Face-to-Face Teaching
Video 1: EFL Beginner
Nitobebunka High School, Tokyo, 2022
This is an 11th grade speaking & grammar lesson; the target grammar is “too ___ to ___.” The flipped learning approach has been implemented for a year in this class, and students have a positive attitude toward the new way of learning. Specifically, prior to the class, students watched a 10-min video lecture, in which the teacher introduced the target grammar “too___ to___” and submitted the homework. |
Lesson Procedure
1. Small Talk
Students first talk about their previous day with someone sitting next to them and then have the same conversation with more classmates by walking around the classroom. Since the students’ proficiency is at the beginner-level, various supports, including sentence frames (i.e., “How was your day yesterday?,” “It was great/okay/bad because ___.”) have been provided in order to help them speak up. These sentence frames are meant to be taken away eventually.
2. Kahoot! Game
Students engage in an online quiz game Kahoot! focused on the target grammar “too___to___.” All the questions are based on the lecture video and homework that students worked on prior to the class. Some are multiple choice questions while others ask students to correct mistakes.
3. Card Game
Students take turns making as many sentences as possible using the target grammar on a piece of paper.
Specifically, the beginning of each sentence is given (i.e., “I am too ___ to ___.”) and the students are instructed to fill in the blanks. Students repeat the activity with different partners with shortened time. The winner gets candy
4. Speech Activity
Based on the speech they prepared at home as a part of the flipped learning approach, students give a speech twice in pairs, with different partners. In the first trial, students are allowed to look at their scripts, and in the second trial, students are encouraged not to rely on them to give the same speech. After the activity, the teacher asks students to share with the whole class whose speech they liked the best and why.
5. Exit Ticket
Students fill out the Exit Tickets (questionnaires in Google Forms) to reflect on their performance (i.e., How much of today's class were you able to understand? How actively did you participate in today’s class? What did you learn from the video and/or today’s class?). This reflection will facilitate students to actively take charge of their learning process and help the teacher understand how much students were able to gain from the lesson.
1. Small Talk
Students first talk about their previous day with someone sitting next to them and then have the same conversation with more classmates by walking around the classroom. Since the students’ proficiency is at the beginner-level, various supports, including sentence frames (i.e., “How was your day yesterday?,” “It was great/okay/bad because ___.”) have been provided in order to help them speak up. These sentence frames are meant to be taken away eventually.
2. Kahoot! Game
Students engage in an online quiz game Kahoot! focused on the target grammar “too___to___.” All the questions are based on the lecture video and homework that students worked on prior to the class. Some are multiple choice questions while others ask students to correct mistakes.
3. Card Game
Students take turns making as many sentences as possible using the target grammar on a piece of paper.
Specifically, the beginning of each sentence is given (i.e., “I am too ___ to ___.”) and the students are instructed to fill in the blanks. Students repeat the activity with different partners with shortened time. The winner gets candy
4. Speech Activity
Based on the speech they prepared at home as a part of the flipped learning approach, students give a speech twice in pairs, with different partners. In the first trial, students are allowed to look at their scripts, and in the second trial, students are encouraged not to rely on them to give the same speech. After the activity, the teacher asks students to share with the whole class whose speech they liked the best and why.
5. Exit Ticket
Students fill out the Exit Tickets (questionnaires in Google Forms) to reflect on their performance (i.e., How much of today's class were you able to understand? How actively did you participate in today’s class? What did you learn from the video and/or today’s class?). This reflection will facilitate students to actively take charge of their learning process and help the teacher understand how much students were able to gain from the lesson.
Video 2: EFL Beginner
Nitobebunka High School, Tokyo, 2022
This is an 11th grade speaking & grammar lesson; the target grammar is “Would you mind __ing?” The flipped learning approach has been implemented for a year in this class, and students have a positive attitude toward the new way of learning. Specifically, prior to the class, students watched a 10-min video lecture, in which the teacher introduced the target grammar and submitted the homework. |
Lesson Procedure
1. Warm-up: Who am I? Game (0:00)
Students are given a Halloween-themed fake identity (e.g., Pumpkin, Witch, Dracula) on a piece of paper on their back, and their task is to find out who they are by asking their classmates Yes/No questions (e.g., Can I fly? Am I a human?). They are allowed to ask only one question per classmate and thus need to talk to as many classmates as possible to figure out their identity.
