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A very simple, yet fun and effective way of telling stories is to have students take turns, 1-by-1, telling one sentence of a story. After one student says a sentence from the story, then the next student has a turn to say one line.
Grouping can be done in a variety of ways:

• Students can be in groups of 3-4, telling the story 1-by-1 together;
• The whole class can be divided into groups, and each group (and each member within each group), in rounds, take turns telling one line of the story;
• The whole class can tell the story, volunteers giving the next sentence of the story.  This works well as a time filler at the end of lessons in Grade 6, Lesson 8: use Momotaro, The Peach Boy, or another well-known Japanese children's story.

In Grade 6 Lesson 8 students are asked to make an original story, or geki. Having students first do this in Japanese in small groups, and then doing the same story again as a whole class, is a very fun and interactive way to tell the story of The Giant Turnip, or any other well-known story.

I originally used this activity with traditional Japanese children's stories with adults, in English, in conversation classes- and it was a great success there, too.

This is an adaptation of the Black Box activity used in Grade 5 Lesson 7. In this adaptation, not just one student-at-a-time, but ALL students can be involved in the activity (after demonstrating). This allows students to experience not only asking What's this? and presenting a hidden object, but also feeling for themselves the hidden object.

Materials: Textbook, and an object from inside a pencil case.
Blackboard:
W) What's this?
L) It's a/an OO.
ALT/HRT: (To demonstrate) Hide an object from inside a pencil case in the fold of a textbook. Janken and do the conversation- Loser FEELS the object without looking and tries to answer. Demonstrate first together, then with a few students to practice/demonstrate.

Here is an example of drawing a picture on the blackboard one line at a time. This activity is used in Grade 5 Lesson 7, What's this?

From EigoNoto.com

From EigoNoto.com

From EigoNoto.com

From EigoNoto.com

From EigoNoto.com

From EigoNoto.com

This is a step-by-step activity for introducing a short speech or dialog to students. The whole class works together to figure out what is being said- and all share the sense of success when they’ve done it!

First, on the blackboard, draw a line for each word in the speech, one sentence per line. Include commas, periods, etc.

Say the speech or dialog to students in steps:

After speaking the first time, ask students to tell WORDS they heard. Write these words in the spaces on the blackboard.
After speaking again, ask students what WORDS/SENTENCES/LINES they heard. Write these in the spaces.
Speak again, line-by-line. Ask students for MEANING in Japanese.
Repeat any steps, if needed.
After all words are complete on the blackboard, say speech one last time.
When you’ve finished these steps, the students should have figured out what you were saying, translated it, and had a chance to repeat it, too. And they will have done most of the work!

This is a free-moving pair activity that can be used for a large variety of language patterns. The answer patterns can vary greatly- this video shows students how to practice answering 'How Many?', but answering is usually much more simple and straightforward.

This video shows Hashimoto-sensei and I preparing the class to play Interview Bingo. This activity is a pair activity, so students get a lot of practice saying both the question and answer patterns.

Here is an in-class video explanation of the EigoNoto.com Janken 4's activity-
Grade 5 Lesson 4, practicing numbers 1-20

To save the file and play in it your classes (as audio OR video), double-click on the video (or right click--copy link location). Then copy the url (the address in the browser window) and convert it to playable audio at http://www.zamzar.com/url/.

The idea of Multiple Intelligences tells us that there are many ways students remember best- and not all students do it the same way.  For this reason, it is important for us to teach in ways that will empower all students to do their best- for 2 reasons:

1. For those students who are best able to learn in a given way, teaching in that way makes learning easiest for them;
2. For students who may learn better in a different way, identifying and practicing different learning styles broadens and strengthens their ability to learn.

LRP- Listen, Repeat and Point is a simple addition of students pointing to pictures or other symbols while repeating the word or words.

Repeating new words the first time, it helps the students to follow an order or pattern, and to say the words slowly.  The second time, follow the same pattern, but speak a little more quickly.  The third time, don't say the words too fast, but change the order. This adds a bit of challenge to the students to keep them engaged. You can encourage the students to double check with their seat partners, too.

