Conversation Class Lesson Summary
Language Resident Name: Yohichi Tagami
Day and Date: Sep 13, 2016
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advanced Japanese
Class theme/topics discussed: Sport Festival at school in Japan
Goal of the class:
Students will learn about Japanese sport festival at school called “Taiikusai”.
Students will talk about their experiences of sport festival in their school.
How did you structure the class?
Activity 1 (8 min) Attendance check and an announcement
I check students’ attendance and give them two announcements.
Activity 2 (10 min): Warm-up
I ask the students about last weekend and I let them talk about it freely in the class.
I give a topic about school events in Japan to students. They brainstorm it and share the ideas in the class.
Activity 3 (22 min): Introduction of “Taiikusai”
I introduce the students about what it is like with PowerPoint and give some related vocabulary and questions to them. Students also watch some videos of it on the youtube.
Activity 4 (15 min): Sharing Your thought or experience at School in Your Country
I make a group of around two or three. And then students talk about their ideas about the “Taiikusai” or experiences freely and openly in a group. Then I gather their ideas or any related experiences in the class. Also, students discuss which game Americans people would love and dislike, and they discuss the reason of each in the class. After that, students vote their best and worst game in the class. Or they can create their original game and suggest it in the class.
Activity 5 (5) Consolidation
I ask the students to think about the reason why there is such an event “Taiikusai” in Japan. I gather the ideas from them and share them in the class.
Back up activity (5-10 min) Brainstorming
I ask the students about their favorite Japanese song. Students think about it and discuss it in the class. I write down them they said on the whiteboard.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Overall, the class was successful. Students were able to know the one of the Japanese school events called “Taiikusai” and its objectives. Also, they were able to discuss it from their own perspectives and to share the ideas and experiences in the class.
When I introduced some vocabularies of that event in the class, I sometimes had tough time to explain it to the students. I should have used the whiteboard to explain them to the students.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I should have put more photos when introducing new vocabularies to the students, so that they would be able to imagine those words from the photos at the same time. It would be more helpful for their understanding. Or I should have used the whiteboard to explain effectively about it to the students in the class.
If you have a more detailed lesson plan, please attach it below (OK to use target language for that). Please attach any handouts as well.