Okinawa JET Programme

ChanpuruEnglish ClassIdea
Handbook




Compiled in April 2004

By Ian Laidlaw and Anna Vogelaar
Okinawa Prefectural Advisors

̌Children needencouragement. If a kid gets an

answer right, tell them it was a lucky guess. That
way they develop a good, lucky feeling.” - Jack Handey

JET Programme Okinawa

Y A K

Why be anywhere else? Okinawa JET Support System


Contents

Section Page

Introduction 1

Lesson Planning 2

TEFL Principals of Activity Design 4

Self Introductions 6

Warm-Ups 9

Chanpuru English Class Ideas 11-







Introduction

Hello all new JET Teachers!

We’ve put together this little booklet to provide you guys with some ideas and
resources for teaching in sunny Okinawa.
Enclosed in this booklet (in no particular order, hence the “chanpuru” name,
which is Okinawan dialect for “mixed”) you will find games, easy lesson plans
and copy-able pages that can be used and adapted for any level. Many of these
lessons are handed down from 2nd and 3rd year ALTs. Also, we have added a
short guide to Lesson Planning along with some TEFL (Teaching English as a
Foreign Language) principles of activity design.
For information on schools in Japan, please refer to the Resource Materials and
Teaching Handbook produced by CLAIR. It includes some great information on
the different types of schools in Japan along with details about school events and
what to expect in a normal school day.
If you are looking for more materials and ideas then get a hold of the excellent
Team Taught Pizza handbook, produced by AJET. Refer to the website
www.teamtaughtpizza.com for more information.
Also, we have many education related websites listed on the Links section of the
Okinawa Jet Webpage
www.okinawajet.com

We hope you find this booklet useful. Happy teaching! 

Ian Laidlaw Anna Vogelaar

CIR PA, 2001-2004 ALT PA, 2001-2004

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Lesson Planning

Don’t know where to start? Below is a structure that you can base your lesson
plans on that is applicable to all levels. Just plug your own activities into the fol-
lowing components and you are well on your way to a fun and educational les-
son.

Greetings (1- 5 min)

This is a good chance to teach them answers other than, “I’m fine thank you and
you?” Also, JTEs usually like you to ask the Day, Date and Weather. Vary the way
you present these questions to keep the greeting interesting. For example, “What
day was it yesterday?”

Warm-up (5-10 min)

Warm-up activities that get your students moving physically and speaking English
are the best. You can use a warm-up activity to review previous material or to
warm students up to the new material that will be introduced in the current les-
son. Refer to the Chanpuru lesson guide for warm-up ideas.

Introduction of New Material (10-15 min)

This is where you introduce the new material to the students. It is best not to in-
troduce too much material at once. Visual props, such as pictures, flashcards and
so on are very effective. Also, when explaining the new material, try to introduce
the new information contextually to convey the meaning rather than allowing
your JTE to translate it straight away. For example, to teach the expression “I
want to buy X. How much is it?, try role-playing it with your JTE and having
your students guess the meaning.

Activity / Game using the New Material (15-20 min)

Once the students understand the meaning of the new material, play a game or
do an activity that gets the students to use the new material. Refer to the Principals
of activity design (next page) for what to consider when creating activities and
games. Generally, activities that practice speaking skills and involve high levels of
participation from all students are the best. Refer to the Chanpuru lesson guide for
new ideas.

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Consolidation / Warm down (5-10 min)

Before finishing the lesson, review the material covered and check for under-
standing. You can do this with a short quiz or an activity that reinforces the new
learning point.
Finish (1 min)
This is a good time to practice phrases like See you again/See you next week etc. 

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TEFL Principals of Activity Design

The theory behind Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) really isn’t all
that arcane – but there are some general principals (in no particular order) to
keep in mind when you’re planning your activities (with or without a JTE!)

Goal Based
٨ Before you start: What is your educational goal for the activity
٨ Is it worthwhile? ‘I’ve got to do it to get through the textbook’ is not in
itself a worthwhile goal (but there’s nothing to stop you tweaking the
textbook).
٨ Do your goals go beyond just increasing students’ knowledge?

