Going to Tokyo

Chris Donner

PROCEDURE:

DAY ONE

Part I

• Review want to and have to with a quick meaning check.
• Introduce the word "pretend" through simple English ("real" versus "not real") and examples. ("This is a classroom. But let's pretend that it's a rocket ship, or Tokyo Disneyland.") Ss repeat; JTE checks understanding.
• Explain the situation: Ss pretend they have been accepted to Tokyo University. Before they go there are some things they want to and some things they have to do. Hold up the first worksheet and explain that they will make a list of things they want to do/have to do, before they go.
• Hand out the worksheets after you are sure that most Ss understand. About 5 minutes for them to fill their lists. (Full sentences aren't necessary.) JTE and ALT provide help. When all is going smoothly, write the following story (with big blanks) on the blackboard:

• Select students to write any one item from their list in the 6 blanks.
• Read the final story together - it should be a little strange, maybe funny. You can do this as a read and repeat, or have Ss translate if you wish.

Part II

• Explain that you will give 2 phrases and Ss are to make a sentence using either want to or have to. Give a model (you can write on the board):

• Choose Ss randomly to make complete sentences using phrases you provide orally (no writing here). Have them say the sentences twice clearly. The class can repeat the sentences too if there's time.

Phrases:

DAY TWO

Part III

• Quick review of have to and want to by checking meaning.
• Introduce the new vocabulary by writing the words on the board:

• Read together a couple of times. Ask Ss if they know the meaning. If not, explain using very simple English until they can guess the correct meaning in Japanese. Then, select four Ss to write the Japanese definition next to these words on the chalkboard.
• Cloze I: Explain that you will be reading a story two times, and they are to listen and fill in the blanks. Hand out Listening I worksheet. Read "The bus to Tokyo" story twice - first time quickly, second time slower.

Good afternoon passengers. Thank you for riding Tohoku Bus Lines. We are now at Sendai station. This is the last stop. All passengers have to get off the bus here. Passengers who want to go north, please take the Aomori City bus. Passengers who want to go south, please take the Tokyo bus. We apologize, but the Tokyo bus is late. Passengers have to wait about 15 minutes for the Tokyo bus. Thank you again for riding Tohoku Bus Lines.

• Check the answers together.

Part IV

• Cloze II: While passing out Listening II worksheet (2 sides), explain that it's the same activity again - listen and fill in the blanks for sentences 1-6. Read the sentence fragments 1-6 two times each, fairly quickly.
• Hand out the sentence fragments cards a-f randomly. Explain that 1 student will read each card 3 times. Others should write the fragments on lines a-f. Ss read. (Give lots of encouragement for the readers here.)
• Ss match up the fragments (1-6 with a-f) to make complete sentences, and then write those sentences on the opposite side of the print. Write the fragments on the board while Ss are writing.
• Check the answers together by choosing Ss to read the complete sentence and then drawing a line to match the pieces up on the board.

NOTES:

• We did this lesson with the class divided in 6 groups. Ss worked together to think of things they want/have to do, helped each other for the Cloze, and helped with pronunciation for the student dictation, etc. This worked well with 5 out of 6 classes. The last class traditionally has a hard time working in groups, so about halfway through Day 1, we broke them back up and had them work individually. From that point, the lesson went much better.

• During Part I, you can push Ss a little depending on their ability. For example, lower levels might simply write "to go shopping" but for higher level Ss you might ask "What do you want to buy?" and have them add "go shopping for ~ " to their list.

• During Part IV, if Ss match things a little unusually (I want to shave my head before I watch TV), that's fine. As long as all 6 sentences make sense.

• Optional: I collected the papers at the end and gave students a comment or two, such as Excellent, Good, or Okay for the next class.

WORKSHEETS AND HANDOUTS

http://teachingactivities.pbwiki.com/f/goingtotokyoworksheets_cdonner.doc