Publications
“THE SCHOOL HOUSE”
Here is information about our publications. These are free to read and download for everyone.
Column areas covered by not limited to:
- Scholarly Articles
- My Share
- Lesson ideas
- Book recommendations
- Technology in the Classroom
- JALT News, TYL SIG news and other news updates regarding Elementary – High School Education in Japan
- Reviews on past presentations
- Upcoming JALT events
- New updates to the national education system
For more JALT publications, visit the main JALT site.
THE ARCHIVE
Here you can find our previous issues of “The School House”.
The School House Volume 32 Issue 3
To all our TYL Sig members,
Spring is here and with it we are all in the throes of the start of the new academic year here in Japan. We hope this issue will give you a little break as you read it.
We have three ‘new’ officers to introduce to you. I write ‘new’, as some of the names may be familiar to you. In no definite order they are Robert Chartrand, Ellie Fujimoto, and Alex Crockett. Robert is a long-time member of JALT and has served in a variety of capacities. His expertise and experience will be a great addition to your already hard-working team. Ellie is a newer member and as such brings a fresh perspective and energy to the team. Last, but not least is Alex who has been with us for a little while and came straight in to help with publications, and already, more behind the scenes, he is an established member.
Generally, our spring issue is our SIG News, updates, and therefore focuses on introductions. Nevertheless, this in no way sidelines or diminishes the submissions and we are delighted to include Ivan Botev’s article titled: Picture books & Project-Based Learning: A Synergistic Approach to Deep Learning. His article discusses the integration of picture books into a task-based framework. There is a plethora of ways to integrate picture books into younger learners’ classrooms, so I am sure you will find this article interesting and informative.
If you have not yet submitted anything to The School House, why not make 2025 the year you do? You can submit an article about an activity, a website you use and how you use it, about a book you use or have read, or a teaching tip, as well as some research if you have done some. Photos are also always welcome, too! Again, there is no pressure to share, and either way, we hope you enjoy being a part of the SIG; if you come to a conference, please come and say, ‘Hi!’. Finally, a gentle reminder, The School House accepts submissions on an ongoing basis for the three annual issues (Autumn/Winter/Spring).
So, please feel free to send your article to us at any time, and we will help you through the publication process to see your name in print!
Best wishes, Kate & Gaby
The School House Volume 32 Issue 2
To all our TYL SIG members,
Here we are in the depths of winter, but spring and the new academic year will be here before we know it. At this time, we hope you are well and can get some down time over the upcoming Spring Break.
This issue of The School House is packed with ideas we hope will bring renewed energy and a fresh spark into your classroom. It starts off with Pak M. Au’s Five Ways to Manage a Japanese Classroom. More classroom ideas come from Sylvia Borg in her two articles that cover ideas for implementing grammar and for building motivation: A Novel Approach to Teaching There is and There are to Elementary and Junior High Children and First and Second Conditionals to High School Students and Five Activities to Build Motivation for Young EFL Learners. Sandwiched between those two authors, is Frances Shiobara’s report about the 21st Century Language Teaching Conference 2024 in Naha Okinawa. If you need any motivation or an excuse to visit Okinawa, please make a note as this is an annual event. The final article for this issue is a research article entitled Inquiry into Creating Supplementary Teaching Materials for Small Talk Activities: Understanding Primary School Teachers’ Concerns and Needs by Yoko Kita. While small talk activities may seem like an easy component to add to classes, in fact the quick thinking, spontaneity, and improvisation required for natural sounding small talk is incredibly challenging for non-native speakers of any language. This article calls for more varied resources to be made available to primary school teachers to help them gain confidence and reduce anxiety when implementing small talk into their classes.
Please remember The School House accepts submissions on an ongoing basis for the three annual issues. So, when you have put pen to paper, please feel free to send your article to us, and we will help you through the publication process to see your name in print!
Best wishes,
Kate & Gaby.
