm Instruments Activities for Young Children” by Abigail Flesch Conners. It has a lot of great ideas and tips for using instruments in the classroom.

Tower of Power

Stackable Tower from Ikea

Relay games are a lot of fun. Especially, when your students need to use up some energy. I call this game, “Tower of Power” Two teams have a stack of flashcards face down. At the opposite end of the classroom is a matching set face up. For example, An “Apple” card and an “A” card. Each team has a stackable tower or a set of blocks. The teams have to turn over a face down card and say the word. Then race to the other side of the classroom and bring back the matching card. Having done so, they can build one level of the tower. Game continues untill one team has built their tower. Play the game a couple of times.

Bruce Lee – “Fist of Flashcards” game

In my every ending quest for interesting ways to use flashcards to review or introduce vocabulary, I stumbled upon a fun and a bit strange way to review flashcards. First, make sure your students have already learned the vocabulary on the flashcards (fruit ,animals, etc). Then ask the students if they know Bruce Lee. Do your best Bruce Lee imitation so they understand. Take all you flashcards you need to review in your hand, back facing the students. One at a time, in a quick karate like fashion, flash the front of the one flash card to the students. If a student guesses the card, move on to the next card untill all the cards have been guessed. I use the theme song from the Bruce lee movie “Enter the Dragon” while I am doing the karate moves to make this game more exciting! Use your discretion and make it fun, as this game may frighten sensitive or younger children. Be water my friend – Bruce Lee Comments

Finger Karuta

Here is a fun game to play if you’re using a text-book with a lot of pictures. This game is similar to the Japanese game called “Karuta”. Introduce the vocabulary using flashcards matching the pictures in the student’s text-book. Have each student repeat each word while touching the matching picture in the book. Now it’s game time! Have students compete in pairs, and place one open book in between each other. Shuffle your flashcards. Tell the students to “put your finger on your nose”. This is the starting position. Call out and show a flash card. The students who touches the picture and says the word first is the winner! Repeat this several times. To avoid “ties”, repeat an odd number of times. The player with the most points wins!

Trick or Treat

Halloween is a great time to do a super fun lesson. Here is a super simple game using the wonderful Halloween materials and songs that my friends at Super Simple learning have produced. Divide the class into two groups. Each group form circles. Draw two large “trick or treat” bags on the board, one for each team. Place six Halloween flashcards(witch, ghost,etc.) facing out on the board. Explain to your students that we are going to go trick or treating and introduce six “treat” flashcards. One of the flashcards is the “candy” card. Shuffle these cards and hide them behind the Halloween cards. Here is how to play. Give each team a ball of small Halloween toy. Play some energetic Halloween music while the students pass the ball around the circle. When the music stops, the students holding the ball come to the front of the class and “Rock, Scissors, Paper”. The winning player chooses a flash card first. The other player chooses next. If a player finds the “candy”, draw it in the “trick or treat” bag and reset the game. You can also draw the other “treats” in the bag as well. For 10-15 minutes of game play, the team that finds the candy card (three times) is the winner.
supersimplesongs.com/halloween/

Don’t Speak Japanese Time!

“To speak Japanese or not to speak Japanese, that is the question” – Hamlet. English teachers in Japan have been pondering this NOT so famous quote from Shakespeare for centuries. Dost thou or dost not thou? My goal with every class is to use as little Japanese as possible. Show how, rather than explain how. Use gestures when possible. And only use Japanese when it’s necessary to the flow of the class.These are a few of my personal guidelines. But how do you prevent your students from speaking Japanese? For my older students (fifth and six grade). I introduced “Don’t speak Japanese time!” During a speaking activity, I take out a timer and sign that says “Don’t speak Japanese”. Depending on the activity and level of students, I set the timer for two to five minutes. During this time, no Japanese (or any other language) except English is to be spoken. When the activity is over, I praise all the students and take the sign down. This does NOT mean speaking Japanese is encouraged, just acceptable when nessesary. I find if the students know there is a time limit, there is little pressure to speak only English. They even correct me when I slip up! When you first take out the sign, some students will applaud and some will groan, but in the end they will all have fun!

Phonics Shuffle Game

This game can be played using any six cards or music, but this game is great using the wonderful “Super Simple ABC’s” flash cards. The game is Super Simple too! Teach the gestures and phonics of the cards used before the game. If your teaching a large class, ask for six students to come up to the front of the class. Give each student a flash card facing towards the other students for all to see. Review each flash card again. Have the six students turn the cards around face backwards. Play some energetic music. Have the students not holding cards clap to the beat of the music. This is a good way to get everyone involved. The six students holding cards “shuffle” the cards by exchanging them with each other. When the music stops, the students holding cards (still facing backwards) stop exchanging cards. Ask the other students, for example, “wheres a-a-a apple?” If a students knows, they raise their hand and choose the person holding the card. The students holding the cards can answer “yes” or “no”. For the last card, ask the students “what’s this?” For small classes, line up the cards on the board and the teacher can “shuffle” the cards. Play once or twice.

Up and Down Game

Teaching numbers and counting in a fun and interesting way can be a challenge. Heres a fun numbers game you can play with a pack of playing cards. First practice counting 1-13. Explain to the students the number values of the cards; Ace =1, Jack=11, Queen=12, King= 13. The number cards are as is.Shuffle the cards and deal the top card for all to see. The students guess if the next card is “UP” or “DOWN” in value. For example, the first card to be dealt is a “5″. Is the next card “5-UP” meaning 6- 13 (king) or “5-DOWN” 1 (Ace) – 4?  If the next card dealt is the same as the previous card, then just deal the next card. Play continues until the player’s guess is incorrect.  Points are given for the cards guessed correctly. If your teaching a large group. Divide the students into teams. Each team takes turns guessing “UP” or “DOWN”. For a 10 -15 minutes game, the total of three rounds is the winner. The game can also be played like my “Gesture Junken” game. The students guessing incorrectly sit down. The remaining students game play the next round. After five rounds the standing students are the winners.