CiC3-TB

HOW DO I TEACH THE “PREVIEW?”

What is the “Preview?” The Preview is a short manga-style dialog that appears at the start of every part of every unit. This dialog introduces the language to be covered during the lesson and exemplifies a sub-theme of the unit’s overall theme. In short, it’s a model of what the students will be able to do by the end of class. Furthermore, the three Preview dialogs in each unit blend together into one cohesive conversation. What is the point? • The Preview dialog promotes clarity of purpose. By going through the dialog at the start of class, students can instantly see what they will be learning during the lesson. • It enables you to begin your classes in a student-centered manner. Instead explaining what your students will be doing, they can jump right in and see for themselves. • Preview dialogs provide opportunities for review. After students read through the dialog, you can point out previously studied language, such as various conversation strategies, examples of the Three Golden Rules , and other expressions. How can I teach this activity? 1. In pairs, students first read the Japanese translation aloud. This ensures comprehension and promotes peace of mind, especially with lower-level learners.

2. Next, students pair-read the English dialog aloud twice, taking care to switch parts after the first time. 3. Summarize the lesson’s sub-theme in English. Using the Preview image above as an example, you could say: “Okay, everyone, as you can see, in today’s class we’ll be focusing on two basic questions that people usually ask each other when meeting for the first time.” 4. (Optional) Point out some previously taught language and concepts. In this example, you could mention the conversation strategies in Lines 1, 3, and 5, the phrase “a city called” in Line 4, and the Golden Rule 2-style “+alpha” answer in Line 6. How long will it take? Normally about 3 to 10 minutes , depending on how you go about it and how long you spend on reviewing previously taught language. What are some alternative ideas? • Have students pair-read the English first before looking at the Japanese translation. • Ask students to cover the Japanese translation, then read the English and guess the meaning of the words. Vice versa can also work.

How do I teach the ~ ? 6