In April, many children begin studying English for the first time, and others continue their studies…
At the beginning of the new school year, expectations for the upcoming year are usually quite high. With a bit of careful planning, you can use the children’s and the parents’ motivation.
Here are some points you should keep in mind at the beginning of the school year.
1. Make sure that you fully understand the materials
1. Gather the materials you need: Student Books, Workbooks, CDs, Flashcards, Activity Sheets, crayons/colored pencils, etc.
2. Understand the philosophy behind the text, and listen to the songs, chants and dialogues so you are familiar with them.
3. Think about the goals for each text, and imagine your lessons over the year that will get you to those goals.
4. Remove and store the Name Cards and Certificates of Achievements from the back of each Student Book.
Learning World has clearly defined Achievement Targets for each book. If students work hard, these targets are the minimum that they should be able to do. At the beginning of class, take time to go over these goals with the students and make sure they understand them. It’s a great chance to make them aware of their own language learning.
～ Just simply teaching the text from the beginning to the end is not enough!?! ～
It is very important to go over the Achievement Targets with students at the beginning and make sure they understand them. These Achievement Targets should be the goal that the entire class is working towards reaching. Make children responsible for meeting the Achievement Targets. It gives them a greater sense of accomplishment.
â–² This Achievement Targets is from Learning World 1
※WELCOME to Learning World PINK does not have Achievement Targets. Achievement Targets start from WELCOME to Learning World YELLOW.
◆ WELCOME to Learning World PINK, YELLOW, and BLUE：
Student Book set: textbook, special materials, Certificate of Achievement (WELCOME books do not have a PROGRESS REPORT sheet.)
At the beginning, give students the Student Book, but keep the special materials and Certificate of Achievement to use with them at a later time.
WELCOME to Learning World PINK, YELLOW, and BLUE have special materials for each unit.
◆ Learning World 1, 2, 3, READY for Learning World, and Learning World for Tomorrow：
Student Book set: textbook, Progress Report/Name Card, Certificate of Achievement
At the beginning, give students the Student Book, but keep the Progress Report and Certificate of Achievement.
2. Things to confirm before the very first lesson
1. Can you remember all of the students’ names?
2. Be prepared to set goals (Achievement Targets) with the students.
3. Make sure that you explain weekly listening homework to the students and their guardians.
â—† About fourth-week lessons:
Learning World 1, 2, 3, READY for Learning World, and Learning World for Tomorrow Student Books do not have a fourth-week lesson in the book. The reason is that this fourth-week lesson should be based on the learning needs of each child and what they need to help them progress. Because the children’s individual needs should be considered, there is not just one way that the class should be taught. Below are some ideas for what you can do in the fourth-week review lesson.
â—† Possible activities for the fourth-week review lessons:
1. Overall review of the unit and activities for reinforcement.
2. Do the Communication Activities again.
3. Complete tasks in the unit that haven’t been finished.
4. Review previous units (other than the current one).
5. Chat with students previously learned language (Q&A List).
6. Catch up on the WORKBOOK if not completed.
7. Follow up on students’ listening homework (chants/songs/dialogues) when they have previous page numbers not yet colored in on the Progress Report.
8. Do the fourth-week WORKBOOK page.
★ You should select activities from the list above, depending on the students’ needs.