I tell my students- when dialing your own telephone number, you probably don't think too clearly in your own head what your telephone number is; your body has remembered the motions of the number so your head doesn't have to think about it.
In this way, we can use our bodies to empower our abilities to learn new words.

There are so many English words that Japanese students already know. When there is a page full of pictures in the workbook, it is a great time to empower the students with the awareness that they already know a lot of English! This simple activity seems very simple or obvious, but it is too easy in the classroom to just tell the students what the words are. Asking them to cooperate, then offer the 'answer', does a lot towards building their confidence.
Here is a step-by-step activity for getting the students to tell you what the words are in English. I call it Words You Already Know, or WYAN.

Materials- Text, flashcards or poster of page on blackboard.
Students- In seat pairs, talk together to see if you know the English names for the pictures.
HRT- Begin after student pairs have a minute or two- Point to a picture or hold up a flashcard, and ASK students the name in Japanese (option- write the word in Japanese on the blackboard).
ALT- After the students say the word in Japanese, ask students, “What’s eki in English?”  Say the word aloud again for all the students to repeat. Then, after students have told all the words in English, Listen and Repeat all the words once or twice more.

Watch the video to see 4 3rd-grade junior high school students speaking together, prompted only by ConFluency Card Set 3 cards.  In the first part, I asked the students to talk about Christmas and New Years; in the second part, about food.  Otherwise, the content is entirely theirs.

Want to teach your students to SPEAK ENGLISH, not just STUDY it? The ConFluency Card activity teaches and practices Conversational Fluency. The activity was chosen by peers for presentation at local and national teachers conferences. 


There are 3 sets of ConFluency Cards. Each set has a different language focus (click to download the cards in English & Japanese): 

• Set 1- Questions and Answers; 
• Set 2- (Set 1 +) Sentences, Negatives & Commands; 
• Set 3 (in English)- (Sets 1 & 2 +) Conversation Strategies (small words and phrases that make conversation smoother, easier and more natural, like ‘Uh-huh’, ‘Let me think...’, ‘By the way...’, ‘Really?  Cool!’, etc.)

    There are 4 activities teachers should consider before playing the ConFluency Card Game in the classroom:
Introducing the cards;
Previewing the students’ conversations;
Testing students’ accuracy in card usage, and;
Practicing card skills, using support activities.

    Introducing any card set takes about 15 minutes of class time (click here for a print of the rules, or see the webpage for all related info & downloads).  It’s best to have the remaining time (30-35 minutes) for the students to Preview and play with the new card set; the practice time will help them to better remember how to use the new cards.  The card skills in Set 2 are basically the same as those in Set 1, except the focus is on sentences, not Q & A.  So, Set 1 takes the most time, and practice, for the students to learn.  There are prepared rule sheets (Set 1, Set 2) in English and Japanese to give to the students when introducing a new card set.
    Previewing the students’ conversation before the card game is very important and avoids time-wasting dead air in the conversations.  Letting the students fill-in blanks on a Conversation Primer helps them to ‘own’ the conversation and talk about things of interest to themselves. Importantly, it also let’s the teacher focus the content of the students’ conversations.  This activity can be done as homework (to save class time). Or, in the classroom, if the students fill-in blanks on the Conversation Primer, the activity takes 5-10 minutes.
 The ConFluency Card Game encourages the fast-pace of natural conversation. It is strongly suggested that teachers choose content for the Conversation Primer that students have studied and practiced several times (ie., review material). This will best insure students’ success with the card game, accuracy in speaking, and progress toward conversational fluency.
    To prepare a ‘Conversation Primer’ before class (click here for an example), write questions and sentences with blanks in a way that force students to use the grammar (or other focus) you want to target, but in a way that gives the students some freedom of content choice:

For Card Set 1- 

• 2 or 3 Yes/No Questions, some or all with A + 1 Answers (Will you OOO tomorrow?->  Yes, I will.  A+1 - I will OOO tomorrow.);
  

