How are you? / English Janken Lesson

Chris Blum

PROCEDURE:

This is a full lesson I do with my younger ES kids. You might be able to pull it off with 4, 5, 6 as well, but you risk boring them. This is a complete lesson, and I schedule it to the minute. You can obviously pull out or plug something if it doesn’t jive with your style, but here’s how I do it.

Let’s say today’s period is from 10:00 to 10:45.

10:01 – 10:03) Greeting

10:03 – 10:08) Song

10:08 - 10:13) Target Conversation:

10:13 – 10:20) Musical Hacky Sacks

10:20 - 10:25) Rock Paper Scissors

10:25 - 10:40) Janken Card Game

10:40 – 10:45) Review Criss Cross

NOTES:

Greeting - I usually start with just saying hello or good morning, but today I make sure I emphasize, “Hello, How are you?” and see if they can respond correctly, since that’s part of today’s lesson. It’s also a good tester to see if the class already has this phrase memorized, since some teachers cram this in their students without the help of a JET.

Song

I like to do Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes to warm up the class, but you can use anything you want, especially if you have something else you’ve been working on (again, if you want to use this with older ES kids, you might want to skip singing).

Target Conversation

I run this for a few minutes, switching from Hito A to Hito B to make sure the kids understand each role. Japanese teachers are great for Hito B.

Musical Hacky Sacks

So now it’s time to hammer the target conversation home. I have an iPod with a JBL dock. This is fantastic because the dock is small, easily portable, and best of all has a remote. I usually plug in the dock at the beginning of class and hide it so the kids don’t know it’s coming out, and then revel in the ensuing oohs and ahhs when I reveal it. This is your basic hot potato, except I use a hacky sack (because it’s my favorite sport and the kids have no idea what it is; always asking “otedama?” and being confused when I say no) which can of course be substituted by any other hand-sized object. I love using a remote because I can walk around, and the kids have no idea when the music will stop. When you stop, the student with the hack stands up and is Hito B for the target conversation.

Rock Paper Scissors

This is fun. For some reason few students already know this as rock scissors paper but that’s not how we do it back home. I guess it doesn’t really matter, but I grew up rock paper scissors and I gotta represent. So the phrase is “Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!”, and in the event of a tie its “1, 2, 3 shoot!” until a winner is declared. The kids love the shoot part, especially if you translate (just say “ute!” and they’ll get it). After teaching them the English, I play with each kid in the class one on one, making sure they say the English with me. Depending on the size of the class, this can cut into the game time, so you can either cut it or just cut the game down. I recommend keeping the one on one. That way, everyone gets a chance to play you, and you know everyone can say the English. Watch out for shy kids; skip them if they look like they’re going to have a seizure.

Janken Card Game

I recommend you make these, as you can use them for lots of games and they’re always a big hit. I have a few hundred cards I made with my picture on them. They’re small, like a playing card cut in half, and my picture’s in black and white. You can use anything for this, but the kids love having something with your face on it. I first explain the rules. Each student gets three cards. They are to go around the class and janken with other students IN ENGLISH. (Please make this point painfully clear, and maybe punish those you hear speaking Japanese by making them do something embarrassing, like singing or impersonating Hard Gay – yes, 1st graders know who he is.) Actually, there should be no Japanese in this game at all. After they’ve played, the winner gets one of the loser’s cards. Then, the loser becomes Hito A and starts the target conversation. When someone is out of cards, they have to come to you and say, “One more, please,” to which you will comply. After you have explained the rules and they understand, THEN you hand out the cards. I hand mine out face down, just to make them even more excited when they turn them over. Seriously, I could sell these things. Let this run as long as you want. It’s easy enough to drag out or cut short, so it’s a great activity if you didn’t do something else in the lesson and have more time left than you thought.

Review Criss Cross

Now it’s review time. I play criss cross to check their retention, but I put the janken back in. Everyone stands. You ask a question, and pick a student who’s raising their hand. If they answer the question correctly, janken in English. If they win, they choose row or aisle and that group sits. If they lose, only the one student sits. After you’ve asked questions pertaining to the lesson, you can ask anything else you want if there’s still time.

Have Fun!