JALT Junior 2006 Presentation Summaries K-M

Making English Fun and Memorable for 2-4 Year-Olds
Katherine Mackay (Pearson Education Japan)
Learn how to achieve successful lessons using age-appropriate vocabulary and activities with 2-4 year-olds. Capturing attention with exciting and familiar topics young children naturally want to learn, we stimulate multi-sensory learning through lively songs, chants, and actions to make English fun and memorable.
Workshop / Promotional

Online Training for Japanese Teachers of English
Kazunori Chuman, Basil Tonks (Edvec Inc.)
It takes special skills to teach English to children. Come and learn how the Teyl-Japan online teacher training program can give you and your colleagues the knowledge, skills, and confidence you need to succeed in the classroom.
Teacher Education / Discussion / Promotional

Kids' English: Kindergarten Teacher Training
Keiko Narita, Yoko Fukuchi , Mari Eguchi, Laurel Kamada (Aomori Akenohoshi College)
While kindergarten administrators are eager to provide English curriculum for promotional ends, veteran teachers are often reluctant to teach English due to teacher identity issues and low confidence in English proficiency. This presentation will examine these problems and explore how teacher training can address them. Ideas will be examined for ways to train teachers to overcome these problems and motivate kindergarteners to pursue English learning, even after transition into elementary school. Questions, feedback are encouraged.
Teacher Education / Short Paper

The School Song: Molding the Child in Two Nations
Kim Bradford-Watts (Kyoto Women's University)
This poster session compares and contrasts the history and roles of the School Song in the educational systems of Australia and Japan. The analysis of the text of exemplar songs from these two nations identifies genres and themes designed to mold the individual, create a shared school community, and motivate learners. Linkages between the School Song and other aspects of the hidden curriculum are explored.
Culture / Poster Session

Grammar Triggers: The Key to Classroom Success!
Lesley Ito (Big Bow English Lab)
Elementary EFL teachers often find teaching basic grammar to students frustrating, especially when the students have usually forgotten what they have learned by the next lesson. The presenter will explain a classroom-tested solution to this problem called, Grammar Triggers. A teacher using Grammar Triggers can easily teach grammar to students without using Japanese and then quickly trigger their memory in future lessons, merely by using a whiteboard and a marker.
Grammar / Workshop

Magnetic Motivation
Linda Wittig
1) What animals are fed magnets? 2) What happens to your compass at the North Pole? 3) What countries have coins that magnets like? Come experience Magnetic Motivation with Smiley the Clown as she demonstrates several simple science projects using magnets with the following topics: numbers, colors, shapes, directions, opposites, sequencing, and recycling. Participants will be able to build three-dimensional magnetic structures and experience the motivational power of magnets.
Learner Development / Workshop

Support Systems for Non-Japanese-Speaking Children
Maiko Ogasawara
The presenter will show the support needed by non-Japanese speaking children at Japanese schools besides adequate systematic language support. The support can be provided by linking the students, their families, their teachers, and the people in the communities. The language support is important, but it is a small part of the larger support these children need to lead a happy school life and have a better future.
Japanese as a Second Language (JSL) / Short paper

Spicing Up Your Classroom with English Land
Mari Nakamura (Mari's Communication School), Akiko Seino (English School BRIGHT)
For young learners, English is usually a classroom experience. Memorizing vocabulary, performing questions & answers, and dialogues are only lesson activities. How can we help young learners use what they have learned in an activity to personalize that target language? The authors of English Land will illustrate the incredible possibilities for spicing up your classroom with English Land in this creative session by motivating you to develop personalized English interaction skills with your learners.
Teacher Education / Workshop / Promotional

Helping Students Teach English to Children with IT
Mariko Miyao
This presentation will outline a workshop for elementary school children to learn English, where college students' English and computer skills are utilized. Children are taught to make simple English quizzes with the Study Note software, which is available at many elementary schools. Through this experience, the teacher can motivate students to learn English and IT, and study children's learning behavior, thus serving their community. Quiz samples and participants' feedback will also be explained.
Language and Technology / Short paper

