“Monday mushroom, Tuesday soup, Wednesday Watermelon, Thursday… CIRCLE PIE”
This textbook and its resources are full of bad dialogue, videos, songs, imagery, and activities. I’m wondering how many other teachers have to deal with this book too.
I have a few classes as an ALT that just make me want to die inside because the homeroom teachers are adamant about using this terrible textbook even thought the kids are SO bored in class. I even actively say the book is terrible and I am willing to make more fun lessons based on the theme from the book.
Mid way through the lessons from the book, too, I’ll often get looks from the teacher like “… you got anything to save this class?” And I’ll let them know that I don’t because they didn’t want me to prep anything so I’ll just pull something out of thin air.
Luckily my other school gives me free reign to do what I want because the homeroom teacher also hates the textbook. So, I often get nice shouts of ” 楽しかったー ” at the end of those classes.
These kids want songs they can easily sing to, games that are fun and somewhat challenging, and lessons that are easy to follow.
Ah… if only my pleas for better textbooks and lessons wouldn’t fall on deaf ears.
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Edit: Thanks for all the advice guys, but I’m been at this for a few years now and just wanted to rant because the book has been a thorn in my side for a while.
27 comments
I’ve never used that song. Instead, I’ve used the days of the week song from “We Can.” I’ve never had an issue with kids being bored but I’ve always been T1. I can definitely see it being bored if doing just what is in the book. Good luck and maybe you can offer to lead the classes, giving HRT’s a break. They might appreciate that.
Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of that song. It goes on forever as well.
It’s understandable that lots of teachers feel more comfortable simply following the textbook as they often lack the necessary proficiency to create their own materials, or don’t know what other, good materials are available. Not a criticism; just an observation. But yeah, that you’re offering to help and they’re declining must be frustrating.
I love Monday mushroom 🤣, but yes, you should definitely have a grab bag of games and activities you can quickly adapt to whatever is being taught.
The textbooks aren’t great, but they’re a huge improvement on what we had (which for 3/4 was nothing and there was no standard). You have to adapt your lessons to the book. If you can use the textbook for the main activity, but use your own activities for warm up and drill, the HRTs your working with will be more on board.
I think anyone who’s ever used it who cares about the subject hates it.
It’s too sparse for a school year, and many HRTs won’t engage with the curriculum well enough to understand it, but when you try to lead the lesson, will throw you under the bus to your BOE. It’s really unfortunate and it seems to happen almost exclusively or at least the most with this damn textbook.
I think most of us wish 3rd and 4th grade had a better structured 4 lesson 8 unit style textbook similar to the 8 and 8 style of the much better New Horizons books for 5th and 6th. Obviously all the performative stuff that doesn’t go over practical rules like order of speech, or subject-verb agreement aren’t great, but here we are.
“you got anything to save this class?” And I’ll let them know that I don’t because they didn’t want me to prep anything so I’ll just pull something out of thin air.”
Having something prepared just in case is a huge part of being an ALT.
If the teacher doesn’t let you plan anything outside following the text, then just let the class fail. Think of it as a “not your circus, not your monkeys situation.” Let the teacher see and understand the result of using nothing but the textbook.
After class, try again to talk to the teacher about why the lesson plan failed and check again if they will at least let you make a backup plan for the next lesson.
I think the way you approach this conversation will be very important, as this might be a bit of a power struggle between you and the teacher? If the teacher sees themselves as being in charge, they might feel you are stepping on their toes by making too many suggestions. I’m just guessing here, since I don’t know this teacher, but this is how a of teachers can be. They can see suggestions as criticism of their teacher style, and thus a personal attack on their professionalism.
One thing you can try to do is make it seem as if making a backup plan is not your suggestion, but their own idea. It’s a bit manipulative, but if you could lead them to making this conclusion for themselves, rather than directly suggesting it, they might decide to let you plan something as a backup. Then at least you can save the lesson.
That song sucks and I never play it for the kids. I have other songs lined up for the days of the week on YouTube. I’ve insisted on it. Because to say these books have bad dialogue in general is an understatement. And the stupid unit 9 story… wtf is that? Seriously…
Can’t have the kids actually practice proper “th” pronunciation, now can we?
…What does ‘circle pie’ mean? I always hear people talking about how bad the acting in the videos are for this textbook and I really wish someone would upload it. I want to see. Haha.
