Advice Box

Let’s Share! One-point Advice

Vol.57 Do you have other materials that includes “*** stories” and “stroke orders” which is in the notebook (8-lines)?

We have been using the 8 line notebooks for elementary students and it has been very useful. The notebook has a print of the “*** stories height” and “stroke orders” on the reverse side of the cover page. Do you have other products that contains the same or similar contents?

Learning World Book 2 (1st edition,published in 1995) used to have a page on its textbook like the picture below ;

This page is useful for writing reference and we put this also on the notebook (8 lines). After receiving many requests, we released its poster version on 25th April 2018.

Phonics Alphabet Posters (2 posters)

We are introducing a song themed “easy-to-remember the order strokes” (lower-cases) in association with this poster.
Download the song from here ;
https://www.apricot-plaza.co.jp/en/products/goods_sound#audio571

Check out our videos of the songs ↓

Vol.56 What is the difference between 1st edition of Tomorrow and Book5 TOMORROW(2nd edition)?

We use the 1st edition of Learning World for Tomorrow for junior-high students. What are the differences from Book 5 of TOMORROW?
There are two major changes. Catchy chants remains but we removed songs that used to be on the left hand side section of the pages.
We also revised the pages on the right. Listening Test page on each unit has been changed and now there are not only Creating Writing but Presentation drafts and activities of “Think and find own answers” here and there. Other than that, we added three grammatical subjects which used to be taught in high schools such as Past subjunctive, Present Perfect Continuous and Participles.

For the workbook, there are demo tests for level 3 Eiken qualification and past exam questions from Cambridge (YLE) Movers in addition.

In the teacher’s book, it has an additional Mini Test for each unit which you can make photo copies to suit your needs.It has more contents and it is higher degree level compared to the 1st edition. The book is recommended for students who have learned Learning World Book 3 and Book 4 BRIDGE.

Mini Test <click the image to enlarge>

TOMORROW(2nd edition) target :

From upper grades of elementary to junior-high who has been learning English since pre-school or lower grades of elementary. It is also possible to use the 2nd edition after they studied the 1st edition. Students can review what they have learned in the previous year and understand more deeply.

Vol.55 Can you recommend some plays, skits and songs for grade 1-3 Elementary students (at beginners level)?

Can you recommend some plays, skits and songs that can be chosen for a recital? Beginners level for Elementary students in first to third grade and they use both PINK and YELLOW textbooks.
♦Bus Song is one of the most popular choice. (WELCOME PINK)
Reference : The Wheels of the Bus (video)

Introduction – My ….(Friend, Family, Favorite Animals etc…)
Students write about themselves in 3-5 lines. Show them on a screen and they give their presentation in English one by one. You can choose a topic from the book READY, it can be a simple English. Main thing is that students experience a presentation on their own.


♦Songs

♪Skidamarink a doo (Book 1 / AJ Songs&Chants CD
♪Say Hello (Change the lyrics and sing) (WELCOME PINK) Song(video)

♦Chants
♪Tell me, Tell me something green (Put students names in) (WELCOME YELLOW video)
♪I Like Hamburgers (Change objects that students like and make it a medley)(WELCOME YELLOW video)

♦Plays
30 Lesson Plans for Young Learners” contains play scripts of the following stories from our picture books.
*Tiny Boppers
*A Beautiful Butterfly
*A Teddy Bear

★There are 10 products in our picture book category. We have the following product that are made for plays which students can repeat the story lines with a slide show picture.(e-APRICOT exclusive)

Picture Books on Stage “Pal the Parrot”
Picture Books on Stage ” A Teddy Bear”
Picture Books on Stage “Our Sweet Home”
Picture Books on Stage “My Pet”
Picture Books on Stage “Who Stole the Cookies?”

More and more schools use Learning World series for presentation. You can pick any pages, the important thing is the content is fun. Some schools use the picture or the whole page on a screen and students give presentations. Some schools ignores “the standard” of recitals and show “the result of their lessons” instead.

Vol.54 Are there any textbooks suitable for 2 and 3 years old? What’s the length of Picture book DVD and consists of how many chapters?

Looking for a textbook suitable for two to three years old. WELCOME PINK and Ice Cream seems interesting. Also, tell me the details of Picture book chants with DVD?

Unfortunately we do not have any textbooks categorized for two years old since toddlers are usually not ready to handle books at their age. Most of schools choose sound-based-materials to get used to the sound.

These are the materials we recommend.

1. NEW Let’s Sing Together CD & SONGBOOK Set (2nd Edition)
29 tunes and London Bridge (with karaoke) for gesturing and singing lessons.

2. Lesson with Picture books by Songs and Chants
These books come with DVD. Use picture books mainly for classes and DVD for home to bring the English environment.

3. WELCOME to Learning World PINK
Days with mammy is the theme of the book.
(PINK Say Hello Song : http://y2u.be/-UmMrMu943E )

4. Ice Cream series – Vanilla / Strawberry
Vanilla contains Capital letters. Strawberry with lower-cases with more amount of words compared to Vanilla.

*The length of the DVD :
The DVD contents is the same as its picture book so the length may vary but approximately 5-10 minutes. Two stories are included in one DVD.

*PLATINA Babies FoodPlayground, and  Fun at the Beach contains APRICOT’s original tunes which is fun and themed. Sing together and remember the songs, it could be a great option for a recital. It is fun just to listen on mammy’s lap also.
(PLATINA Babies Theme Song : http://y2u.be/S-sNQHn4RDE )

Vol.53 YELLOW and BLUE are composed of songs and chants, they seem like a short course.

YELLOW and BLUE are composed of songs and chants, they seem like a short course.

The short dialogues in each unit are useful in different situations. Whenever there is a chance to use the dialog, students should review and repeat the line so they can use the sentence naturally. The list below is some lines from WELCOME YELLOW and BLUE. There are so many dialogues that can be used in the classroom or on a daily basis, use the lines they have learned as much as possible. Teachers should give students various situation and lead the dialogue so they can follow.

□Are you ready? OK.  □Whose turn? It’s my turn.
□Here you are. Thank you. You’re welcome.   □What is …’s name?
□I like… How about you?   □Whose …it this? It’s mine.
□Let’s… That sounds good!   □Do you have…? Yes, I do. I have…
□Do you like…?   □Where do you live?
□Are you hungry?    □Watch out!
□How is the weather?  □I’m finished! Show me. Good job.
□Listen to me. We are listening!   □Can I have a bite?
□May I come in? Yes, you may.   □How did you come here? By….
□Here’s some …    □What do you want? I want …
□Open the…. Sure!

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