See that? How the title rhymes? Clever huh? Spent hours on that.
Well, I tried a little experiment adding Google Ads to this blog in the hopes it would cover my monthly blogging expenses (Typepad ain't free). I figured there would be a lot of ads for kids music, resources for teachers, etc., and I was fine with that.
Then I saw some of the ads that were being displayed. Medicine for arthritic shoulders and knees, cures for stinky feet, remedies for headaches, and the worst, an ad for a love doctor who promises to teach you how to get people down on their knees begging to be with you. Huh? What do these have to do with Children's Music and Early Childhood Education?
Then Tanja (she of the really cool new blog banner...check it out) reminded me of the title of my blog. Seems I was getting a lot of ads related to things like heads, shoulders, knees, and toes. Ugh.
So the Google Ads experiment is on hold for now. If you're looking for relief for your aching joints, you'll have to check somewhere else ;-)
If you have watched any of the videos from Super Simple Songs, you've been enjoying the work of one of our teachers here at Knock Knock English, Jeremy Chapman, or as we call him, JChap. We're sorry to say that JChap is leaving Tokyo to head back to the U.S., where his friends and family eagerly await. We thank them for letting us borrow him for the past year! He's a great teacher and just one of those creative forces that is always great to be around.
Here are a few of his greatest hits:
A few months back, Jeremy set himself a goal of performing his original music at the Apple Store in Shibuya, and last week, just a few days before heading back to the U.S., he did it. The show included Jeremy playing some of his originals as well as creating music right there on the spot with his Mac by asking for instrument suggestions from the audience and incorporating them into a song. Very cool. At the end of the show, Jeremy introduced his latest creation, the MACTAR! Check out the pics:
We'll be staying in touch with Jeremy and trying to collaborate on projects as much as possible. But for now, it's "Mata ne, Jeremy-sensei" (See you later, Jeremy!)
Good news! Super Simple Songs Three is finished and available now at the newly re-designed www.supersimplesongs.com! We had planned on having it finished in the Spring, but we really took the time to test out all the songs with our students and make sure they were 100% classroom ready.
Troy did an amazing job on the music and, in keeping with the Super Simple Songs philosophy, the songs are all very accessible and inviting to young learners. Kids will be able to interact with these songs right away.
Here's our first video from Super Simple Songs Three, Rain Rain Go Away. Another work of art from Jeremy-sensei. Enjoy, and please pass it on!
There's a new blog in town, and it's about time. My colleague, Tanja, has started blogging about "bite-sized vegetarian-based crafts and recipes for young learners" specifically, and about the world around her in general at her blog E.W. Spider. She's a really great writer, someone who I think you'll enjoy adding to your daily reading.
Tanja is the Academic Coordinator here at Knock Knock English in Tokyo. We entered the MA program in ESL (now Second Language Studies) at the University of Hawaii together back in 1996. Tanja buckled down and finished her studies in a couple of years, while I ended up doing everything but writing my thesis (DOH!!!!). Several years later I was back in Japan helping to start up Knock Knock Engilsh, and after our first year we needed to add another person to the team. Tanja was the first person I thought of, but she was working in publishing in The Netherlands at the time. I begged her to come to Tokyo and, thankfully, she happened to be thinking about a change of scenery and she came on over 4 years ago.
She's a great teacher, a wonderful cook, and a truly engaging and knowledgeable writer, so have a peek at her blog. I'm sure you'll enjoy getting to know her.
One of the very nice surprises we had when we released the Super Simple Songs CDs was the positive response we received from parents and teachers of children with Autism.
Of course it's really nice to know the songs are being used by teachers and students in special needs situations, but it has also helped my teaching to learn some activities and techniques used when working with autistic children. I've learned that emerging speakers of all types (children with autism, very young learners just beginning to speak their native language, and ESL/EFL learners) can all really benefit from activities which first introduce new language in very very simple ways.
Gestures help tremendously. Slowing things down significantly at first helps tremendously. Modeling appropriate behavior, developing a core set of useful expressions and words, learning to communicate non-verbally...these are all skills that help all emerging speakers, whether they be very young children or children developing language skills at a later age (foreign language learners or children with speech disorders).
Tahirih Bushey is a Speech and Language Pathologist in Minnesota specializing in the treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). I came across her videos at youTube, which led me to her website, Autism Games. It has been a great resource for me as a teacher, especially for preparing activities for my youngest students. It is full of wonderful activity ideas, complete with video demonstrations and accessible explanations for the reasoning behind each activity. I really recommend anybody teaching young learners to check it out. I find a lot of the activities especially appropriate for Mommy (parent) and Me classes, as they not only teach the children some basic communication skills, but also teach the parents how to better facilitate communication with their children.
Here's a couple of activities we've put to use in our classrooms:
This one practices letter comprehension, taking turns, and listening to the teacher/parent.
Lately, we have been using the letters B-I-N-G-O and after we are done playing with the bubbles and letters, we sing the song, BINGO! We also often play using the letters from each child's name.
This next video presents the best way to correct vocabulary (with young learners or old)...a technique called recasting. With rescasting, you repeat an expression with an error back to the speaker, but with the error corrected. However, you don't call attention to the error, you simply continue the interaction naturally, using the correct vocabulary (or grammar).
You'll notice the caretaker doesn't say, "No, not zebra...it's a giraffe". The caretaker simply expands the communication with the child and uses the correct word, "It is! It's your giraffe", and the child picks up on the correct word and uses it herself. To further reinforce this vocabulary, the caretaker can continue this conversation by talking more about the giraffe. "This giraffe has a long neck, huh? What a nice giraffe. Does your giraffe have a name?"
There are many other great tips for parents and teachers of emerging speakers over at Autism Games, so go check it out!
Recent Comments