A Study of the Effectiveness of Activities in Elementary School English Education
Tetsuko read the following:
小中連携を視野に入れた英語絵本活用法
She learned that there are three stages of a reading lesson: pre, while, and post-storytelling activities
She learned that there are ways that children can learn vocabulary in while-storytelling:
- In the Case of Very Hungry Caterpillar, the pictures and expressions match. Also the words are repeated so the students can learn the words.
- Teachers can learn words when the teacher makes gestures while telling the story.
Post storytelling
- Children can apply the knowledge that they learn
How is this related to Tetsuko’s topic?
This is about how to use a picture book in elementary school. Tetsuko is interested in how activities can improve classes. In other words, Testuko is interested in the characteristics of effective activities. One possible activity is picture books.
A Study of the Problems and Prospects in Elementary School English Education
Tsushi has read: 小学校英語から中学校英語への架け橋
She is interested in page 132: It is necessary to introduce both sounds and letters in elementary school. Children do not have much English sound input in their heads. At the fifth and sixth grade levels they are not introducing writing. Children do not recognize the difference between similar words in both languages such as banana. Learning the sounds of letters can help children learn English sounds.
The author discusses phonics. It is a way of teaching the sounds of letters. The author says that it is important to introduce phonics or the knowledge of letters. Right now alphabet is not being sufficiently taught but that is about to change.
Possible order for introducing the alphabet:
- Start singing the song →
- alphabet chant →
- distinguishing between lower case and upper case letters →
- recognizing upper case letters →
- writing upper case letters →
- recognizing lower case letters →
- writing lower case letters →
- writing upper case and lower case letters →
How is this related to Tsushi’s topic?
One prospect for English education is that students will learn to match letters and sounds. However, one problem is that there is a gap in English knowledge between teachers. Up until now, it was ok to do enjoyable activities but now that actual learning is involved, issues could arise.