The School House Volume 32 Issue 1
Welcome
I hope you have had a good summer, although I have found it overly hot, even up here in Hokkaido. This edition of the JALT Teaching Younger Learners Special Interest Group publication has different contents, as well as a slightly different look.
What’s inside? We want to let you know a little more about what we, officers, have been doing. First is a word from our SIG president Erin Noxon. Other contributions are from Paul Nation (Treasurer) ,
Gaby Benthien (co-publications), Martin Sedaghat (Officer at Large), Frances Shiobara, and Masako Morikawa (Programs co-chairs). We also have a very comprehensive article on PBL from Ross Vida Anne Motos.
My role as publications chair is to receive submissions, look them over, and get the wonderful team to help polish them up for publication. If you want to see your name in print, please send me an article! We accept all kinds of articles; from lesson plans to activities, and research articles, all are welcome.
Please don’t be shy!
Kate
Editor
The School House Vol. 31 Issue 3
To all our TYL Sig members,
Spring is coming early to Hokkaido, and with it a new hope for a fresh start. For those of us in the teaching world or with children in Japan, spring is a bustling time. Now with graduation ceremonies behind us and entrance ceremonies just around the corner, in this edition you will find some information I hope you’ll find inspiring if not at least interesting.
We have four articles and the introductions of our two new officers: Ran Niboshi and Frances Shiobara; both of whom are a wonderful addition to the already fantastic team you have serving you. Please remember we always welcome more hands-on deck, so even if you are not sure of where you might best fit in, please let us know you are interested and we can give you suggestions. You can contact us.
Shiobara and Niboshi have both written to tell us about the Postive Discipline Course they recently took, which has yielded surprising benefits for them both (no spoilers here). Nevertheless, not to leave you hanging Masako Moriwaki, our SIG program co-chair, is organising a course that YOU can take, this year! You’ll find the dates after Shiobara and Niboshi’s article.
Picturebooks are currently a hot topic, and Ivan Botev has written to tell us about their merits. On a completely different note, your SIG President Erin Noxon has given us ideas of how to set up our own language laboratory. Martin Sedgahat has shared another classroom activity with us (you may remember his last one too), and finally you’ll find some information and ideas of how to help those students that fidget in your classroom from me, Kate Sato.
With a real smorgasbord of articles, I hope this puts a spring in your step as we move forward into the start of new classes. Please remember The School House is published three times a year, Spring, Summer & Autumn/Winter. Submissions are welcomed on an ongoing basis, so please check out the submission guidelines at the end of the journal. Lastly, if you submit a research-based article, please bear in mind it can take up to six months from acceptance to publication as it goes through the double-blind peer review process.
Good luck and we hope to receive your submission when you are ready!
Best wishes, Kate & Gaby
Articles:
ABEs for Helping the Movers – Kate Sato
Character Battle Card Game – Martin Sedaghat
Surprising Insights from a Positive Discipline Course – Frances Shiobara and Ran Niboshi
Making your Own Language Lab – Erin Noxon
The Merits of Picturebooks in CLIL Instruction – Ivan Botev
The School House Vol. 31 Issue 2
Dear fellow teachers, researchers and/or parents,
It’s already the end of January, and the second week in Hokkaido brings the Sapporo Snow Festival. Remembering those impacted by the terrible earthquake in Ishikawa, to those in conflict zones around the world, I sincerely hope that 2024, a leap year, blossoms into a beautiful year for everyone.
The TYL Sig remains as active as ever, with the officers and members all working hard for students and fellow teachers. In this edition of The School House we have three articles I hope inspire: the articles are about wordless picture books by Suzanne Kamata and Yoko Kita; using tablets in the young language learner classroom by Justin Mercer, and a speaking activity named ‘The Sushi Train’ by Hugh Dornan.
We are all drawn into stories, and picture books can open a magical world especially for children, but you may wonder about wordless pictures books in teaching language. The authors related this interesting topic to globalisation and cultural awareness. The article by Kamata and Kita introduces three books and suggests different ways in which they can be incorporated into the classroom. No spoilers here!
