〜Message from Mr.Guy〜
Thank you very much to all the teachers who sent in comments and praise after their first classes, it was great to hear that everything went so well and that all the students had so much fun with the books, games and dancing.
After all the feedback and comments, it's a great opportunity to pass on some of the wonderful tips and advice.
At the start of the first class, its a good idea to spend some time letting students look through the book and then introduce them to the main characters in the book.
- Bell chan - The cute yellow 'note' girl.
- Leo - The adventurous cat.
- Guy - The young boy.
- Chi chan - The young girl.
One of the teachers found great stickers at the '100yen' shop, blue, red, silver and gold, which are perfect for giving to the students. The teacher cut the stickers into strips of 10, which were then very easy to hand out to each group of students who did well.
The students really love to get the stickers, it's a great way to reward and motivate them. It also allows teachers to monitor the progress of the students.
When doing the testing section of the class, as the teacher reads the English and students colour the circle in the book, if their partner can answer correctly, some of the students spend a long time trying to color 'perfectly'.
It's a good idea to tell students just to mark, tick or cross the circle so all the students can go through at the same pace !
Don't forget about the free work sheets which you can easily print out and are perfect for games in your classes.
The most popular game was to put all 12 'Magical English Shapes' on the board, divide the class into teams and give each team a soft ball. The teacher calls out the English and students find the matching shape in their books and then race to hit that shape on the board.
This game works well, if you put the shapes on the floor, it's difficult for the students to see the shapes, also it avoids students banging into each other when they are trying to touch the same shape, as they can just throw the soft ball.
If you don't have enough soft balls, crumpled up paper 'balls' also work well.
Try to use a good quality CD player, which can play the song loudly, if the song is played too quietly students feel shy about singing along with the song.
Remember that if your teaching younger students, some of the activities will take longer.
Remember that it is the first time for students to see and use the book, and as the students become familiar with the teaching methods their confidence will grow and it will become easier for them to use.
Some teachers commented that they felt it was difficult for younger students to learn so much English in one lesson. They are right ! but remember that the target English is the English they will learn over several lessons, with practise and reinforcement. Magical English has been designed to challenge and motivate students while also providing support for slower learners.
In the first class they are shown all the target language and then over the remaining lessons they practise, sing, use and play games with this language. It's amazing to see just how much English they can use and learn.
Once again thank you very much for all the feed back and comments, so please keep them coming and we'll continue to pass on all the useful ideas, games, advice and tips.
Let's sing, let's learn and let's have fun.