7 Mar 2020, 2:40pm
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Fluency Course Evolution II

This thing is evolving fast!

Getting ready for the new academic year, hopefully starting in April.

In the process of printing and editing the Fluency Course, we have happily stumbled onto a new iteration. The course is now fully modular.

We pulled everything out of the textbooks except the texts, so now we have a series of components that teachers can pick and choose from. The full course involves using all of them, of course, but it is now possible to use only the texts, for instance, or only the verbs/question cards/etc.

Right now the components look like this:

FLUENCY COURSE LEVEL 1

  • Texts 1a -60 texts with comprehension questions divided into 24 units. Text length starts at 45 words at the start of the course and increases to 80 words by the end. Every fourth unit has a single, triple length text instead of the usual three texts per unit.
  • Texts 2b -60 texts with comprehension questions divided into 24 units. Text length starts at 80 words at the start of the course and increases to 100 words by the end. Every fourth unit has a single, triple length text instead of the usual three texts per unit.
  • Workbook 1 -writing practice of 240 questions and answers that match the conversation question cards.
  • Verb practice 1 -48 verbs for oral practice with a written exercise.
  • Vocabulary practice 1 -48 vocab quizzes based on the Quizlet and text vocab.
  • Conversation question cards 1 -240 questions on index cards with model answers. For students to practice in pairs.
  • Reference sheets 1 -vocabulary and questions with Japanese translations for each unit.
  • Quizlet data sets -48, one for each unit of the text, including vocabulary and questions.

Levels 2 and 3 are also evolving in similar ways.

I think the most interesting components for most teachers will be the texts. This volume of texts at similar levels is difficult to find in existing commercial textbooks, particularly in ones aimed at Japanese students.

A close second will be the conversation question cards and accompanying workbook, and maybe the verb practice.

We will end up selling some of these, most likely the texts and workbooks, and giving away many of the others as digital downloads for teachers to print. It all seems to be coming together πŸ™‚

Wow, this is evolving nicely Ben.
At some stage I look forward to using this on those students that get bummed out at the lack of conversation / speaking work at JHS.
I get a number of students trying to hook into my existing JHS lessons but the gap between them and the students moving up from elementary school can lead to frustration at both levels of ability. The beginners overwhelmed or the “veterans” bored. I’m lucky that nearly all of the more experienced like setting the example and are very empathetic of their “kohai”. Having a course that can let them get ahead of the lessons would be helpful
When can I get some?

Cheers,
Simon

Thanks Simon
We’re testing it with other schools this year, so assuming nothing life-altering happens (heh, can’t assume that this year) we should have materials for sale in time for April 2021 start.
It’s been a LOOOONG road, but the end is in sight πŸ™‚

 

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