Eikaiwa schools in Japan tend to work with smaller groups of students, and
generally less than 10 students per class, but even at such institutions there may be instances where a teacher is required to teach larger groups. For instance, should a school be contracted by a kindergarten to provide English lessons, the classes would likely be of 30 or 40 students. In classes such as these, classroom activities need to work effectively at a larger scale, and yet still be simple enough that a class of students who have never learned English before are able to understand and enjoy them together with their classmates.
Each of the games and activities detailed here has been selected or created for their adaptability to large group classes, and proven in classes to be enjoyable for all levels of young language learners.
Above photo taken at a PUBLIC kindergarten IN JAPAN in OCTOBER 2022
* It is assumed that larger classes are being taught in an equivalently large playing space.
* These games are not online compatible.
Infant classes (Ages 3-6)
The lesson plans provided below each build upon the language of previous classes, and are designed to run in the order that they are shown.
The materials and target language of the following lesson plans are taken from the Oxford, Everybody Up series. Teacher’s may wish to buy flashcards from the official Oxford website, or make their own.
Each 30 minute lesson plan includes short videos explaining how to introduce and teach songs to the class, and links to games to practice the language. An example of Lesson 3 of the plans below can be viewed in full in the video to the right.
Elementary school classes A (Ages 6-9)
Although its tough, it’s not unheard of for teachers to be called in to teach classes to large groups of students who they have never met. Without prior knowledge of the English ability level of the students, or the level of motivation, a teacher may unintentionally upset or embarrass students, if they make their lessons too hard. Therefore, it is best to keep lesson plans simple, active, and fun. The lesson plan provided below is designed for such a situation.
Elementary school classes B (Ages 10-12)
Although its tough, it’s not unheard of for teachers to be called in to teach classes to large groups of students who they have never met. Without prior knowledge of the English ability level of the students, or the level of motivation, a teacher may unintentionally upset or embarrass students, if they make their lessons too hard. Therefore, it is best to keep lesson plans simple, active, and fun. The lesson plan provided below is designed for such a situation.