Language Sensei

A Language Teacher's Journey

May 26, 2016
by leesensei
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“Three Days In …..” – An Exploratory, Target Language Online Field Trip….

We are exploring travel in Yr4 – travel to our Target Language (TL) area of Japan. I have taken what was a one-day experience of street view (that I used to use to revise ‘directions’ – no, don’t do that … Continue reading

March 10, 2016
by leesensei
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Mash-Up: Interpretive Reading Meets Interpersonal Activity!

Interpretive reading is a new ‘push’ of mine and I’ve been making full use of my supply of graded readers for this. My Yr4’s are currently working in a food unit and I tapped the “Sushi” reading for this purpose. … Continue reading

December 1, 2015
by leesensei
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The “Read & Think/Respond” Class-Generated (& Targeted) Reading Activity

We all get students to write things. We all take the time to read things. But how much to we tap the benefit of students reading each other’s work? Especially when we are trying to hit a targeted structure/vocabulary and … Continue reading

March 9, 2015
by leesensei
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“Who Killed Him?” An Interactive TL Murder Mystery

The origins of this activity come from the textbook Yookoso (by Yasu-Hiku Tohsaku) – a text we own as a school but which I am not using as a ‘class text’ any more. In a daily routine section there is … Continue reading

February 15, 2015
by leesensei
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The Interactive “Fair” – An Idea for Group Orals in the MFL Classroom

One of the mainstays of my teaching is the belief that language should be used by students to ‘do something’. As a result there are very few ‘stand in front of everyone and speak’ opportunities for my students, and many … Continue reading

November 5, 2014
by leesensei
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“The Club Decision” Interactive Oral Activity

This is a post focusing on one of the summative interpersonal oral activities that I do in my class.  One of my challenges in units is to come up with interpersonal orals for students to actually ‘use’ what they have … Continue reading

October 20, 2014
by leesensei
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Reading & Understanding – The Question Challenge Activity

It’s always a challenge to construct activities that engage students – especially about a reading piece. I try a variety of ways to both help/determine if my students understand a piece from  group Q&A to discussion to drawing and more. … Continue reading

June 9, 2014
by leesensei
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“The Travel Fair” An Interactive Oral Exploring Lesser Known TL Places

What do you think of when you think of your Target Language country/countries? While you may have spent some time there – and traveled to various spots – your students may have not. As a Japanese teacher it seems that … Continue reading

May 27, 2014
by leesensei
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“If I Had 1 Day in…” A Webquest/Google Docs/Discussion Activity

What if you only had 1 day in a famous city/area in your Target Language (TL) country? Where would you go, what would you do? This is the premise for my “Visit to Kyoto” activity with my Yr 3 Japanese … Continue reading

April 8, 2014
by leesensei
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The “School Fair” – Interactive Oral

I like the concept of school life – in my country and the target TL – as the basis for a unit. It incorporates a cultural learning opportunity – especially for my students who regard the Japanese school system as … Continue reading

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