It was cloudy and gloomy outside on March 4th, but the enthusiasm of the teachers was big enough to brighten up the inside of the room. It is always our pleasure to have many teachers so willing to learn about the MAT METHOD.
We started our meeting with the song “Counting up to Twenty”, which has a touch of country music in the prelude. The power of music will certainly help students learn to count and say the numbers. We all had fun singing and dancing to the music.
With Practice Key 1, we showed how to teach pronunciation. There are certain sounds that many Japanese learners have difficulties with such as /th/ /r/ /ou/ /v/. By highlighting those sounds and giving a clear model at the very beginning stage of learning, the students will be aware of the sounds they need to be careful with and will most likely try to pronounce those sounds correctly.
We also introduced how to reinforce the students’ ability to count and say the numbers. It takes time to learn some of the numbers and memorizing them through simple repetition can be boring. But by using effective Learning Activities, the students will be motivated to learn. Learning Activities are not just Games. As the word ‘Learning’ shows, it is as fun as games, but it leads students to more fluency and further understanding.
Here is one of the Learning Activities we did.
“Bigger or Smaller Number Game”
[Aim]
To recognize the difference of “thirteen” and “thirty”
To help students learn to say them correctly
[Procedure]
The teacher says a number.
If the number ends with ‘-teen’, the students should point to the ceiling as they say the number.
If the number ends with ‘-ty’, the students should point to the floor as they say the number.
Change the task to “Stand up” and “Clap” and so on.
With Practice Key 2, we introduced how to teach the dialog, “What time do you get up?” “I get up at 6:30.” We focused on the steps of the MAT Practice System.
After a lot of practice, it will be a good opportunity to have your students write about themselves using a worksheet. Then you can encourage them to have a conversation in pairs. If you exchange the worksheets, you can have your students TELL about your friends. For example, “I get up at 6:45. Noriko gets up at 7:00” In this way you can expand your lesson.
We also sang “Little Peter Rabbit” together. The fly moved around to different parts of the body……..”Oh, no!!!!” Using a craft bee might bring more excitement to your Easter party.
We are so thankful to all the teachers for their willingness to learn. Thank you very much and we are looking forward to seeing you in June.
