Writing English A: Outside poetry activity・詩の課題

Hello!

How are you? While we are not in class today, here is an activity all of you can do outside of class that can help us to begin understanding a poem better. 

This is the activity I talked about at the end of the class last week that I would like you to do outside of class from today.

This poem is different than what you have seen so far as it is actually the lyrics (words) to a song - the title of which I'll tell you about when we meet again on July 3rd (7/3). 

We will not listen to the song itself - instead, we will read it as a poem.

Homework/activity 
The following pictures all show images from the words of the song. 

The picture at the top of this post is the first picture - call it "picture a." Here it is again:

a.

But these next pictures are not in the right order. What order do you think these next pictures go into? 

First, in your notebooks, make a list of eight (8) numbers, in order, like this:

1.
2.
3.
(and so on)

Then - match the letters of the pictures to the numbers you believe they go into. Remember that picture a is the first picture. For example:

1. a
2. ...
3. ...
(and so on)

So put these into what you think are the best order in your list! 

b.

c. 

d. 

e. 

f. 

g. 

h. 

i. 

Next week in our class on 7/3, then we will begin writing out some ideas of our own about what each of these pictures mean, and looking at what the words are about. 

I hope you could enjoy this and that it can begin our understanding of this poem (and song). 

See you next class on 7/3!

Images: Top - by Pej Man - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73343384/Two riders - by Tonatiuh MeCa, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54458988/Soldiers talking at night – screenshot taken from image uploaded to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/17/world/africa/niger-ambush-american-soldiers.html/Man on horseback - by Unknown - http://grimnir74.livejournal.com/4012499.html?thread=99577299, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63934127/Man drinking wine – screenshot taken from image uploaded to https://www.menshealth.com.sg/lifehacks/wine-101-help-you-sound-pro/Wildcat - by Péter Csonka - http://www.csonkapeter.hu/, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9620581/Soldiers along watchtower - by Glubb Pasha - "A soldier with the Arabs", Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7354875/Servants - by Unknown - http://lev-sharansky2.livejournal.com/148262.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22328234/Soldier digging earth - by Z. Kluger - IFOT via IMS Vintage Photos, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=74762815

I do not own the rights to the images taken as screenshots. No copyright infringement intended. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom purposes only.

Culture through English A: Japanese-Brazilians・日系ブラジル人

Hello!

How are you? Today, let's look more on our topic about immigrants (移民). Let's look at a community of immigrants here in Japan - Japanese-Brazilians (日系ブラジール人). 

The picture above is an example of a Japanese-Brazilian business in Japan - a Brazilian supermarket in Shizuoka. But while Japanese-Brazilians have been in Japan for some time, they still have some problems living here. 

What do you know about Japanese-Brazilians? Do you know any famous Japanese-Brazilians?

Here is a picture of an educational center for Japanese-Brazilian people: 

Many Japanese-Brazilian communities in Japan not only have their own businesses, but their own schools as well. 


Activity/homework

Here is a video about the problems that many Brazilians have in Japan with education. Watch this video. What do you think? Make some notes about the video. When you are finished, answer these questions in your notebooks:

1. When did Japanese first begin leaving Japan for Brazil?

2. When did Japan first begin letting Japanese-Brazilians to come to Japan to work?

3. What is the name of the Japanese-Brazilian school in Toyoda?

4. What does the school do for the children’s parents who do not have jobs?

5. In 2009 how many Brazilians did Francisco Freitas say were in Japan?

6. What percentage of Brazilian children are not in Brazilian schools?

7. What problems do some Brazilian children have when going to Japanese schools?
8. What did Rodney Freitas say about how Japanese-Brazilians are treated in Brazil?

Here are the board notes for our class today on 6/26:

I hope this will be interesting for you!

Take care!

Images: Top - by Comessu - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8863459/Building - by English: Abasaa 日本語: あばさー (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons 
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Japanese_Brazilian_Center_Educational_Institute_in_Oizumi.JPG
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. 

Video uploaded from YouTube. I do not own the rights to this video. Uploaded for educational purposes only. All rights reserved to the owner(s).

Freshman English Reading A: Spring semester final presentations・前期期末プレゼンテーション

Hello!

How are you? Here are the guidelines and deadline for our spring semester final presentations (前期期末プレゼンテーション). 

Because we will not be here next week (6/26), I will show you this project now. 

The guidelines are the same as for the mid-term (中間) presentations. Like before, you will choose a different book from the library, read it, and present about it. 

