Korean Job Discussion Forums

[manlyboy]

So I submitted my lesson plans for the month long winter program, and the Principal has asked me to make it less "lessony" and more "campy". Even though both I and my co-teachers think that what I had planned was fine, (it was all fun and games), it's the Principal's prerogative to change it, and, suck as it may, I don't really have a problem with it. The problem is the Principal has been vague on what she wants me to do. I'll teach 7 different groups for three days at a time. She wants each of the three days to have a theme, and I'm supposed to do fun, non-academic activities within that theme for three hours in a "no Korean allowed" environment with 40 5th graders. Thinking of a theme is no problem (food, shopping, sports & hobbies etc), but I'm not sure about what kind of non academic activities will go over well. Holding their attention for three hours straight has got me worried. Ideas anybody?

[I_Am_Wrong]

How long did it take you to prepare the lessons? I guess mine are going to be more lessony and less camp like...wanna trade? have a go play in the snow day or a go for a hike...watch a movie...you could probably pull some seriously easy shit.

[schwa]

I'm in a similar quandary. I havent taught 5th graders (or any elementary kids) for a few years & I have no real idea what their level will be. I stipulated "motivated average" students in the document that went out to referring teachers, but undoubtedly I'll get everything from kids who have lived abroad to others struggling with the alphabet.

Fortunately I havent been asked for lesson plans up front & no one is second-guessing whatever I choose to do with them, so I plan to make up the course pretty much on the fly. A 5th grade teacher I spoke with suggested they could do with a lot of work on greetings & everyday smalltalk (I'd say that goes for almost every level!). Any handouts I use will be largely picture-based, which gives a lot more flexibility. I'm thinking of a video component as well, Mr Bean maybe.

I've got different logistics than you though -- just half your class size (20 kids) & half your classtime (90 minutes a day), but the same kids for 2 weeks. No real expected teaching outcomes, just whatever it takes to send the tykes home happy with a bit of english thrown into the mix.

I'm quite looking forward to it, but yeh, me too, I'd be interested to hear some successful "campy" suggestions.

[Grotto]

I'm in the same boat. I would suggest you tell them to limit the class size to 20. 40 is just too many for most activities.

Week one grade 6
week 2 grade 5
week 3 grade 4
week 4 grade 3

Three hours a day.

I broke it down like this. First hour a little English. Then an activity, then a craft then a snack/cooking lesson.

Same routine every day but different activities, crafts, cooking.

I will edit once I am at school tomorrow and post some of the games and crafts I am doing. Cheap and fun.

[peppermint]

grottos's plan is pretty much what I'm doing. I've got two groups of around 20 though, so there's room for a little trial and error. I'm gonna try playing twister with some of my kids to teach them colors and body parts. Wish me luck!

[Grotto]

aaahhhhh Peppermint..... can I play twister and body parts....OH YEAH


Dont forget the oil

[d503]

I've worked at the occasional summer camp (granted native speakers but I know campy shit ) If you are doing theme days which is cool there are lots of good activities. You might also think of doing themes based on countries (I worked at a camp once like that).
We kept the same schedule every day but then altered the content to fit that country, some of the sections were:
If we were doing lets say the US
Craft (a craft popular/focused on that country)-log cabin out of popsicle sticks
Market--Find pictures and replicas of traditional crap from the country kids get play money to go shopping.
Clothes--We gave a treat to any kid who came in costume for the country (so for the US we did a pilgrim and indian theme)
Educational--these were maps, history, landmarks, sometimes we found little plays they could put on
food--can you say hotdogs and chips
Songs/dance--It easier than you think, we taught some "square dancing" and patriotic songs

It requires some prep but it fills the time, also to modify it for these kids you would probably need to include an important word section, and some more comprehensive instructions.

However, the kids always seemed to have a fun time, and I always did too.

[Medic]

You could also try ballon making. They sell the sets in E mart with a book of instructions. ballons can be bought for cheap. W10,000 for a thousand, and the pumps cost only W2000. The sets in E mart have book pump and balloons.

kids like to play chess too. elementry students don't like to use of the word "check". they would rather hit the king no matter what. could be a challenge to get them to play the game properly, but then Koreans as a whole look for quick fixes or instant gains. maybe it's not part of their makeup to be slow, thoughtful and careful.

