English Lesson Plans...
![[Jeffrey]](../../jeffrey.jpg)
...a la Jeffrey.
小 Elementary School
Kid tested--HRT approved!
Here is a comprehensive, full-year curriculum of English lesson plans designed for and rigorously tested on elementary school students. It is adaptable to other environments, though individual mileage may vary.
I am making my lesson plans available here in Microsoft Word (.doc) format so that you can easily download and modify them to suit your needs. Each grade level starts with a carefully crafted annual lesson plan outline to put things into perspective. For each lesson, there is a carefully formatted lesson plan to help keep you and your Team-Teaching partners on the same page. Topical vocabulary, useful phrases, and conversational activities are constantly introduced, re-mixed, and extended across the grade levels to lead students smoothly and confidently from 1st Grade to the Grade 5/6 textbooks.
- As with all things in life, use at your own risk:
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Useful tools every Elementary English Teacher should have in their tool-kit:
- Your Voice 声
The fundamental instrument of any public performer, your voice is absolutely the most important tool in the language-learning classroom. Through your voice you deliver information, model the target language and correct pronunciation, and project your will and intentions. Unfortunately, our everyday speaking voices are too soft and unfocused, and our shouting voices are too harsh and brief to be effective tools. When we speak normally, we tend to breathe lightly, move our mouths as little as possible, and make our vocal cords do all the work. Trying to speak louder makes a harsh sound and makes us lose our voice. To project your voice effectively for a long period of time, you have to relax your vocal cords and focus more on breathing deeply from your diaphragm and enunciating carefully with your mouth. Breathing from your diaphragm gives you more power and endurance. Relaxing your vocal cords and opening the back of your throat gives you more resonance, volume, and tone control. Exaggerated but careful enunciation with your lips, teeth, and tongue gives you clear speech and allows your students to copy your pronunciation correctly. Projection comes from your whole body and delivers much more than just your words; so don't take this tool for granted. And don't forget to encourage your students to use their voices expressively as well through intonation. This gets everyone more engaged in communication, improving and deepening the learning experience.
- Your Body 体
It's your silent partner, but usually your body unconsciously communicates a lot about your feelings, desires, and intentions. And the people around you unconsciously understand and respond to it. It's automatic and natural for both humans and animals. Unfortunately, when we perform in front of a class and get nervous, our bodies tend to get too hard and tight to communicate anything. But don't worry, it's easy to help your silent partner help you. Just try to focus on keeping a relaxed but active posture (don't get too soft and lazy) so your body can communicate clearly and effectively. And don't forget to encourage your students to use their bodies expressively as well through gestures. This gets everybody fully engaged in communication, providing a powerful holistic learning experience for all.
- School Songs 歌
Lyrics for Jeffrey's favorite collection of songs for the English classroom. Some of these are modified versions of familiar songs, rearranged for more consistent focus on the useful expressions used throughout the curriculum.
- Vocabulary Picture Cards 絵カード
As much as possible, use whatever cards are already available at your schools. This way the other teachers can support you even when you're not there! If you don't find what you want locally, then go try a Google Clip Art Search and print out what you find on the school's color printer, getting someone to help you laminate them so they can stand up to the inevitable wear and tear.
- Box & Ball 会話ゲーム
This is a very simple, convenient, flexible, and energizing Question/Response conversation game. Find a small box or tin with a lid, a soft ball (not too bouncy!), and a few 6-sided dice. It is most convenient if everything can fit inside the box. To play the game, give the ball and the box to separate students and play some upbeat music. While the music plays, students pass the box and the ball around the class. When the music stops, the two students holding the box and the ball stand up and face each other. The box-student asks a Question, and the ball-student responds with an Answer. Start the music and play again! Inside the box you can use mini picture cards as prompts. Or, for maximum flexibility, you can simply use the dice in the box and mark your picture cards on the board with the numbers 1-6 or 2-12. The box-student can then roll the dice and reference the numbered prompts on the board. Remember that as you pause the music, you have some control over who gets the box and the ball, so secretly manipulate this to keep things fun for everyone. This game also makes a great backup activity, so keep it handy and be creative!
- Spin-the-Bottle 会話ゲーム
This is a simple Question/Response conversation game for small independent groups of about 5-10 students. Remove the label from a clear plastic soda bottle, put a small 6-sided die inside, and close the lid tightly. Each group turns their desks into one large table and sits around it in a circle with a bottle in the center of the circle. A student spins the bottle, and the bottle will point to another student when it stops spinning. The spin-student asks a Question, and the point-student responds with an Answer. You can use the 6-sided die inside the bottle to reference picture cards on the board as prompts. You can keep playing by spin-students taking turns around the circle, or by the point-student taking the next turn as spin-student. This game also makes a great backup activity, but large classes will need a few bottles. So be creative and enjoy recycling!
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Annual Curriculum Outline カリキュラム: featuring concrete vocabulary used in structured conversational activities, the aim here is to learn basic vocabulary, use basic sentence patterns, and get comfortable speaking in English.
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Annual Curriculum Outline カリキュラム: featuring concrete vocabulary used in structured conversational activities, the aim here is to learn basic vocabulary, use basic sentence patterns, and get comfortable speaking in English.
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Annual Curriculum Outline カリキュラム: featuring basic vocabulary used in extended conversational activities, the aim here is to learn useful vocabulary, use advanced conversational sentences, and enjoy conversing in English.
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Annual Curriculum Outline カリキュラム: featuring basic vocabulary used in extended conversational activities, the aim here is to learn useful vocabulary, use advanced conversational sentences, and enjoy conversing in English.
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Most schools use some kind of textbooks for Grades 5 & 6, so I take this opportunity to share the responsibility of lesson planning with the Home-Room Teachers. This helps the HRTs engage with English classes in a more active role, building confidence and ability in their development as teachers. It also helps prepare the students for making the transition from ALT/game-oriented classes to the JTE/textbook-dominated classes of JHS English. Encourage your Home-Room Teachers to take the lead here and give them your earnest support--
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