• 2 or 3 Wh- Questions, some or all with A + 1 Answers (What time do you usually OOO? ->  I usually OOO at O:XX.  A + 1 -But sometimes I OOO at X:OO. )

For Card Sets 2 & 3- 
about 5-6 Sentences:   

• 1 or 2 followed by a Yes/No Question (I like OO. ->  Do you like OO?);
  

• 1 or 2 followed by a Wh- Question (I like OO. ->  What  XX do you like?);

• 1 or 2 followed by a Negative (I can OO. ->  I can’t OO.) and/or a Command (I can play OO. ->  Play OO!)

For Card Set 3 (or advanced students)-

• Advanced students can do all-class Brainstorming on the blackboard.  Click for more about Brainstorming.

   
    Testing student accuracy in using the cards is also important.  It is most easily done by playing CROSSFIRE before playing the card game.  Playing CROSSFIRE for 10 minutes before using the ConFluency Cards is usually sufficient.  See here for more information about how to play CROSSFIRE.

    Practicing the ConFluency Card Game skills can be done most simply and often using a Q-Card, or Janken Conversation Rounds activity.  Both of these activities are excellent on-going review activities, and can be done in about 5 minutes.  There are other activities that teach and practice the same card skills, as well.  For more information, see Conversation Skills, More Activities and Q-Cards.

A Typical ConFluency Class
    Using the above activities, we have 3 different ConFluency class patterns: Introducing new cards, Regular play and Single card games.  Below are class schedules for each pattern (assuming a 50 minute class):

Introducing new cards:
Introducing new cards:            15 minutes
Previewing (fill-in Primer):        5-10 min.
ConFluency Card Game:           25-30 min.

 With this schedule, students should be able to play the card game two, or maybe three, times in a class.  Rotate students to make new groups for each card game.

Regular play:
Previewing (fill-in Primer):            5-10 minutes
Accuracy testing (CROSSFIRE):     10 min.
ConFluency Card Game:              30-35 min.

 With this schedule, students can usually play the card game 3 times in a class.  Rotate students to make new groups for each card game.

Single Card Games: 
 Single card games can be played in 10-12 minutes.  If students are able to prepare Conversation Primers before class, perhaps as homework, or use previously prepared Primers, and have them in their notebooks (students MUST have a Primer), a single card game, without accuracy checking, can be played in about 15 minutes, including starting and clean-up.

Class time needed to become skilled in using each Card Set:  
 Assuming a single card game finishes in 10-12 minutes, single card games can be played: 

• 1-at-a-time in 15 min. blocks; 
• 3X in 30 min. (with a prepared Primer); or 
• 3-4 times in 50 min. (including class time to complete a Primer). 
• Times given are a minimum; depending on student progress.

 Assuming 50 minute class times, the following schedule has worked well (for each new card set). Each 'time' counts 1 card game:

• 1 time in the full class (50 min.) for Introducing new cards.

• 2 times in 30-50 minute blocks for Accuracy checking.  In a 30 minute block: 10 min. CROSSFIRE, 20 min. for 2 card games.  Primers prepared before class.  In a 50 minute class: See Regular play, above. Primers can be prepared in-class.

 And in addition to the above times: 

• For Card Set 1: 3-9 more card games (see above for times)

• For Card Sets 2 & 3 (each):  3-6 more card games (see above for times).

Historical Note 
 Regarding small groups playing separate from the whole class: 
 The original ConFluency Card Games were played (and developed) with 4 students at a time, for 25 minutes, in the school library with the foreign English teacher.  Thus, 2 groups of 4 students were able to participate during each 50 minute class; several weeks were required to cycle all of the students into the activity.
 This schedule allowed for very direct interaction between the foreign teacher and each student.  A separate Accuracy checking activity wasn’t needed.  For small classes, in an English Conversation school setting, for example, play in small groups is certainly possible. 
 As the ConFluency Card activity was developed and refined, it began to be played in the whole class in the patterns described above.  As such, a way to check student accuracy, CROSSFIRE, was added to the regular ConFluency class.      
 May the ConFluency materials help you to feel as fulfilled as I have been, watching my students have fast-paced, fun and real English Conversations!