But this time, you will go to the library on your own. This is a very important point! When we meet again - have a book to show me!

Please have these points in your presentation:

• A summary (要約) about the story - what is it about?
• The main character(s) of the book
• The qualities (質) or characteristics (性状) of the main character(s)
• The most interesting or exciting situation or event in the story
• The character you liked the most - and what qualities he or she had 

Guidelines

For this presentation, you can design a small poster or make a Power Point show. 

If you design a poster, I would like you to follow these guidelines:

• It has to be on A3 size paper
• You have to have 4-5 pictures on it (hand-drawn or photos, or a mix)
• It has to be colorful and interesting to look at

If you make a Power Point show, I would like you to follow these guidelines: 

You have to have a title slide - then 5-7 slides with pictures and text on it - then a concluding slide.

It has to be colorful and interesting to look at. 

Deadline (締め切り)

We will do these presentations on July 17th (7/17), so you have more than four (3) weeks to work on these.

In our next class (7/3), please show me what you are reading and will present on and we will make some time to do some work in class on the presentations. I would like to see your work and give you some advice on what you can do to make the best presentations you can. Please be ready to present on 7/17! 

Now here are the board notes for our class on 6/19:

Good luck! I look forward to our presentation day! 

Image: By Johannes Jansson/norden.org, CC BY 2.5 dk, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25008623 

Culture through English A: Short presentation 2・ショートプレゼンテーション 2

Hello!

How are you? Today I will show you our second presentations about immigration (移住) and naturalization (帰化).

I know I am showing this to all of you right after our mid-term presentation, but because our time is tight, I am showing it to you now. 

Background of theme
What does a person have to do to get citizenship (国籍) of another country? Many people do it all this time. In the cases of refugees (難民), they have to become citizens of another country in the long term, as they cannot go back to the countries they came from.

While I have given you all the handout about this topic, I will post it here as well to help remind all of you about what you can do for this presentation. 

Important notes

This topic will be about immigration, with an focus on the pros and cons (賛否両論) of naturalization - the steps of becoming a citizen of another country. 

Some countries will allow their new citizens to keep the citizenship of their old country, but some will not. Some countries would say that their new citizens must only have the citizenship of their country, while the person’s old country still says that the person is their citizen. 

Guidelines
So what might changes in citizenship mean for people in these situations? In the case of Japan, what does it take for a foreign-born person to become a Japanese citizen? 

So for this theme, design a small poster on A3-sized paper or make a Power Point on this theme of immigration and naturalization with a title of your choice. Choose one (1) of these topics: 

• research about how a foreign-born person can become a Japanese citizen 

• choose a country and research about how a person can become a citizen of that country

Make sure to research points such as: Possibilities and issues of dual citizenship rights (二重国籍の権利); obligations of military service (徴兵制度); any possibility of double taxation (課税) between the person’s new country and old country; plus any other interesting or unique points that you may find about citizenship rights and responsibilities.  

As before, you can design this any way you want - but please cover the points above. Very importantly - have a summary of your topic!

Like before, we will present in small groups to each other for around 5 minutes, including Q&A from the classmates we will present to. 

Deadline (締め切り) 

We will do these on July 3rd (7/3), so you have two (2) weeks to prepare these. 

We will do some presentation practice in class before we do the real presentations. These presentations will be the only things we will do on July 3rd. 

Here are the board notes for our class on 6/26:

Here also are the board notes for our class on 6/19:

Good luck! Have fun making these posters or Power Points as you've done before, but now on this theme. 

See you next week!

Image: Screenshot taken from photograph originally uploaded to the Daily Mail website - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3437455/Not-passport-equals-travel-documents-come-different colors-countries-choose-them.html. 

I do not own the rights to the original image. All rights reserved to the copyright holder(s). Uploaded for classroom use only. 

Writing English A: Feelings & ideas to pictures・写真のアイディア、感じ

Hello!

How are you? Today I will introduce an activity for all of you that will help you with our new theme of understanding poetry.

Activity 
Look at the following three (3) pictures. What kinds of ideas do you connect with each of these things? 

When you think of ideas, think not only in terms of feelings, but also actions. Talk about, and write down, as many words, ideas, and phrases as you can for each picture. 

Share your ideas when you are finished! I hope you can enjoy this activity. 

Now here are the board notes for our class on 6/19:

See you next time!

Images: Top - by Famartin - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47766834/Boy - MarcosDomRob - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=53488229/Bird - by Daniel Vorndran / DXR, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34645292/Fork in road - Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2753874