Stories for Kids, Storytelling Tips for Teachers
Mayuka Habbick (JJ Fellowship)
Stories easily take children into different worlds. Using stories in English as material in children's EFL classes, we can provide rich opportunities for children to experience the language through listening, reading, and interacting. In this workshop, Mayuka will introduce stories that can be easily incorporated into language lessons and additional activities that can be used with story reading. She also will show tips on reading stories.
Teacher Education / Workshop

Having Fun With Extensive Reading
Megumi Takemura (Pearson Education Japan)
Research has shown that students who were asked to do extensive reading had more positive feelings toward studying English than students who did not do extensive reading. Extensive reading is a wonderful tool to motivate students and help them improve their language skills at the same time. The presenter will give practical ideas and describe successful teaching techniques for running an extensive reading program using examples from the latest graded reader series, Info Trail.
Reading and Vocabulary / Workshop / Promotional

Teaching Vocabulary Through Rhythms and Chants
Melinda Kawahara (Lindy Lizard's English House)
Can't get that song out of your head? Why not use its rhythm in your classroom to teach your students vocabulary! In this workshop the presenter will show you how to tap into your creative talents to make your own original chants. Students will leave your classroom singing and return with a complete memory of the vocabulary taught.
Teacher Education / Workshop

Collaborative In-Service Teacher Learning Model
Meral Seker (Inged)
This paper introduces an in-service teacher-training model through a process of collaborative learning where the principles undergirding communities of practice, described by Lave and Wenger (1991) as Legitimate Peripheral Participation, assist English teachers of young learners to improve their educational practices. Defining reflective practice and situated learning as the theoretical underpinnings of this model, the study presents the results of its application and offers suggestions for transforming traditional methods of training.
Teacher Education / Short paper

Raising Bicultural Kids in Multicultural Melbourne
Michael Furmanovsky (Ryukoku University)
This presentation will look at the ways in which bicultural families in Melbourne have developed links with the Japanese expatriate community and taken advantage of the multicultural educational goals of the state government, to negotiate an environment in which raising children bilingually and bi-culturally is an achievable, if difficult, goal. Attention will be given to the role of Japanese immersion primary schools, Japanese language education in middle and senior school and the city's Doyogakko (Saturday school).
Bilingualism / Short paper

How Did American Children Become Better Readers?
Miki Niiyama (Baiko Gakuin University), Sumiko Leeper (Albuquerque Public Schools)
How did minority children in US develop reading ability? The purpose of this workshop is to introduce the Balanced Literacy Program conducted at some elementary schools in US and show how the program has enabled students to be better readers. The presenters will discuss the effectiveness of the program by demonstrating its seven basic processes, with focus on guided reading. They will also address the potential of such a literacy program in a Japanese environment.
Reading and Vocabulary / Workshop

More Community and Motivation Through Coloring
Miori Shimada (Keisen University)
The presenter will discuss and demonstrate activities to strengthen the community of a small group of low-level students and enhance their motivation based on their reading textbook of English anecdotes. The main activities consist of coloring the monochrome illustration of each story at the end of the class and exchanging impressions of these pictures colored by students. How the same activities can be modified for children is also to be discussed.
Learner Development / Workshop

Teachers for Young Learners of English in Japan
Miyoko Kobayashi, Yuzuru Miyamoto (Kanda University of International Studies)
This paper will discuss the results of a questionnaire, part of a 3-year research project that explored English language teacher education for young learners in Japan. The survey asked 172 English teachers in a privately run educational organization about the qualities and expertise desirable for teachers of young learners and also about items to be included in teacher training courses. The findings have presented useful insights into a framework for the development of teacher training programs.
Teacher Education / Short paper

A Community-Based Day Camp for Young Bilinguals
Monika Rankin (Kinki University), Mary O'Sullivan (Shiga University)
This presentation will introduce a community-based summer day camp for young bilingual children which was organized and run by the parents. The two areas covered will be how to set up a day camp and suggestions for activities.
Bilingualism / Discussion