2. Kahoot! Game (3:05)
Students engage in an online quiz game Kahoot! focused on the target grammar “Would you mind __ing?” All the questions are based on the video lecture and homework that students worked on prior to the class. Some are multiple choice questions while others ask students to correct mistakes.
3. BINGO Game (4:12)
Step 1: Prepare phrases
Students prepare 16 phrases on their BINGO card using the target grammar, “Would you mind __ing?,” based on what they want their classmates to do (e.g., Would you mind opening the window?).
Step 2: Ask for actions (6:17)
Students ask their classmates to do some actions based on the phrases they prepared. After their classmates have completed the action, students get signatures. Once getting four signatures in a row on their card, they call out BINGO.
4. Speech Activity (7:31)
Based on the speech they prepared at home as a part of the flipped learning approach, students give a speech twice in pairs, with different partners. In the first trial, students are allowed to look at their scripts, and in the second trial, students are encouraged not to rely on them to give the same speech. After the activity, the teacher asks students to share with the whole class whose speech they liked the best and why.
5. Exit Ticket (10:35)
Students fill out the Exit Tickets (questionnaires in Google Forms) to reflect on their performance. (i.e., How much of today’s class were you able to understand? How actively did you participate in today’s class? What did you learn from the video and/or today’s class?) This reflection will facilitate students to actively take charge of their learning process and help the teacher understand how much students were able to gain from the lesson.
1. Warm-up: Who am I? Game (0:00)
Students are given a Halloween-themed fake identity (e.g., Pumpkin, Witch, Dracula) on a piece of paper on their back, and their task is to find out who they are by asking their classmates Yes/No questions (e.g., Can I fly? Am I a human?). They are allowed to ask only one question per classmate and thus need to talk to as many classmates as possible to figure out their identity.
2. Kahoot! Game (3:05)
Students engage in an online quiz game Kahoot! focused on the target grammar “Would you mind __ing?” All the questions are based on the video lecture and homework that students worked on prior to the class. Some are multiple choice questions while others ask students to correct mistakes.
3. BINGO Game (4:12)
Step 1: Prepare phrases
Students prepare 16 phrases on their BINGO card using the target grammar, “Would you mind __ing?,” based on what they want their classmates to do (e.g., Would you mind opening the window?).
Step 2: Ask for actions (6:17)
Students ask their classmates to do some actions based on the phrases they prepared. After their classmates have completed the action, students get signatures. Once getting four signatures in a row on their card, they call out BINGO.
4. Speech Activity (7:31)
Based on the speech they prepared at home as a part of the flipped learning approach, students give a speech twice in pairs, with different partners. In the first trial, students are allowed to look at their scripts, and in the second trial, students are encouraged not to rely on them to give the same speech. After the activity, the teacher asks students to share with the whole class whose speech they liked the best and why.
5. Exit Ticket (10:35)
Students fill out the Exit Tickets (questionnaires in Google Forms) to reflect on their performance. (i.e., How much of today’s class were you able to understand? How actively did you participate in today’s class? What did you learn from the video and/or today’s class?) This reflection will facilitate students to actively take charge of their learning process and help the teacher understand how much students were able to gain from the lesson.
Video 3: EFL Beginner
Nitobebunka High School, Tokyo, 2021
This is a 10th grade speaking & grammar lesson; the target grammar is the passive voice “be satisfied with.” The flipped learning approach has been implemented for six months in this class, and they have a positive attitude toward the new way of learning according to the survey. Specifically, prior to the class, students watched a 10-min video lecture in which the teacher introduces the target grammar “be satisfied with” and submitted the homework. |
Lesson Procedure
1. Small Talk
Students talk about their weekend first with someone sitting next to them and then have the same conversation with more classmates by walking around the classroom. Since the students’ proficiency is at the beginner-level, various supports, including sentence frames (i.e., “How was your weekend?,” “It was great/okay/bad because ___.”) have been provided in order to help them speak up. These sentence frames are meant to be taken away eventually.
