Ibaraki JALT:

Three Presentations

Date: Sunday, December 5th, 2010 Time: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Speaker: Carolyn Graham, Anna Motohashi, and Adam Lebowitz

Description:
A. Featured Presentation:
Title: The Creative Classroom - Using Jazz Chantz, Poetry, Storytelling and Song
Speaker: Carolyne Graham
Summary: This program will focus on the power of rhythm as a language learning tool. The brain loves rhythm and music and this leads to very fast memory. Teachers will learn how to create and perform Jazz Chants which are based on the powerful rhythm of American Jazz. This rhythm is exactly the same as the beat of spoken American English. Ms. Graham will present materials suitable for students of all ages and will describe step by step how to create and perform a Jazz Chant.

Bio-data: Carolyn Graham is an author, teacher-trainer and musician best known as the creator of Jazz Chants. She taught at New York University for twenty five years and at Harvard University for nine summers. She is currently training teachers in the NYU School of Education and presents a Public Lecture once a year at Columbia Teachers College in Tokyo. She presents teacher training workshops throughout the world, most recently in Malaysia and Peru. She is married to Eralp Akkoyunlu and lives in Istanbul and New York.

B. Chapter Member Presentations:

1. Title: JALT 2010: Sharing the Best of "Creativity: Think Outside the Box"
Presenter: Anna Motohashi
Summary: For all those who couldn’t make it to Nagoya this year, this presentation reviews the highlights of the JALT annual conference at the end of November. Touted as “something beyond the usual workshops and plenary speeches”, JALT 2010 suggests it will encourage participants to step outside the confines of everyday norms to consider our potential for personal and professional creativity. I’ll offer a summarized version of the proceedings along with practical sound bites for classroom application.

Bio-data: Originally from Wales, Anna taught English in the UK and Spain before coming to Japan. She has a Master’s degree in TESOL from Temple University and teaches at Kawamura Gakuen Women’s University in Chiba prefecture. Her research interests include the use of technology in the classroom, motivating students and English as a global language.

2. Title: Teaching the Star Spangled Banner (as accompanied on the shamisen)
Presenter: Adam Lebowitz
Summary:It is always a fun and interesting break to have one lesson of an English course dedicated to learning a song. While many teachers prefer songs with “international” content, I teach The Star Spangled Banner (aka, The National Anthem). The song is easy to teach because many students have heard the melody on at least one occasion. Because the song is a fixture of professional sports events, it is also significant to understanding American culture. In this talk I demonstrate strategies for teaching this song, beginning with identifying rhythmically-stressed words and reciting in tempo. Following a short comparison of anthems from different countries, the meaning of the song is demonstrated in the context of contemporary American politics and society.

When teaching music, teachers usually have students sing to a recording (which is easier than bringing a piano into the classroom). However, I prefer an instrument – the shamisen -- in the classroom to control tempo, pitch, and volume. Aside from being a beautiful and highly expressive instrument, the shamisen in the hands of the English instructor can be positive for the classroom because the teacher will appear interested in Japanese culture. In addition, through the instrument I encourage university students to devote this stage of their education to developing the ability to express thoughts and beliefs in both Japanese and English.

Bio-data: Adam Lebowitz is an Associate Professor at the U of Tsukuba. He was born and raised mainly on the east coast of the US, and has been living and teaching ESL in Japan for 20 years. He has been practicing the shamisen with teachers from the Fujimoto School for over 10 years.

C. Business Meeting

D. Year-End party after the meeting at a nearby restaurant

JALT Ibaraki chapter meetings are open to all interested in learning and teaching languages. Also check our website: http://ibarakijalt.blogspot.com/ for further information.

Organization: Ibaraki Chapter of the Japan Association for Language Teaching (Ibaraki JALT)

Cost: JALT Members: free
Non-members: 500 yen

Venue: Mito Shimin Kaikan

Location: Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

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Contact Ibaraki JALT

Website: ibarakijalt.blogspot.com/

Martin Pauly
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Takayuki Nakanishi
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