Relevancy
٨ Is the activity Relevant to both the unit and the lesson’s educational
goals?
٨ Is the activity relevant to students?

Authenticity
٨ Will the activity help the students outside of a classroom?
٨ Have you situated the activity in an authentic context?

Balance
٨ Does the activity cover all 4 of the language skills (Speaking, Listening,
Reading, Writing)? (If your JTE is concentrating on Reading and Writ-
ing, you should design activities that concentrate on Speaking and Listen-
ing.)

Active and Interactive

٨ Does the activity get students active?
٨ Does it maximise the number of students that are active at any one time?
٨ Does it promote interaction amongst students (or even with native speak-
ers)?

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Sequencing
٨ Do you move from simpler to more complex activities?
٨ Do you ground new activities on previous knowledge and learning?
٨ Are your expectations for your students realistic – they don’t overload
students’ working memory?
٨ Is your time allocation realistic?

Fun
٨ Is the activity/game fun?
٨ Will it interest the students? 

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Self Introductions

They say the two things in life that you cannot avoid are death or taxes. As an
ALT on the JET Programme, add one more; the jiko shokai or self-introduction.
Your self-introduction is what you will be doing for at least the first month of
teaching. To stop you from getting bored talking about yourself, why don’t you
try some of the following ideas?

Mystery Man/Woman Speaking/Listening/Writing

 Level: JHS/SHS
Divide class into groups of about 8 students each. Give each student a handout
with numbers listed 1-8 on it. Give each group a pack of eight cards, numbered
consecutively (1-8). Think of eight questions of a self-introductory nature.
Base the questions on what information you want to convey in your self-
introduction. Give a copy of these to your JTE and ask him/her to write them in
Japanese.
The person in the group with the number one card goes to the JTE and gets
number one question in Japanese. That student then goes back to their group and
translates the question into English. The same student goes to the ALT (Mystery
Man/Woman) and asks the question in English. Then that student goes back to
the group and gives them the answer. Each student in that team writes the an-
swer on his or her handout in English. The student with the ‘number two’ card
then repeats the same process.
This is repeated for all the questions. The team who gets all the answers first is
the winner. After all teams have finished you can correct the answers. Show
props and materials from home that relate to the question. You can give bonus
points for teams that write their answers in full sentences e.g., His name is……….

Bag of Truth Writing/Speaking

 Level: Upper JHS/SHS
Prior to the lesson, fill a bag with various items that help to describe you. One
member of each group picks out an item from the bag and then the group works
together to write as many sentences as possible about you and the item. The stu-
dents then perform short presentations to the class or if the class is too shy, you
can just award points for each sentence.

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Interview Bingo Speaking/Listening/Writing

 Level: Upper JHS/SHS

Prepare a Bingo Grid (see below). In each square put some information about
yourself.
Anna Dog red Yes
mango 27 Australia Yes, I have.
Yes, I do. Maybe Yes, I am. No, I haven’t.
brown No, not yet. No, I don’t. Naha

Students divide into groups. As a group they have to devise questions that will
give the answers in the grid. If they ask you a question that gives an answer in the
grid, they get to cross off that answer in the grid, e.g., Do you like Goya Chan-
puru? / No, I don’t. Only the team that asked the question gets to cross off the
answer on their Bingo grid. If another team wants to get that answer crossed off
their grid, they have to think of an original question that elicits that answer. The
first team to get one or two lines gets bingo.

Interactive Jiko Shokai Speaking/Listening/Reading

 Level: JHS/SHS
Make cards for each student in your class, numbered 1 through to 35 and write a
simple question on each one. Make the questions of a self-introductory nature.
Shuffle the cards and hand one out to each student at the start of the class. Then
roll a dice or pull a number card out of a box. The student with that card must
ask you the question on that card. While giving the answer show any props or
materials that relate to the question. After giving the answer ask the student the
same question. Continue until all the questions have been answered.

Pass the question Reading/Speaking/Listening

 Level: JHS/Lower SHS
Write some questions on large strips of cardboard with magnets attached to the
back. Eg., What is your name? Where are you from? Get the students to pass the
first question around as you play some music. When the music stops the student
with that question must ask you the question. After you have answered the ques-
tion put the sentence on the board and write the answer next to it. Continue this
process with the rest of the questions. Show some props from your country as
you go along.