2. Kahoot! Game
Students engage in an online quiz game (i.e., Kahoot!) focused on the target grammar: the passive voice. All the questions are based on the lecture video and homework that students worked on prior to the class. Some questions are made from students’ mistakes in their homework. The teacher lets students think about what is wrong with their sentences and how to correct them.
3. Interview Activity
Step 1: Prepare answers
Students prepare as many sentences as possible using the target grammar, “be satisfied with,” on their worksheets. Specifically, the beginning of each sentence is given (i.e., “I am satisfied with/am not satisfied with Nitobe High School because___.”) and the students are instructed to fill in the reason why they are (or are not) satisfied with their school.
Step 2: Interview classmates
Based on the sentences they created in Step 1, students interview each other (i.e., “Are you satisfied with Nitobe High School?”) and take notes of their classmates’ responses on their worksheets. After the interview, the teacher asks students to share with the whole class what they heard from their classmates. This step will motivate students to carefully listen to their classmates during the interview.
4. Speech Activity
Based on the speech they prepared at home as a part of the flipped learning approach, students give a speech twice in pairs, with different partners. In the first trial, students are allowed to look at their manuscripts, but in the second trial, students are encouraged not to rely on them to give the same speech. After the activity, the teacher asks students to share with the whole class whose speech they liked the best and why.
5. Exit Ticket
Students fill out the Exit Tickets (questionnaires in Google Forms) to reflect on their performance. (i.e., How much of today's class were you able to understand? How actively did you participate in today’s class? What did you learn from the video and/or today’s class?) This reflection will facilitate students to actively take charge of their learning process and help the teacher understand how much students were able to gain from the lesson.
1. Small Talk
Students talk about their weekend first with someone sitting next to them and then have the same conversation with more classmates by walking around the classroom. Since the students’ proficiency is at the beginner-level, various supports, including sentence frames (i.e., “How was your weekend?,” “It was great/okay/bad because ___.”) have been provided in order to help them speak up. These sentence frames are meant to be taken away eventually.
2. Kahoot! Game
Students engage in an online quiz game (i.e., Kahoot!) focused on the target grammar: the passive voice. All the questions are based on the lecture video and homework that students worked on prior to the class. Some questions are made from students’ mistakes in their homework. The teacher lets students think about what is wrong with their sentences and how to correct them.
3. Interview Activity
Step 1: Prepare answers
Students prepare as many sentences as possible using the target grammar, “be satisfied with,” on their worksheets. Specifically, the beginning of each sentence is given (i.e., “I am satisfied with/am not satisfied with Nitobe High School because___.”) and the students are instructed to fill in the reason why they are (or are not) satisfied with their school.
Step 2: Interview classmates
Based on the sentences they created in Step 1, students interview each other (i.e., “Are you satisfied with Nitobe High School?”) and take notes of their classmates’ responses on their worksheets. After the interview, the teacher asks students to share with the whole class what they heard from their classmates. This step will motivate students to carefully listen to their classmates during the interview.
4. Speech Activity
Based on the speech they prepared at home as a part of the flipped learning approach, students give a speech twice in pairs, with different partners. In the first trial, students are allowed to look at their manuscripts, but in the second trial, students are encouraged not to rely on them to give the same speech. After the activity, the teacher asks students to share with the whole class whose speech they liked the best and why.
5. Exit Ticket
Students fill out the Exit Tickets (questionnaires in Google Forms) to reflect on their performance. (i.e., How much of today's class were you able to understand? How actively did you participate in today’s class? What did you learn from the video and/or today’s class?) This reflection will facilitate students to actively take charge of their learning process and help the teacher understand how much students were able to gain from the lesson.
Video 4: ESL Intermediate
Community Language Program, TC Columbia University, New York, 2019
This is a lesson for Intermediate-level adult ESL learners, focusing on phrasal verbs. In this video, you will see how I teach phrasal verbs in a fun and meaningful way. The strength of my teaching is to maximize students’ opportunities to think and speak. |
Lesson Procedure
1. Review: Which do you prefer, eBooks vs. print books?
I begin with a review of the previous lesson—which do you prefer, eBooks vs. print books?—thereby making a meaningful transition to today’s lesson. Students engage in the real-life discussion, which elevates the classroom atmosphere from the beginning.
