This Week in NELP
I've been very busy the last few weeks finishing up the 3rd Term reading handouts, making review sheets, and finishing the exams. I've already finished seven of my eight final exams for third term. I still need to make a few grammar quizzes, but all other work for the term is now complete.
I've also been preparing for our Hiruzen English Camp in March. I'm a little sad that only two of my twelve second grade NELP students have decided to join us at camp this year, but I'm excited about teaching them and working with the SELP students who will coming to camp.
Last week, the first grade students finished a news article about using video games in education, and we had a very nice discussion about how simulation software could be used as a teaching tool in many kinds of industries, jobs and careers.
The second grade students read The Cask of Amontillado ... at least most of them did. We then had a class debate over two topics. The first point was: if this had happened in modern times, would Montressor have gotten away with the murder of Fortunato, or would he have been caught by modern forensics? The second point was: would Montressor have been found competent to stand trial? Although I was sad to see that a few students did not participate, I was very glad to see that a couple of students showed tremendous effort in overcoming their shyness and joining the debate.
The third grade, due to high school entrance exams, had only two lessons last week, so we worked on their Public Service Announcement video project. They've decided to make an anti-smoking PSA, and they have some really great ideas.
This week was movie week in NELP class. The first grade students watched "Chicken Run" with Japanese subtitles. As they watched, they answered questions about the movie. The second and third grade students also had subtitles, but the subtitles were in English. The second grade watched "The Parent Trap", and the third grade watched "High School Musical 2". We had watched "High School Musical" at the Hiruzen English Camp last year, so the students wanted to watch part 2 for this year's class movie. However, it quickly became apparent that half the class had already seen part 2, so I have a strong feeling that the third grade movie will change next year. My high school class is currently watching Hoodwinked. We watch approximately 20 minutes of movie, and then spend 20 to 25 minutes talking about it. However, I feel that since the first graders have class only once a week, perhaps there just aren't enough high school lessons to justify a movie, so I have a strong feeling that movies will be permanently dropped from the high school curriculum in favor of something that uses our class time a little better.
This week, the first grade also began filming this term's special project: a short film about a scary doll. The students are VERY creative, and they're really putting a lot of effort into their movie.
I've sometimes noticed after class that there are sometimes some very interesting or surprising things on my blackboard, and it's often interesting to me the directions that my lessons can sometimes take as we make unexpected detours and journeys into topics related to our readings. Starting next week, I plan to share some of those things.
I have pictures on my computer, the latest NELP photos, long overdue. I hope to publish them to the blog on Monday.
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Date: 2009⁄02⁄07 21:56｜Permalink｜Author：nelp
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