Interdisciplinary teaching at home

Now my ten-year-old daughter is on summer vacation. Since she doesn't receive proper English education at school, it is time for her to learn English! At home, we have been working on interdisciplinary learning: learn about the solar system in English! She learns the concept in English and translate her learning into Japanese so that she can share that with her school teacher as well as classmates. We chose the topic because she has been interested in it for a long time. She seems very motivated to learn about it. I hope Japanese schools will implement interdisciplinary instruction soon because it helps students better understand what they learn connects the real world.

Food pyramid

This week, my students learned about what they eat every day. They really enjoyed making this food pyramid. First, I explained about nutrition, drawing a two-dimensional food pyramid on a whiteboard, which they didn't seem to take a special interest in it. After that, I had them make the three-dimensional models and they loved their own food pyramids. Most of them remembered all the names of food categories. Students learn better when they encounter meaningful experiences!

Total Physical Response

Young students learn a lot through playing. When they feel fun, they learn better. They can gain more vocabulary by using Total Physical Response (TPR). I often combine my vocabulary lesson with songs and dances.

Sight words

A strategy for remembering sight words. I put this kind of plastic strips everywhere so that children remember the names of things effortlessly.

Use of technology

This is just one of the ways to practice spelling. It helps me provide different choices for students easily.

Pajama day

Yesterday, we enjoyed our annual Pajama day! It is one of the school's play-based, child-centered instructional approaches.  Look at their faces! They are pretending to sleep but cannot stop giggling!

phonic based spelling practice

To review what they learned yesterday, I asked my students to list the words in pairs. They seemed to feel more responsible for their learning and worked on the task enthusiastically.