Hello! This month we have some news about our seminars, a groovy "certificate
maker" and some cool new games! We've just spent the weekend in Shizuoka
where we did a free show at a Special Needs School. These kids were totally
amazing, and a big thank you to the 20 plus ALTs who attended!!
March 11th Teacher Training in Shikoku
But we don't just do things in big cities like Tokyo, next week we'll be
doing a 3 hour workshop in Matsuyama, Shikoku. So if you know any teachers
who might be interested, please tell them to have a look at the Japanese
version of the website!
Genki Certificate Maker
Presenting your students with a groovy certificate is a great way to get
them motivated! They'll feel proud, want to study more, and they'll take
it home to their parents, who'll see just what a good teacher you are!
So I made this little page to help you make a certificate. What you do
is: 1. Enter your name, your student's name and the date. 2. Press the
"print" button. 3. Your certificate will be printed out in glorious
A4! http://genkienglish.net/certificate.swf
Chopsticks Game!
This is a cool game sent in by Genki English reader Samantha Dewhurst.
1. Give each kid 5 chopsticks
2. Kids get into groups of 2
3. They practise today's English (e.g. How are you? or whatever)
4. They janken (paper, scissors, stone)
5. The loser gives the winner a chopstick!
6. Repeat from 2
At the end of the time, the kid with the most chopsticks is the winner!
If you have no chopsticks you can still play, you get a chopstick if you
win, but nothing happens if you lose! Also, if someone challenges you by
asking you the question, you have to reply and janken!
Samantha also suggested banning all Japanese, including the "janken
chant" - forcing them to mime it!!!
Thanks for the cool idea!
Will's Idea of the Month
A fun way to teach "can you do this?" and have a good laugh at
the same time!
1. The teacher performs a gesture (e.g. patting the top of her head whilst rubbing her tummy) and calls out "Can you do this?"
2. The kids try to copy the teacher. If they can they call out "Yes
I can", if they can't they say "No I can't!"
The teacher leads the first few times, trying out a whole range of facial
gestures, hand movements and if really keen, sporting manoeuvers e.g. clap
push ups. Other examples: rolling your tongue, wiggling your ears, wiggling
your nose, stand on one leg, make oneself cross eyed. Once the kids get
the idea they can have a go, one kid at a time, doing the gesture &
calling out "Can you do this?"
Flashcards and Worksheets
At the Tokyo presentations in February, the surprise hit of the week were the 90 Genki English A4 flash cards! Have a go at printing them out, they make teaching the songs so much easier! http://genkienglish.net/clipart.htm
We've also had a lot of teachers wondering what actions/gestures to do
with each song. Well, you can find these in the worksheet explanation pages!
If you have the CDs, you can download them for free from: http://genkienglish.net/worksheets.htm
And the other point was "Why do you give these away for free?". It's simple, people have supported us by buying the CDs, so we want to support you by providing as many free back up materials as we can!
And Finally,
After next Monday in Matsuyama, the next big thing for us is the ALC G-Com
Expo in Yokohama. We'll have a very genki show for kids on March 16th,
and a teacher training seminar for Elementary School teachers on March
17th. So tell all your students and teachers to come along! And if you
think any of your friends would be interested in the ideas in this newsletter,
then please feel free to forward it onto them!
Be genki,
Richard
======================
Richard J. Graham B.Sc. AMInstP
Primary School English Games, Songs
and Activities
Email: richard@genkienglish.net