This is a gesture version of Dictionary/Pictionary (similar to Charades). It can be played alone, like Dictionary, or as one part of Dictionary-Pictionary-Gestionary, when students must, from a list of 3-5 words, do each of the patterns (draw, say or do) at least once. These three games together help students to practice both expressive, and receptive, skills in different ways of communication, all important to anyone trying to communicate!

This game is a drawing version of Dictionary.  To begin, one team member from each group, in turns, comes to the blackboard.  The teacher shows the student a word (this can be in the native language), and the student must draw a picture on the blackboard as a hint to the word.
Later, play continues in small groups like Dictionary, except students draw the clues.

Materials: English-English dictionary; lists of 3-5 words, as many of the same list as there are teams, and as many different lists as there are small group members.

The skills in this activity help students learn how to say something when they don’t know the word itself- one of the greatest challenges for beginners who still have a small vocabulary.


Divide the class into 2 or more teams of equal members. The teacher stands at the front of the class and reads the definition of a word from an English-English dictionary. The first team to raise a hand and guess the word correctly scores a point for his or her team. This is a time for the teacher to demonstrate the skills.
Next the students produce the clues.  Give one member in each group one of the lists of 3-5 words. The students must not say the word, but give clues to the other group members. When all of the words have been guessed, the next student gets a new list of words and play continues.

All-class 2-team activity for practicing any set of vocabulary (15-25 work well). Time: 15-20 minutes.
Materials: 3 sets of vocabulary cards (one each for each pair of six teams).

One row of students makes one team;  paired rows compete. Place 2 rows of desks together, and lay 15-25 vocabulary cards (words in English or Japanese, pictures, numbers, etc..) 
Beginning from opposite ends of the line of vocabulary, the first student from each team begins touching and saying the word for each card.  When the 2 players meet they play Janken; Winner continues as before, Loser goes to the back of the line for his/her team and the next student starts from the first card.  When players meet, they play Janken..... The first team to touch and say all of the words to the end of the line wins.

In Japan, Janken is a game of inexplicable popularity with both young and old.  Often this popularity alone can turn an otherwise hum-drum activity into one that brings smiles to the students' faces and encouragement to continue.
But also very importantly, in conversation classes Janken unequivocally decides the order of speaking- who will go first, and who will follow. These two points have made Janken a very important asset in my bag of teaching tricks.
If you use points in your classes as a motivation tool (see the EigoNoto.com Australia Points Map), giving large amounts of points for winning at Janken is a way to help lower-level students, who may not score many points in ability-centered activities, to earn as many points as their higher-ability peers.

