Ideas for teaching Japanese READING
Ideas for teaching Japanese reading including hiragana, katakana, kanji and words or sentences.
Booklets
Sakubun booklet
Reading and writing essays in Japanese. Topics covered include: self introduction, holidays, daily routines, family, describing where I live, etc. (15 pages) Donated by M Okamura
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Games in class
Board scramble
Tt writes various hiragana scrambled all over the board. Divide the class into two teams. Allocate one of the Ss to yell out a hiragana (or yell out a definition of a word). The Ss race to circle the correct hiragana or word. The person who circles it first wins a point for their team. (Can be also done with kanji or vocabulary.)
Board slaps L Brandis
Split the class into two (or more) teams. Line the teams at the back of the class giving each team one fly swat. Write words on the board. (While you are doing this, or after you’ve finished give the Ss a few minutes to revise the meanings of the words.) Read the meaning of a word the first team to run and slap the word on the board gets a point. Extra: can review reading hiragana/kanji)
Graphic organisers
Ss read a text. Rather than answer questions in sentences, they complete a table with only words. Then as the Tt corrects the table Ss need to rebuild the sentence structures themselves. Ie. A table with 'Name', 'Age', 'Country'. Ss read a text about various people from around the world. Then Ss complete the table with all the names, ages and nationalities. The teacher then asks Ss to say in full sentences their answers. eg. Kare no namae wa John desu. かれのなまえはジョンです。 30 sai desu. さんじゅうさいです。 Australia jin desu. オーストラリア人です。
Grammar recognize
Ss read a text. Then they put all the nouns, verbs etc into separate boxes. Ss then need to pick a word from each box and recreate sentences. OTHER ACTIVITIES:
- Make it a race. How many sentences can you make?
- Stand up, say a sentence. Sit down.
- Divide the class into groups. Make as many sentences as you can. Then each group reads their sentence. If it is a unique sentence and no other group has that sentence the group gets a point. The group with the most points wins.
- Write five sentences. Four are true about the text and one is false. Read each sentence to their partner and their partner guesses which sentence is incorrect.
Inferencing
Read a story. Ss then write dialogue that is not in the text but could have been said by one of the characters. Ss guess which character may have said it giving evidence from the text.
Jigsaw reading
Divide the class into groups. Give each group a paragraph of the text. Ss read their text. Ask the class to guess if their paragraph is the first one. Get a Ss in the group with the first paragraph to read the text aloud. Ask the class if they have the next paragraph. Read this one aloud and so on. As the Ss read the text draw a story map (see below) on the board to check comprehension. EXTRA: For more advanced students mix two texts together. Mix an old text already studied with a new one. Mix 2 different genres of the same topic together ie a story and a recipe.
Run and erase
Write vocabulary you wish to revise on the board. Divide the class into two teams. Allocate a runner for each team. Tt defines a word or shows a flashcard and the Ss then run to the board and erase (or draw a circle) around that word. The person to first do this gets a point. The team with the most points at the end is the winner.
Running Dictation Groups D Powell
Pin up a piece of reading. Divide the class into teams of two or more. Allocate a scribe and a runner. The runner must run to the reading remember the first sentence then run back to their team. Tell the scribe the sentence who then writes it down. The teams then swap jobs. A new runner and a new scribe. Continue until the entire reading is complete. The first team to complete gets 5 points. Second gets 4 and so on. Then the Tt reads the script or puts a copy of it onto the OHT. Ss check what they have written. 1 point is allocated for each correct sentence or vocabulary. The group with the most points at the end wins.
Story maps
Ss read the text. For each main point the Ss draw a box and a picture. Use arrows to connect the boxes. Ss then describe each picture with words by answering questions such as What do you see? Where is this? What is happening? The Ss then Make sentences and retell the story of the text in their own words.
Questions before
Before Ss read a text give them the questions. Ss read the questions and guess the answers (without looking at the text). [This helps Ss get familiar with any new vocabulary of the text.] Then Tt can read the text aloud and Ss mark their answers OR Ss then read the text to check if they were right.
Games online
Daily life |
Edit a film |
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Websites
Essays
http://www.mori7.com/okap/index.php?p=517986 Example essays written by Japanese primary and junior-high school students. |
HSC (High school Certificate) reading texts
Various reading texts on topics including: personal world, daily life, leisure, future plans, traveling in Japan, living in Japan, cultural life, the world of work, current issues, skills aimed at Year 12 HSC students. http://hsc.csu.edu.au/japanese/ |
Interactive readers (Middle school level)
Interactive units on: getting around, famous places, famous Japanese folktales, preparing for school, shopping, telephone messages, ordering at a restaurant, weather, seasons, food, body and parts, my day, my room, my family etc etc. www.asiaeducation.edu.au/public/sites/readers/main.htm |
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Magazine subscriptions |
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Yookosoo Textbook 2 Resources
Short reading exercises with comprehension questions, listening activities, grammar questions on various topics including: travel, at home, automobiles and transportation, the body and health, life and careers, communication and media, nature and culture. http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072408162/student_view0/chapter1/ |