I use this song, thank me later.
https://youtu.be/acKVCzVlwlg
To be fair, the New Horizon books are similarly fuckin’ horrendous, but at least they come packed with enough content for most sessions.
Let’s try is rough. I feel ya. With that said, I can’t be arsed to come up with a whole other curriculum instead, nevermind that I don’t have time to do so and that those are the books my kids bought; I don’t think it’d fly to toss them aside completely.
Absolutely abhor this textbook too. I always need to prepare something for the unit weeks before because I love a good structured game with wonderful design.
Better textbooks is never gonna happen. They are from MEXT!
I use songs from YouTube. Much more fun.
Ugh, it’s so bad. The enney meeny miney moe song is cringe-inducing, too.
It’s not your class unless they make it your class. If the kids can sense your hatred for the material, it will make things worse than they need to be. If you are not the T1, it is not your class to decide. ALT is assistant ya?
I’ve been forced to sit through four years of lessons with those awful textbooks, even worse when the JTE who is at two of my four schools gets me to do the same lessons up to five times a day!
The last unit is a story I know off by heart and in my opinion should only be read maybe in the last few weeks, that same JTE I work with stretches out for the last two months! Plus they recently found an extended version of both of those stories in Let’s Try, the kids get bored so quickly so instead of just listening to a few of my suggestions they either get super hyper and read the story while jumping around the classroom scaring the kids because yeah an adult should not be roaring in young children’s ears or the books are tossed aside to play an ‘English Game’ which is Duck, Duck, Goose!
That song has traumatised me. I just use different songs, the teachers I work with agree readily.
Some bits of the books are good, many are dubious, and some are downright terrible. The important thing to keep in mind is that these books are just a tool to be used in the lessons, which should be ignored if there are better ways to teach the class.
Now, if the homeroom teacher refuses to do anything other than the official lesson plan/the book says, it’s their responsibility (as T1). It sucks, but it is what it is.
I love monday mushroom for one reason. Introduce it as hell hour. Make them sing it two or three times, they will hate it if you hate it, then threaten to punish them with it whenever they wont shut up. Either they shut up or you get to relax for four minutes.
Well, that’s a rather unwelcome memory from the past. Bleh!
Some kids like it. A good HRT can make a large difference.
The kids are mostly a mirror. If you treat something like a boring chore to get through, they will too. Especially in elementary school.
Going over the top on “Salad” at the end, can be the difference between kids wanting to try and staring in silence.
Fun fact, the *ONLY* food in English that starts with a “th” sound is “Thousand Island”. So I use a picture of dressing.
I’ve worked with teachers that follow those books and make them fun classes. It all depends on the caliber of the teacher.
I’m curious to know what everyone does for the goal for Unit 3. It’s only 3 lessons long but the textbook just has the students find out the most popular day of the week… For Unit 2, our unit goal was for the class to decide a game to play with the ALT/ the other class.
How do you make students look forward to studying this unit?
I thought the whole book was fine. I think it depends on the teachers. I had an amazing teacher who was happy everyday and had fun with every lesson. Laughing and getting the kids to laugh at everything in the book. He really held their attention.
Using plenty of Japanese is also really important in class so that everyone understands what’s going on. His English level was about the same as the kid’s but he made great effort to learn everything.
The most important detail you need to consider is: are you their T1 teacher EVERY week? I ask this because in some of the larger city schools, I’d alternate grades due to my schedule being too crammed full. I’d teach 5-1 and 5-2 one week while the HRTs teach their respective 6-1 and 6-2 classes, then we’d swap the following week. If that’s the case, I can see why they’d be insistent on following the lame textbooks… they need that consistency.
If you are the students’ only English teacher, then I say “fuck it” and do your own thing. They may raise a fit about it, but luckily if you’re really good at it, another teacher will defend your position.
I did the lessons for that textbook for two years. As awful as the actors in the videos are…the students enjoyed the lessons, and the lessons went well.
So, if the kids are bored, that’s on you.
Edit: just read further, that the homeroom teachers lead. So you’re not T1, or even close, unless the class derails. In that case, it’s not fully on you, so I take that back.
If I were you I’d just say, “I’ll do everything this lesson, don’t worry about it,” and do the lesson well.
If you can’t make the students get into that song, and do it well, though, there’s a lot you can improve on, to be honest.