2. Phrasal Verbs
i) Pre-stage
I introduce phrasal verbs by sharing my own experience in order to convince the students why learning phrasal verbs is important. Students then guess the meaning of phrasal verbs that we are going to cover in the lesson. After collaboratively checking the meanings, students discuss in pairs additional questions regarding the phrasal verbs (e.g., the difference between “pass” and “pass on”), which will deepen their understanding. Here, whatever mistakes students make, without immediately correcting them, I open the floor to everyone so that students can learn from each other.
ii) During-stage
Students are instructed to practice phrasal verbs in a real-life context. I first give students interview questions, each of which contains a phrasal verb (e.g., Has any fashion style died out in your country?). In order to help students come up with their responses, I provide modeling by showing visuals on PPT. Based on their responses, students interview one another, through which they have repetitive opportunities to produce the language focus. Additionally, I provide phrases for clarification request (e.g., Would you say that again?) to further improve students’ speaking performance. Here, I ask students to come up with phrases by themselves before providing some examples on PPT.
iii) Post-stage
I ask students to share with the whole class their phrasal verb-related real-life experiences and provide positive feedback, which will help create a positive learning environment. As a wrap-up, students are instructed to reflect on their language use during the activity so that they can monitor their own progress and have take-aways from the lesson.
1. Review: Which do you prefer, eBooks vs. print books?
I begin with a review of the previous lesson—which do you prefer, eBooks vs. print books?—thereby making a meaningful transition to today’s lesson. Students engage in the real-life discussion, which elevates the classroom atmosphere from the beginning.
2. Phrasal Verbs
i) Pre-stage
I introduce phrasal verbs by sharing my own experience in order to convince the students why learning phrasal verbs is important. Students then guess the meaning of phrasal verbs that we are going to cover in the lesson. After collaboratively checking the meanings, students discuss in pairs additional questions regarding the phrasal verbs (e.g., the difference between “pass” and “pass on”), which will deepen their understanding. Here, whatever mistakes students make, without immediately correcting them, I open the floor to everyone so that students can learn from each other.
ii) During-stage
Students are instructed to practice phrasal verbs in a real-life context. I first give students interview questions, each of which contains a phrasal verb (e.g., Has any fashion style died out in your country?). In order to help students come up with their responses, I provide modeling by showing visuals on PPT. Based on their responses, students interview one another, through which they have repetitive opportunities to produce the language focus. Additionally, I provide phrases for clarification request (e.g., Would you say that again?) to further improve students’ speaking performance. Here, I ask students to come up with phrases by themselves before providing some examples on PPT.
iii) Post-stage
I ask students to share with the whole class their phrasal verb-related real-life experiences and provide positive feedback, which will help create a positive learning environment. As a wrap-up, students are instructed to reflect on their language use during the activity so that they can monitor their own progress and have take-aways from the lesson.
Video 5: EFL Beginner
Tokyo Metropolitan Kiyose High School, Tokyo, 2018
This is an 11th grade reading lesson based on a textbook published in Japan. Previously, students had almost no opportunity to speak English in class; they had learned English based on the grammar translation method. To improve the situation, I started to teach them communicatively without using their first language, and this video is the tenth lesson of the trial. Since the students were not used to speaking English yet, I provide them with various supports, including sentence frames (i.e., I think___because___.) and key words on the PPT in order to help them speak up. *The sentence frames are meant to be taken away eventually.
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Textbook: MAINSTREAM English CommunicationⅡ Chapter 2: Hidden Message
Lesson Procedure
1. Warm-up: What day is it today?*
After doing rock-paper-scissors, students decide their roles in pairs: Student A or B. Only Student As are allowed to see the answers shown on PPT and describe that to Student Bs. Student Bs guess the answer. *The lesson day, May 29th, happened to be a day of konjak, a jelly-like Japanese food made from konjak flour, because the Japanese pronunciation of May 29th sounds like konjak. Since none of the students knew about it, they needed to guess the answer.
2. Review
Teacher recaps the previous lesson and asks students to give summary speeches in pairs, thereby making a meaningful transition to today’s lesson.
3. Word Practice
Students practice key words of the reading passage.
