■Summary
Description:
An English conversation class aimed at elementary school students was held every Wednesday evening during the summer vacation. With the ALT as the teacher, the students learned English through games, songs, dances, etc.
Duration |
6 times during the summer vacation (Every Wednesday for 1 hour) |
|---|---|
Location |
Disaster Prevention Information Room (in the same building as the Board of Education) |
Target |
1st to 3rd year elementary school students (no fee) |
Participants |
29 students |
Organiser |
Jointly organised by the Board of Education and the International Exchange Association |
Budget |
0yen - 10,000yen |
Objectives:
To provide an opportunity for elementary school students to be exposed to English and have fun.
■Implementation
Planning:
The class is held for one hour between 7:00pm and 8:00pm. The content of the class was different every week, and was a combination of the following activities:
| 1) | Using pictures of animals, introduce the names of animals, body parts, etc. in English and have students colour and draw pictures. |
| 2) | Post coloured paper in different parts of the classroom, and when the teacher calls out a colour, the students move to that place. |
| 3) | Sing simple songs in English (Greetings song, ABC, etc.) |
| 4) | Mix up cards with words or pictures on them, and have the students match them. |
In addition, they also played games that are well-known in Japan (e.g., Drop the Handkerchief Game) in English.
Procedure:
The class was conducted by the ALT, but two other people, one person from the Board of Education and one from the International Exchange Association, joined as assistants. These assistants helped hold up signs, keep the children in line, and helped in any other areas where the ALT needed assistance.
It was necessary to observe the reactions of the children. That way you could end activities early when the children look bored, and spend more time with ones where children are excited.
Other Details:
Because the class took place during the evening, participating children had to have a family member take them to the class.
■Preparation
Joint Hosting of the Class:
Two months before the start of the class, representatives from the International Exchange Association and the Board of Education held a planning meeting.
The Board of Education was in charge of the requests for the ALT and the assistants, while all other aspects of the class such as project management (taking attendance, notifying participants if the class was cancelled, etc.) were conducted by the International Exchange Association.
Recruitment of Participants:
Because the participants were all students, the class was advertised at elementary schools. Flyers were made and sent to the principals of each school, where they were distributed to the students.
Applications were not accepted at the school, and instead parents had to contact the International Exchange Association directly.
Flyers were distributed directly to students in an effort to attract students who were truly interested in participating and to prevent "Oyadomari (parents reading the advertisement but not showing it to their children)." For this reason, the flyers included the readings for each kanji in hiragana.
Meeting with the ALT:
There was only one meeting in advance with the ALT. The purpose of the class was explained and the schedule confirmed. The content of the class was left entirely up to the ALT. As per the ALT's request, the content for each class was not fixed in advance to allow changes to be made based on the reactions of the students.
■Budget
The budget for the class was included in the framework of "International Understanding Courses." That framework also contains the budgets for various projects such as international cooking classes, cross-cultural understanding courses, and Korean language classes. This set-up allows for some flexibility within the system.
The actual amount of money used for this English conversation class was 7,000yen.
■Submitted by
Kofu Town (Tottori Prefecture)
International Exchange Association
Tel: 0859-75-6111
Kofu Town
Board of Education
Tel: 0859-75-2223
■Comments/Advice from the Supervisor
The ALT made an active effort to engage the students. I think it must have been difficult to create activities to keep the students' interest.
Actually, because there were a large number of small children, it was impossible to keep everyone busy at all times.
We hope to continue this activity in the future in a variety of ways.
■A Word From CLAIR
Many supervisors struggle with how to best utilise their ALTs during the summer months, but there are lots of ways ALTs can get involved in activities outside of the classroom. Please take a look at some of the other examples of ALT summer activities listed in this book.
