join in published by Cambridge
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join in published by Cambridge
Has anyone used this series? Any reccommendations for young learner coursebooks would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Initiating young learners
Hey there!
I've been using the Cambridge "Join In" series for a couple of years and will make the following comments.
My first contact with the books left me thinking "Oh, no, another silly ESL book that concentrates altogether too much on trying to make English fun instead of concentrating on the important things!". I used the book because I had no choice. I had a group of 5/6 year-olds that used "Starters 2" and another rowdy group of kids that used JI4, and a quieter group using JI3.
I had to impose my own structure on the class. The series is (to me) obviously an introduction to the Cambridge series of exams that the kids start taking at around nine or ten years of age. Up through JI3, these books do save the teacher hours of photocopy time. They have a lot of activities (songs, plays, cut and paste, card games etc....). They are attractive to the kids. The jump from JI3 to JI4 seems dramatic to me: from learning loose words like colors and numbers and food names etc, the kids are suddenly reading about haunted castles and talking about dreams and the environment.
Students are expected to learn certain "complex" structures long long before they learn any of the basics like personal pronouns or the verb "be" or even the alphabet. Following the book, especially the teacher's book, each level has enough material, or more, for around 50 to 60 hours of class work, but that work is somewhat disperse. The design is well prepared, the themes are interesting for young minds, but for me, there isn't a clear linguistic basis for the course. Thus, after the first year of using these three levels I've mentioned, I found I had to combine the books with such basic classroom activities as taking roll, making a personal glossary of vocabulary, sentence structure charts. Like many other series of this kind, the authors assume that the students will be excited and interested in the characters that appear in all of the levels, the tiger Toby, the wizards Pip and Whatshisname. This was not the case with my students, perhaps because I found the story lines a little silly and certainly above their heads linguistically. An inexperienced teacher might find him/herself with discipline problems in the class (depending on the culture where you are teaching) if the teacher's book is followed like a bible....too much "English is FUN!" and not enough "English is STRUCTURAL". I've found that kids like structure, want structure, even need structure. They already know how to be imaginative and how to play.
In the end, though, up through the JI3 (again, JI4 asks too much of the kids without enough background or preparation) I've gotten to like the books. Perhaps it is because I am now totally familiar with them. I know how to plug them into the basic flow of teaching that I've been using for years. I don't think they are any different from any other books prepared for young learners, not better, not worse, I wouldn't suggest them over other books on the market. If you have to have a book for your classes, the Join In series is just as good as any other, but I do think the teacher has to be creative, has to fill in a lot of blanks him/herself in the teaching philosophy of the authors.
Hope these comments have been of help.
peace,
revel.
I've been using the Cambridge "Join In" series for a couple of years and will make the following comments.
My first contact with the books left me thinking "Oh, no, another silly ESL book that concentrates altogether too much on trying to make English fun instead of concentrating on the important things!". I used the book because I had no choice. I had a group of 5/6 year-olds that used "Starters 2" and another rowdy group of kids that used JI4, and a quieter group using JI3.
I had to impose my own structure on the class. The series is (to me) obviously an introduction to the Cambridge series of exams that the kids start taking at around nine or ten years of age. Up through JI3, these books do save the teacher hours of photocopy time. They have a lot of activities (songs, plays, cut and paste, card games etc....). They are attractive to the kids. The jump from JI3 to JI4 seems dramatic to me: from learning loose words like colors and numbers and food names etc, the kids are suddenly reading about haunted castles and talking about dreams and the environment.
Students are expected to learn certain "complex" structures long long before they learn any of the basics like personal pronouns or the verb "be" or even the alphabet. Following the book, especially the teacher's book, each level has enough material, or more, for around 50 to 60 hours of class work, but that work is somewhat disperse. The design is well prepared, the themes are interesting for young minds, but for me, there isn't a clear linguistic basis for the course. Thus, after the first year of using these three levels I've mentioned, I found I had to combine the books with such basic classroom activities as taking roll, making a personal glossary of vocabulary, sentence structure charts. Like many other series of this kind, the authors assume that the students will be excited and interested in the characters that appear in all of the levels, the tiger Toby, the wizards Pip and Whatshisname. This was not the case with my students, perhaps because I found the story lines a little silly and certainly above their heads linguistically. An inexperienced teacher might find him/herself with discipline problems in the class (depending on the culture where you are teaching) if the teacher's book is followed like a bible....too much "English is FUN!" and not enough "English is STRUCTURAL". I've found that kids like structure, want structure, even need structure. They already know how to be imaginative and how to play.
In the end, though, up through the JI3 (again, JI4 asks too much of the kids without enough background or preparation) I've gotten to like the books. Perhaps it is because I am now totally familiar with them. I know how to plug them into the basic flow of teaching that I've been using for years. I don't think they are any different from any other books prepared for young learners, not better, not worse, I wouldn't suggest them over other books on the market. If you have to have a book for your classes, the Join In series is just as good as any other, but I do think the teacher has to be creative, has to fill in a lot of blanks him/herself in the teaching philosophy of the authors.
Hope these comments have been of help.
peace,
revel.
Thanks!
Thanks for the advice. I don't really want to follow a coursebook, i'm just looking for a few different resources to dip in to. Can you reccommend any supplementary materials. I am teaching small groups of children aged between 6 and 12 in an international school. They are of varied level and have differing needs. They are not a typical efl class if there is such a thing.
I have 10 years worth of adult materials, some of which I have adapted but i'm a working mum and I just don't have the time anymore. I am also working to a tight budget and for a school which has totally demotivated me. Sorry this has turned into a moan. Thanks again,
Lucy
I have 10 years worth of adult materials, some of which I have adapted but i'm a working mum and I just don't have the time anymore. I am also working to a tight budget and for a school which has totally demotivated me. Sorry this has turned into a moan. Thanks again,
Lucy