4. Schema Activation
Considering the lesson topic is "Hidden Message," teacher activates students' schema by letting them find a message hidden in a newspaper.
5. Scanning Activity: Find the Answers
Students quickly scan the reading passage to find answers to the comprehension check questions written on their handouts. Students share their answers in pairs and check them with the whole class.
6. Reading Practice
Students practice reading in pairs.
7. Summary Speech
Using the key words on the PPT, students give a summary speech to show their understanding of the reading passage. Students give a speech twice in pairs, with different partners. In the first trial, students are allowed to look at their notes, but in the second trial, students are encouraged not to rely on them to give the same speech. Subsequently, the teacher picks some students to give model speeches in front of the class.
Lesson Procedure
1. Warm-up: What day is it today?*
After doing rock-paper-scissors, students decide their roles in pairs: Student A or B. Only Student As are allowed to see the answers shown on PPT and describe that to Student Bs. Student Bs guess the answer. *The lesson day, May 29th, happened to be a day of konjak, a jelly-like Japanese food made from konjak flour, because the Japanese pronunciation of May 29th sounds like konjak. Since none of the students knew about it, they needed to guess the answer.
2. Review
Teacher recaps the previous lesson and asks students to give summary speeches in pairs, thereby making a meaningful transition to today’s lesson.
3. Word Practice
Students practice key words of the reading passage.
4. Schema Activation
Considering the lesson topic is "Hidden Message," teacher activates students' schema by letting them find a message hidden in a newspaper.
5. Scanning Activity: Find the Answers
Students quickly scan the reading passage to find answers to the comprehension check questions written on their handouts. Students share their answers in pairs and check them with the whole class.
6. Reading Practice
Students practice reading in pairs.
7. Summary Speech
Using the key words on the PPT, students give a summary speech to show their understanding of the reading passage. Students give a speech twice in pairs, with different partners. In the first trial, students are allowed to look at their notes, but in the second trial, students are encouraged not to rely on them to give the same speech. Subsequently, the teacher picks some students to give model speeches in front of the class.
Video 6: EFL Intermediate
Tokyo Metropolitan Musashinokita High School, Tokyo, 2015
This is a 10th grade reading lesson. Prior to this lesson, students read a passage—consisting of four sections—about the Food Bank, and this lesson serves as a review of the reading. Specifically, each student is assigned one section of the reading passage and communicatively shares his/her information in groups to reconstruct the whole passage. This lesson is designed to prepare students for the upcoming Speaking Test, in which they are to give a summary speech of the reading passage.
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Textbook: CROWN English Communication l Lesson 5: Food Bank
Lesson Procedure
1. Small Talk: What is the Food Bank?
A sentence frame is shown on the screen (i.e., “I think the Food Bank is an organization that…”) and students are to verbally fill in the blanks based on their understanding of the reading passage. They share their responses first in pairs and then with the whole class.
2. Scanning Activity: Find the Answers
Students scan the reading passage to find answers to the comprehension check questions written on their handouts.
Students share their answers in pairs and then check them with the whole class.
3. Jigsaw Activity: Share Information in Groups
Step 1
In groups of four, each member picks a color from blue, red, green, or yellow, and a corresponding reading passage (i.e., Passage 1, 2, 3, or 4) is assigned. The four passages are put on four walls in the classroom, and each student is to walk up to the wall to get information from the passages. Students are not allowed to bring their worksheets with them; they need to go back and forth between the walls and their desks to take notes.
Step 2
Each group member is assigned the role of a discussion leader, speaker, listener, or reaction maker. While the speaker shares his/her information, other group members take notes on their worksheets. Students are to rotate their roles every three minutes until all the members have shared their information.
4. Speech Activity: Summarize the Food Bank story
Based on the notes that they took during the jigsaw activity, students write a 150-200 word summary of the reading passage.
Subsequently, they give a summary speech in pairs.
Lesson Procedure
1. Small Talk: What is the Food Bank?
A sentence frame is shown on the screen (i.e., “I think the Food Bank is an organization that…”) and students are to verbally fill in the blanks based on their understanding of the reading passage. They share their responses first in pairs and then with the whole class.