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Sentence Split Reading

 Level: JHS/SHS
Either on the board or on a worksheet, write split sentences. For example,
I am… …a cat
I like… …25 years old
My favourite animal is … …..ice-cream
The group to match up the sentences in the shortest amount of time is the win-
ner. Each group could receive the same information or different information.

Janken Self-Introduction Writing/Speaking

 Level: All
This is a game you can use to get your students to introduce themselves to each
other as well as you introducing yourself to your students. Get each student to
prepare 5 business cards (Meishi) with their name (and whatever details you wish)
on the cards (See Below). The aim of the game is to collect as many Meishi cards
as possible. Students approach each other individually and play Janken (Rock/
Scissor/papers). The looser must perform his/her self-introduction and hand
over one of his/her name cards. Students who run out of name cards must sit
down. The student with the most cards is the winner. To play with elementary
students, just get the children to draw themselves on a card and write their names
in Japanese if they can’t do it in English.

MEISHI
My name is __________________

I like ___________________(food)

I play ___________________(sport)

I am ____________years old

NICE TO MEET YOU!

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Warm-Ups

Warm ups can be used to review a grammar point or to introduce the content of
the new lesson, or they can just be for fun. Some of these warm-ups can be ex-
panded to make full lessons.

Row Relays Speaking

 Level: All
This activity allows students to practice questions and responses. The last student
in each row is given a question e.g., When is your Birthday? What are you going
to do after school today? They have to ask the question to the person in front of
them who then answers. After answering, that student turns back around and
asks the same questions to the student in front of them. This continues up to the
front of the row. The first student in the row (i.e. the last one to be asked the
question) comes to the front and asks the ALT the question. The team to make it
to the front first is the winner. If possible, use a prop as a baton. You can adjust
the difficulty of the sentences according to the level of the students.

Whisper up the aisle Speaking/Listening/Writing

 Level: JHS/SHS
This is similar to ‘Row Relays’. Ask the last student in each row of the classroom
to stand up. Whisper a sentence or word in their ear. They in turn must whisper
to the person in front of them until the whisper reaches the front of the row.
The front person then goes to the board and writes the ‘whisper’ down. The first
team to write the whisper down correctly is the winner. When repeating the
game, shuffle the students so that the second to last person moves to the back of
the room to receive the whisper

Line-up Speaking/Listening
 All Levels
This game involves students forming lines according to a specific order. For ex-
ample, teach the students to ask, “When is your Birthday?” Then ask them to
make a line starting from January to December. This can be adapted to different
levels by using questions suitable to the English level of your students.

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Criss-Cross Listening/Speaking
 Level: JHS/SHS
Get all the students in one line to stand up. Ask the first person in that row a
question. You can ask anything from. ‘What day is it today?” to “What do you
want to do when you finish high school?” If that student answers correctly, they
can sit down. Then ask the next student another question. If a student cannot
answer the question, then get the other row that intersects with that row to stand
up. Ask the first student in that row a question.

Maru / Batsu Listening

 Level: Elementary/JHS
Divide the classroom in two and denote one side as Maru (True) and the other
side as Batsu (False). Get the students to stand up. Give statements about your-
self or any content covered in the textbook. For example, “I have blue eyes”.
The students then have to decide if it is true or false and accordingly move to the
correct side of the room. The students who are correct stay standing. Those that
are wrong must return to their seats. Continue until only a few students are left
standing.

Crazy Sentences Writing

 Level: JHS/SHS
Each student is given a small piece of paper. Divide class into teams based on
rows. Each row is responsible for writing a particular segment of a sentence. For
example, the first row must write the subject, the second row a verb, the third row
the object, the fourth the location and so on. Collect the pieces of paper at the front
of the row. Then pick one piece of paper from each row and write the resulting
sentence on the board. For example, “David Beckham is playing soccer in the
park with E.T”. This is a great game to get the kids laughing and to reinforce the
grammatical structure of English sentences. Warning: expect your name to come
up as one of the subjects!

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