ALT Creation Station: 2nd Year (JHS) I think that ~ Powerpoint and Worksheet

For the second year students we have been focusing on

"I think that~",

"What do you think?"

"I agree" / "I disagree"

This can be a really fun lesson because the students will learn to express their opinions. I begin with an introduction to adjectives that the students can use. I used beautiful, cool, exciting, fun, interesting, busy, delicious, famous, great, special, kind, popular, difficult, wonderful, and cute. Most of the 2nd year students are familiar with these words.

Before we begin I did a front, back, left, right game with a previous grammar point. Then we practice the adjectives. I ask them if they know the words in Japanese just to make sure they have a firm grip on their meanings. After this I walk around the room and demo the target grammar, I usually say "Hello, I think that ~ is ~, what do you think?" and if the student can answer that's great, but usually they can't because it is new to them so I pretend to be them, change my voice a little, and answer for them. I do this a few times and then we drill the new grammar with repetition. I also introduce how to make question negative with the word not. We practice a couple of times and then we play a practice game with powerpoint slides. I made signs with my A4 flashcard holders that say "I agree" / "I disagree" with happy and sad faces. I place them on opposite sides of the room and then demo what they are supposed to do when I read the question. They are to pick if the agree or disagree and then move to that side of the room. It's easy and for the most part the kids get into it. There will always a be a small group of boys that just stays in disagree, but there isn't much that can be done about this. This activity takes about 5-7 minutes depending on how easy it is to wrangle them. I have large classes so sometimes it is difficult to get them to pay attention if they are moving around the room.

After this they take their seat once again and I give them a warm up worksheet that has all the answers and questions printed on it. It is pair work and intended to get them acclimated to using the new grammar.

I demo this with the JTE, the students ask each other in pairs and check off what their partner responds with. It takes about 3 minutes. When they finish I tell them to file this and hand them their next worksheet, which has a similar set up but they get to write their own opinions.

They really enjoy this and some of them even like to use adjectives that I didn't list in the tool box. The last two can be anything they want and I got some pretty interesting responses. Make sure that the students know they can use the same words listed in the tool box multiple times. I had some students crossing them off and not using them again. I said if you want to write that everything is cool then you can! After they complete the writing part they get up and, you guessed it, collect signatures while asking their friends the target grammar. When they complete the WS they get an OK stamp. I usually put some extra practice on the back for super advanced students that involve asking me questions. They seem to enjoy writing me personal notes, and I am more than happy to answer them.