[Grotto]

My camp goes something like this.

Day one introductions and ball game(throw the ball and student must introduce themselves. 'Hi my name is xxxxx)

I like/dont like.

Duck duck goose

Banana boats snack see you tomorrow.

Day 2
Lets go or phonics depending on the level

Game balloon stomp and cleanup
Make a postcard for parents

Snack teach students to make an apple swan. Eat.

Day 3
Lets go or phonics depending on the level
Bomb squad game (outdoor game)
Reading Dr Seuss One Fish Two Fish....
Game Blob tag
snack s'mores

Day 4
Warm up with words....review book topics covered(2)
Games, scrabble, Life for 5/6 Guide dog tag for the little ones.
Snack Stir Fry

Day 5
Review of weeks activities. What did you like best? Would you come to summer camp?
Movie and snack party.
Face painting

Pretty much the same for each class, just different pages and some small adjustments on the activities.

[crazylemongirl]

I got chewed out last camp because my students didn't look like they were studying hard enough in the photos. I'm teaching the same kids for 3 weeks for two hours a day. We're doing regular lessons for part of the day but I'm also including board game day, scavenger hunt etc as part of the 'lessons'

However I'm also going to do a drama activity for the other half of the day. And we'll put a play on at the end of it for the mothers and good photos etc.

Only problem now is that they want to stick me in a small room with no board nor tv. So basically the space isn't good for our needs. However it will have heat. Or I can have a big classroom with everything I need except heat Oh well didn't have air-con in summer either.

[Derrek]

If your students don't know each other, and they're old enough, a good opening exercise is to have them all write their names on a piece of paper, along with some favroite things: food, TV show, etc.

Then let the kids wad up the paper and have a "snowball fight" with the paper. Then they have to pick a random one up and tell about/introduce each student to the class. Or become buddies, or whatever.

[manlyboy]

Thanks for the ideas, all . I'm going to implement several of them. Twister should be interesting with 40 kids. I'm going to clear out all the chairs and desks, and make the entire floor a twister board so we can play "Mega-Killer-Death Twister".

[canadian_in_korea]

[canukteacher]

Some great ideas here!

I have 20 kids per class, 2 groups a day, and each grade level for one week.

I plan to do same lessons with grade 5and6 and 3 and 4

First day: Introductions...........snowball fight is interesting
form groups
Song: I am teaching them Puff the Magic Dragon
Musical chairs with Song
Start movie.........15 minutes

Each day they will have 15 minutes of movie at end. I am going to use Little Mermaid.

Last day is picnic day. They are going to learn to make sandwiches.

Board games a couple of days...........not for whole lesson, but part of it.

I am also going to do a scavenger hunt. Part of it will be that they have to unscramble the words for the items they need to find.

Also I have created word searches for the 5's and 6's with all of their names in the search (in English). That should take them a while.

My 5's and 6's will also create a rainbow book. It will include all of the English phrases they know, and the can draw and decorate as they want.

Those are a few of my ideas!

Oh and with the young ones...............farm animals.............Old MacDonald had a farm..............perfect for them. I also found a book at Kim and Johnson where the animals are cut out on each page........that should get them going.


CT

[Cherry Ripe]

Just a couple of ideas -
If you're doing a lesson on the body, you can divide the kids into small groups. Give each group a large piece of paper (you may need to tape together smaller pieces). The kids choose the smallest person in the group, have him/her lie down on the paper and trace around his/her body. Then they have an outline they can label with the names of body parts.

Also, I remember a couple of games from my Brownie days ( ). One was called fruit salad. Two teams, sit on the ground facing opposite each other in two rows, legs outstretched so their feet are touching. Each opposing couple has the name of a fruit. YOu call out the fruit, they have to jump up and run between everyone else's legs along the line, circuiting around the group and back to their places. First back wins a point for their team.

Another game had something to do with ships. Everyone in the centre. You call out 'port', everyone runs to the left. Last one there is out. etc... You could adapt it - call out left, right, front, back, hit the ground...

Also done kite making (need a kit - could be expensive??) and paper mache masks (cheap - just newspaper, flour/water, a balloon, and paint).