The use of tablets and young learners can evoke a number of reactions. Mercer summarises four studies with the aim of identifying benefits and drawbacks to their use. He also brings to discussion the six years of experience he has in the field, and I am confident many of you will be able to relate to this article.
Our third article is a practical article which describes an activity aimed to get even the shyest students speaking. Borrowing/Based on the image of sushi that goes around the conveyor belt in the kaiten sushi restaurants, this is an adaptable activity many will find a useful addition to their repertoire. Dornan has also included the timings for each section of the activity which will be an aide when lesson planning.
How about you? Do you have a tip or activity to share? Have you come across a useful teaching resource or software/application, or an interesting book, article or presentation that you would like to share with our membership?? Please don’t be shy! Why not write up an article and send it in to us and we will help you polish it in preparation for publishing. We accept many different types of articles, so please check out the submission guidelines on our website. We hope to hear from you soon!
Kate & Gaby
Articles:
Promoting Cross-cultural Awareness through Wordless Pictures Books – Suzanne Kamata & Yoko Kita
Tablets in the Young Language Learner Classroom: A Help or Hindrance? – Justin Mercer
The Sushi Train: Speaking Activity – Hugh Dornan
The School House Vol. 31 Issue 1
From the Editors
Dear SIG members,
Summer is pretty much over, and what a hot one it has been! I hope you all managed
to keep cool and hydrated. I’ve just come off a 4-day camp with university students in
Niseko, Hokkaido where EdVenture hosts and runs kids camps for children and families
from all around Japan: their clearly labelled ‘hydration stations’ help remind us to keep
drinking throughout the days’ activities.
In this edition of The School House, we have two activities outlined, and a write-up
from the PAN SIG. Martin Sedaghat shares a lesson plan for ‘Country Tic-Tac-Toe’.
He clearly describes how to play it and the photos illustrate the cards and markers used
in the activity.
Jim Porcaro’s article reminds us of a tried and tested activity for teaching which is
useful: dictation. He outlines the benefits, talks about the texts he uses and how to use
them.
I use both of these activities in teaching phonics to elementary school – they are both
very adaptable; versatile tools are great to keep in our teaching activity bank! It reminds
me of Occam’s razor – sometimes the simple solutions really are the best.
The Niseko camp was over before it had begun and this year seems to have been
the same. Since the last journal we have had a number of events. From the PAN SIG
back in May (doesn’t that seem so long ago!), Martin Sedaghat has written an excellent
summary of ‘Which Approach to Phonics is the Best for L1 Japanese Learners’. I
hope each of these articles helps you in your teaching, and in supporting your students
in getting to their next level.
Whatever you are doing, and wherever you are when you are reading this, I wish you
the very best in these latter months of 2023, and hope to see you at OkiJalt in October,
and/or JALT Junior in November.
Best wishes,
Kate & Gaby
The School House Vol. 30 Issue 3
The School House Vol. 30 Issue 2
The School House Vol. 30 Issue 1
The School House Vol. 29 Issue 3
The School House Vol. 29 Issue 2
The School House Vol. 29 Issue 1
The School House Vol. 28 Issue 3
The School House Vol. 28 Issue 2
How to Prepare Children for Their Future – Maya Kenova
Technology in the Classroom: Engaging Young Learners in Online Lessons – Katie Kato
Making Your Chapter Work for You – Marian Hara
The School House Vol. 28 Issue 1
1) Discovering Identities in Discourse: Finding Salience through Conversation Analysis
by James Kienlong WANG
2) “Keeping it real” in the Japanese high school classroom
by Andrew McCarthy
3) “No Japanese” – Examining the role of L1 in the L2 classroom
by Benjamin Iain Robertson
4) Sample Lesson Plan; Storytelling
by Hidayat Polim
The School House Vol. 27 Issue 2
The School House Vol. 27 Issue 1
The School House Vol. 26 Issue 1
The School House Vol. 25 Issue 3