Hi,
I did send an audio recording that is around 8-10 min. long to my class 1 and class 2 students. I got good feedback from parents. I told them to listen to it even twice a day. My aim is for them to stay connected to the sounds of the language. I felt happy at the idea, because in Hungary they’ve got two 45-minute long classes a week normally, now they can listen to it every day. I included those songs and verses we did in the classroom and they are familiar with them.
I also got a really good idea from a class teacher- it’s using cards with games. For example, we’ve got a game when they can say what they’d like to eat or drink in the classroom, I used to ask them and they replied. Now, I asked them to draw cards for each food and drink we have learnt together, I also added some new ones (hot dog, pop corn, cupcake, ice cream, ice tea etc.) When they play the game at home they have to pull cards from their pile (instead of our conversations) and have to say the verse with what the card shows. They have to do it after listening to the audio recording, on their own or with their siblings or parents.
One of the teachers in our school even included Simon says game in her audio recording for her class 3.
I am thinking about sending my pupils a video with clear instructions on how much to use it. I know of some homeschooling children who speak good English and they’ve learnt it from videos.
I know that screen time should be avoided, but that’s what we’re left with and we could turn our backs to it until now but not any longer. I feel we have to wake up and, like it or not, the battlefield is now the digital world. We either come out of our comfort zones and face its challenges or we lose contact with each other. And I think the latter is exactly what we shouldn’t.
Zsuzsi Jung
Our school (primary school in Australia; Students learn one language, Japanese.) is yet to start on this virtual lessons after Easter break. Certainly we will experience many teething problems initially, so the focus will be on class teachers’ input at the beginning.
–I will be posting video clips of songs and verses with gestures which we did last term. (Something the children are already familiar.)
–I will add some new ones as the weeks go by. (I will choose songs and verses that contain body parts, directions, maybe animals, things that contain simple and explicit vocabulary, even if some of them are not in my usual repertoire for the class. There are some “hand games” you play with a partner, such as clapping and doing paper-scissors-rock.)
–One of the songs I will use in Classes 1&2 is what I normally do in Class 3, relating to teaching 46 Japanese characters. It’s a list of words out of which the shape of the characters arise. I have prepared a chart and cards with pictures of these words to be distributed to the children. So the children can learn the song by looking at the video clips of me singing while pointing to each picture, and later on they can play/do some activities with the cards. In Class 3 the pictures will be accompanied by the script.
My rationale:
(1) Since we cannot give communicative living language experiences in the virtual setting, we might as well give children some vocabulary to learn with some actions/fun activities. The children will go on hearing and uttering the speech sounds of the language.
(2) The children can sing together with their siblings if they have brothers/sisters who know these songs. Some may want to teach their family members, especially with some games.)
I think especially in the lower grades, there is a difference between just seeing a teacher’s face speaking a poem and seeing the whole person make all the gestures that are part of the poem and talking to the children, just like in class.
In Grade 3 and 4, it is possible for teachers to shows the children how to do something–make a drawing, a craft, or a specific language directed activity- while talking to them in the foreign language, acting out a little what they are saying. It is still important to “bathe” the children in the other language, using “hands and feet”, props, whatever works.
Using Google Meet or Zoom on a daily basis maintains our contact with our students. While school was in session I met with my students for their full period classes every day. Communication was no problem.
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4 Comments
Hi,
I did send an audio recording that is around 8-10 min. long to my class 1 and class 2 students. I got good feedback from parents. I told them to listen to it even twice a day. My aim is for them to stay connected to the sounds of the language. I felt happy at the idea, because in Hungary they’ve got two 45-minute long classes a week normally, now they can listen to it every day. I included those songs and verses we did in the classroom and they are familiar with them.
I also got a really good idea from a class teacher- it’s using cards with games. For example, we’ve got a game when they can say what they’d like to eat or drink in the classroom, I used to ask them and they replied. Now, I asked them to draw cards for each food and drink we have learnt together, I also added some new ones (hot dog, pop corn, cupcake, ice cream, ice tea etc.) When they play the game at home they have to pull cards from their pile (instead of our conversations) and have to say the verse with what the card shows. They have to do it after listening to the audio recording, on their own or with their siblings or parents.
One of the teachers in our school even included Simon says game in her audio recording for her class 3.
I am thinking about sending my pupils a video with clear instructions on how much to use it. I know of some homeschooling children who speak good English and they’ve learnt it from videos.
I know that screen time should be avoided, but that’s what we’re left with and we could turn our backs to it until now but not any longer. I feel we have to wake up and, like it or not, the battlefield is now the digital world. We either come out of our comfort zones and face its challenges or we lose contact with each other. And I think the latter is exactly what we shouldn’t.
Zsuzsi Jung
Our school (primary school in Australia; Students learn one language, Japanese.) is yet to start on this virtual lessons after Easter break. Certainly we will experience many teething problems initially, so the focus will be on class teachers’ input at the beginning.
–I will be posting video clips of songs and verses with gestures which we did last term. (Something the children are already familiar.)
–I will add some new ones as the weeks go by. (I will choose songs and verses that contain body parts, directions, maybe animals, things that contain simple and explicit vocabulary, even if some of them are not in my usual repertoire for the class. There are some “hand games” you play with a partner, such as clapping and doing paper-scissors-rock.)
–One of the songs I will use in Classes 1&2 is what I normally do in Class 3, relating to teaching 46 Japanese characters. It’s a list of words out of which the shape of the characters arise. I have prepared a chart and cards with pictures of these words to be distributed to the children. So the children can learn the song by looking at the video clips of me singing while pointing to each picture, and later on they can play/do some activities with the cards. In Class 3 the pictures will be accompanied by the script.
My rationale:
(1) Since we cannot give communicative living language experiences in the virtual setting, we might as well give children some vocabulary to learn with some actions/fun activities. The children will go on hearing and uttering the speech sounds of the language.
(2) The children can sing together with their siblings if they have brothers/sisters who know these songs. Some may want to teach their family members, especially with some games.)
I think especially in the lower grades, there is a difference between just seeing a teacher’s face speaking a poem and seeing the whole person make all the gestures that are part of the poem and talking to the children, just like in class.
In Grade 3 and 4, it is possible for teachers to shows the children how to do something–make a drawing, a craft, or a specific language directed activity- while talking to them in the foreign language, acting out a little what they are saying. It is still important to “bathe” the children in the other language, using “hands and feet”, props, whatever works.
Using Google Meet or Zoom on a daily basis maintains our contact with our students. While school was in session I met with my students for their full period classes every day. Communication was no problem.