2. Scanning Activity: Find the Answers
Students scan the reading passage to find answers to the comprehension check questions written on their handouts.
Students share their answers in pairs and then check them with the whole class.
3. Jigsaw Activity: Share Information in Groups
Step 1
In groups of four, each member picks a color from blue, red, green, or yellow, and a corresponding reading passage (i.e., Passage 1, 2, 3, or 4) is assigned. The four passages are put on four walls in the classroom, and each student is to walk up to the wall to get information from the passages. Students are not allowed to bring their worksheets with them; they need to go back and forth between the walls and their desks to take notes.
Step 2
Each group member is assigned the role of a discussion leader, speaker, listener, or reaction maker. While the speaker shares his/her information, other group members take notes on their worksheets. Students are to rotate their roles every three minutes until all the members have shared their information.
4. Speech Activity: Summarize the Food Bank story
Based on the notes that they took during the jigsaw activity, students write a 150-200 word summary of the reading passage.
Subsequently, they give a summary speech in pairs.
Online Teaching
Video 7: EFL Advanced (Online)
English for Liberal Arts Program, International Christian University, Tokyo, 2021
This is a freshman Research & Presentation (R&P) class in the English for Liberal Arts (ELA) Program, which is designed—through the content-based instruction—to improve students’ English proficiency as well as their critical thinking and study skills indispensable at a liberal arts college. This video is from a lesson focusing on the verbal and non-verbal language for presentations. |
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the class is entirely conducted online. To mitigate the potential disadvantage due to the lack of peer-interactions in online classes, breakout rooms* are frequently used to maximize their opportunities to communicate with classmates. The teacher constantly moves around each breakout room to make sure that students are on task and to give them feedback in order to enhance their learning. When students get stuck, the teacher gives them hints whereas advanced learners are given challenging questions to further deepen their understanding.
*A breakout room is one of the Zoom functions, which allows the host/teacher to open multiple rooms where students can talk in pairs or in groups.
Lesson Procedure
1. Warm-up: Presenting your graphs
In a previous class, students learned how to insert graphs in google slides and created a presentation as homework. As a warm-up, students in pairs give a presentation describing the graphs. After the presentation, students are asked to share with the whole class what they learned from their partners' presentations.
2. Compare spoken and written English
Students in pairs discuss the similarities and differences between spoken and written English and practice turning some written English into speech. Subsequently, students are asked to share their discussion notes using the Share Screen* function and explain to the whole class what they have discussed in pairs.
*Share Screen is one of the Zoom functions, which allows the teacher/students to share their laptop screens.
3. Information gap: Analyze body language
Students in pairs pick A or B and watch the corresponding 5-min video (i.e., Videos A or B) about body language. After watching the video, students take turns sharing what they have learned from the video in pairs and then report their findings to the whole class.
4. Ad-lib presentation about yourself
By making use of what they have learned about body language, students take turns giving a 2-minute presentation about themselves in groups of three. After listening to the presentations, students give feedback to the presenters. This is followed by the whole class feedback session.
*A breakout room is one of the Zoom functions, which allows the host/teacher to open multiple rooms where students can talk in pairs or in groups.
Lesson Procedure
1. Warm-up: Presenting your graphs
In a previous class, students learned how to insert graphs in google slides and created a presentation as homework. As a warm-up, students in pairs give a presentation describing the graphs. After the presentation, students are asked to share with the whole class what they learned from their partners' presentations.
2. Compare spoken and written English
Students in pairs discuss the similarities and differences between spoken and written English and practice turning some written English into speech. Subsequently, students are asked to share their discussion notes using the Share Screen* function and explain to the whole class what they have discussed in pairs.
*Share Screen is one of the Zoom functions, which allows the teacher/students to share their laptop screens.
3. Information gap: Analyze body language
Students in pairs pick A or B and watch the corresponding 5-min video (i.e., Videos A or B) about body language. After watching the video, students take turns sharing what they have learned from the video in pairs and then report their findings to the whole class.
4. Ad-lib presentation about yourself
By making use of what they have learned about body language, students take turns giving a 2-minute presentation about themselves in groups of three. After listening to the presentations, students give feedback to the presenters. This is followed by the whole class feedback session.