What Do You Want to Be?
Today is Star Festival. So, I gave a special English lesson to the 38 fifth graders in my charge.At the beginning of the lesson, I asked the pupils, "Do you know what day it is today?" They answered, "Star Festival!" in unison. “Yes! So, I'd like you to talk about your dreams. You and your friends will ask each other about it in ENGLISH.” About half of the pupils were excited and the rest of them looked bewildered.I continued, "First of all, listen to the CD carefully. How many occupational titles will you be able to catch?" The pupils tried to do so, but they caught only eight out of 23. It couldn't be helped because most of them aren't used to listening to natural English. "Well done! Next, repeat after the narrator while watching the pictures. I bet you will be able to catch more titles." The pictures helped the pupils a lot as I had expected. "I'll play the CD once more. Try to remember just one job you want to choose in the future. You can do it, right?" The pupils tried to do so really hard. As soon as I said, "Now, I'd like you to learn two important expressions," I wrote the first one, "What do you want to be?" in very big letters on the blackboard and ask the pupils, "Guess what it means?" They answered correctly. "Great! If you can remember the question, you will be able to ask your friends about their dreams. Stand up! Until you gain the confidence to say it alone, keep practicing!" While clapping their hands, the pupils kept practicing. When the last pupil sat down, my palms had turned red! Their palms also must have been red. I was really glad that the pupils practiced much harder than I had expected. I went on in a cheerful voice, "There is one more important expression! It's the way of answering the question." I wrote, "I want to be a/an …" below the question. I asked the pupils, "Guess what it means, again?" It was easy for them to guess the meaning and started practicing saying it."Perfect! Now, you can find the friends who have the same dreams as yours! If your friend's answer is the same as yours, you could say, 'Me, too,' and shake hands. After that, write down their names on your paper. Unfortunately, if your friend's answer is another one, you could say, 'Wow!' or 'Really?' Then, find as many friends who have the same dreams as yours as possible. Are you ready?" The pupils answered loudly, "Yes!!" All the pupils were busy questioning and answering! I also asked each of the pupils the question. Some of the pupils answered proudly. Some of them did hesitantly. When a boy found a friend who had the same dream as his, he held the friend tightly! All the pupils were so cute!!After the activity, the pupils wrote their impressions about it. 34 pupils wrote it was fun. They wrote various reasons, for example, I found five friends who had the same dreams as mine; I'm glad that I was able to speak English and so on. A boy wrote: I want to improve my English quickly! On the other hand, four pupils wrote; it was difficult to learn English. I hope all the pupils will get used to listening to or speaking English little by little. I'd like all the pupils to know that communicating with friends is fun both in Japanese and in English.