Tokyo Sightseeing with Relative Clauses
Using sightseeing spots around Tokyo as the subject matter, students create complex descriptive sentences.
My Future Dreams: Giving Reasons
Students circulate around the classroom trying to find the person who has the other half of the sentence which matches their half. Each sentence is joined with the conjunction から.
Regional Specialities of Japan
Students complete an information gap task while they practise grammar involving how places seem/appear. The topic is major Japanese cities’ special attractions.
Role Play: Visit the Doctor
Students practise sickness expressions in a role play between a doctor and a patient. The symptoms and advice are provided on cards.
Youth Issues: Reported Information
Students read passages about Japanese teenagers then report on the information to the class.
Information Gap: Writing and Reading
Students perform reading and writing tasks on the topic of Family & Friends. Each task has an element of information gap.
Kanji: Radicals
Learn how to recognise the structure of kanji and become familiar with the concept of identifying and looking up a kanji compound by looking at its radical.
Kanji: Tasks
Students work on two tasks relating to kanji. In the first they look at how a stroke can be added to the kanji for “day” to form a new kanji. In the second, they form kanji compounds using cards.
Speech Creation
Students are guided through the process of creating a speech to be presented to their Japanese class. The topics covered by the flowcharts are: About Japan, Event/Festival, My Hobby, My Dreams and Social Problems. The speeches are 1 to 2 minutes in length.
Job Seeking Activity
Students pretending to be job seekers are matched with one of four part time job options by answering a series of questions asked by the students playing the role of an employment agency.
Survey Quiz Show
Students participate in a game show (like the old show “Family Feud”) where they guess how people responded to a survey.
Location of Objects
Students complete worksheet(s) on giving the location of objects around the classroom.
Going Places Bingo
Students form groups and play a bingo game involving sentences which have time, transport and place words. Each group has one winner who has crossed out all the words on his/her cards first.
Hobbies Bingo Game
Students try to be the first one to get four names in a row (horizontally, vertically and diagonally) on their sheet.
Directions Around Town
In pairs, students try to be the first to work out the mystery sentence by following directions. Using their map they go to different locations which have been allocated an area of the classroom.
Name the Shops
Students play a barrier game where they have to identify all the shops in the row based on what each shop sells.
Food Flowchart Activity
Students work their way through a flowchart full of questions about their eating habits. At the end, they reach a piece of advice.
Mime and Guess
Students work in teams to decipher the meaning of the sentences they are given. Each team then acts out the sentence to the class who must guess what it is in Japanese.
Everyday Greetings Karuta
Students play karuta in groups of four to learn the expressions おはよう、こんにちは、こんばんは、ありがとう、ごめんなさい、おやすみなさい、じゃ、また、さようなら、いってきます、ただいま、いただきます、ごちそうさま.
Play: Cinderella
Students act out this children’s story which can be easily understood by an audience with or without knowledge of Japanese. The play can be used by students not only in the classroom but also as a presentation for a school event. There are 9 parts.
Play: Rabbit’s Present
Students act out this children’s story which can be easily understood by an audience with or without knowledge of Japanese. The play can be used by students not only in the classroom but also as a presentation for a school event. There are 8 parts.
Play: Seven Goats
Students practise and perform the short play しちひきのこやぎ which has a cast of 9 players, including 7 “kids” (child goats), the kids’ mother and a wolf.
Skit: The Big Turnip
Students act out this children’s story which can be easily understood by an audience with or without knowledge of Japanese. The play can be used by students not only in the classroom but also as a presentation for a school event. There are 9 parts.
BOARD GAME: Travel Around Japan
Students play a board game where they make their way around a map of Japan, practising inviting others to places by various means of transport.
Card Game Ideas
Students play the following games with picture/word cards: Vocabulary learning, Grab, Card Matching, Concentration, Guess the word, Definitions, Soccer, On the Buses, Human Board Game, What’s Missing, Reading activities
Using Flash Cards
Students can learn new vocabulary and play various games using the flashcards which cover many topics.
Play: The Juunishi Story
Students act out this story about the origin of the Juunishi (Chinese/Japanese zodiac). The play can be used by students not only in the classroom but also as a presentation for a school event. There are 15 parts.
Play: The Twin Millionaires and the Straw
Students act out this children’s story which can be easily understood by an audience with or without knowledge of Japanese. The play can be used by students in the classroom or as a presentation for a school event. There are 12 parts.
Skit: Ninja Rescue
Students act out this childrens' story which can be easily understood by an audience with or without knowledge of Japanese. The play can be used by students not only in the classroom but also as a presentation for a school event. There are 9 parts.
Choosing a Sports Kurabu
Students work in pairs to decide which of the four sports clubs (gyms) they will join. Each student and their partner go to two clubs, ask some questions and share the information. They then discuss which club they will choose.
Solving Problems on Giving and Receiving Using Logic
Students use their knowledge of giving and receiving verbs combined with logic to solve the problem of who received what from whom.
Descriptions in Japanese Using Logic
Students use their knowledge of descriptions in Japanese combined with logic to name the animals and people.
Guess the Souvenir Group Activity
Students ask a series of questions to try to work out which souvenir another student is holding. If they guess correctly they win the souvenir.
How We Use Water
Students will practise numbers as they discuss the percentage of water in plants and animals. They will then brainstorm verbs relating to water use and discuss Australia’s and Japan’s use of water.
Learn about water cycle process in Japanese
Here, we focus on activities which integrate aspects of other key learning areas into language learning. Recently in the various states, particularly in primary school, there has been a movement towards integration, or embedment, of the whole curriculum into language learning.
What is my Job?
Students try to win as many job cards as possible by asking questions to try and determine which job is on the card.