Janken or Rock-Paper-Scissors
Janken 4's -No materials or preparation! -日本語のビデオ説めもある
THE warm-up activity beginning all of the EigoNoto.com lessons.  Works for any language pattern- Teaches conversation skills, too! See an in-class explanation on video
Janken Conversation Rounds -No materials or preparation!
*This activity was chosen by a group of elementary teachers as the main activity for their English classes. It is the best way to teach and practice Conversation Skills. It can be used for meaning- or pattern-focus, and for all of the language structures.
Maru-Batsu (O/X) Game -No materials or preparation!
EigoNoto.com version of the classic Japanese game. Very powerful learning activity.
Hot Potato -No materials or preparation!
A small group creative substitution activity. 
Get The Picture (GTP)
see an in-class explanation on video
Pair Karuta  -No materials or preparation!
A very simple version of the classic game.
Interview Bingo
see an in-class explanation on video
CROSSFIRE/Linefire
Eraser/Keyword Game
Pair listening activity from the Eigo Noto text.
Ohajiki Game
Listening activity from the Eigo Noto text. A blend of Bingo & Karuta...
Sugoroku
My version of the classic game. NOW it's really communicative!  With a link to download the board.
Row Practice/Row Races -No materials or preparation!
Find 3 People -No materials or preparation!
Find 3 People-Tell the Teacher -No materials or preparation! 
Liar! Liar! -No materials or preparation!
Hand Sandwich -No materials or preparation!
A fun way to finish off a pair activity (with a winner & loser).
Clue Bingo
Pair Slap -No materials or preparation!
Individual Student Translation
Short notes on how to lessen the stress...
Hebi Janken
Teams compete to get to the end of the line of vocabulary cards first.
Dictionary -(can be done with) No materials or preparation!
Builds an important skill for language learners- how to say a word they don't know!
Pictionary -(can be done with) No materials or preparation!
Builds an important skill for language learners- how to draw a word they don't know!
Gestionary -(can be done with) No materials or preparation!
Builds an important skill for language learners- how to act out a word they don't know!
WYAN- Word You Aleady Know. Students already know a lot of English words- prompt them to tell you what they already know!
Listen, Repeat and Point- Turn on students' power to remember.
Repeat and Change the Pattern Speaking- No materials or preparation!
A simple activity to help students perform short speeches.
Interactive Introduction- No materials or preparation!
A simple step-by-step way to introduce new language patterns. You do the speaking, the students learn the rest as a class.
Drawing an Explanation One Line at a Time- for Grade 5 Lesson 7 What's This?
Black Box Activity Adaptation- Let's all the kids participate, not just one at a time. For Grade 5 Lesson 7
Story Telling in Rounds

Time- 10-15 minutes
Materials- Clue Bingo Print (example). A pair of dice.
All students get a Clue Bingo print or simply a blank bingo grid (5X5). Everybody writes in 25 letters, numbers, words, or whatever your target is. The students can write in Japanese; you write the words 1-by-1 in English on the blackboard, asking the students after each for the meaning in Japanese. You can give the students 26-30 words to choose from to make the game a little more interesting (it will take more time).
To Play-
Choose a student using the dice. This student calls out any letter, number, word, etc. they like. All students cross this off on their prints. It helps the students if you also cross the word off on the blackboard.

The Eraser/Keyword Game is a listening comprehension game from the Eigo Noto activities. Paired students face their cleared desks towards each other and place an eraser in the middle. A ‘keyword’ is given, perhaps by placing a flashcard on the blackboard. A teacher then says that keyword or another. The goal for the students is to take the eraser first when the teacher says the keyword, but not to take the eraser another word is said.
Instead of saying only one word, the keyword can be part of a Q&A pattern, or in a short dialog:
‘What fruit do you like?’ ‘I like blue.’
‘I have a green pen.’ ‘I have a blue pen.’

Hand Sandwich is a fun way for students to reward winners and punish losers after a game. Winning students first put one hand palm-down on the desktop. The losing student/students then each put on hand on top of the winners lower-most hand. Finally, the winner puts his/her other hand on top of the ‘sandwich’.
To play, the winner must pull out the lowest hand and attempt to slap the other students’ layered hands (without slapping his own upper-most hand).

Students sit in 6 rows facing the front of the classroom. Write a conversation pattern (with a Conversation Skill to practice, if you can) in the blackboard, for example:

W) Do you like fish?
L) Yes. /No. (+Repeat the Same Question) Do you like fish?
W) Yes./ No.

or


W) I like fish.
L1) I like fish, too. (Repeat the Sentence, Change One Word) I like green.
L2) I don't like fish. (Repeat the Sentence, Change One Word) I like green.
W1) I like green, too.
W2) I don't like green.

Ask the students to make an original question or sentence, changing the different colored or underlined part (I always use the same color -yellow- for this part).
To begin, seat pairs play Janken (Rock-Paper-Scissors, or R-P-S). Usually, the winner (W) begins the conversation according to the posted pattern, and the pair continue until they finish the conversation.
When the conversation is finished, the student on the rotation side (you decide before beginning) moves one seat forward or back. The new pair again plays Janken (R-P-S), and does the posted conversation, as before.
The activity continues until students return to their own seats and sit down.