On September 14th 2015 I lead the Saitama City ALTs (65 in all) in starting work on the Saitama City Global Studies Extensive reading Library.

1. Aim

As Saitama City continues to develop the Global Studies program one of the key considerations being made is that of the availability of language material that is suited to the Global Studies Subject and the students of Saitama City.

One important need is for the development of a library of extensive reading materials. The goal of this project is to develop these materials.

2. Contents

Reading instruction in Global Studies, and learning activities that place equal balance on all four-language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening) will vary according to the goals of the instruction. The following describes the major classes of instruction that relates to reading. This is a translation parts of this document.

Reading-A	To read sentences and words correctly according to their punctuation
Reading-B	To read silently while thinking of the contents of the reading or to read aloud in a way that expresses those contents correctly
Reading-C	To read and correctly understand the most important parts and overall contents of a story or explanatory document
Reading-D	To understand the author’s intentions when reading letters or announcements and to respond accordingly
Reading-E	To be abler to express agreement or disagreement with the opinions/ideas of an author of a letter after understanding the contents and thoughts represented in writing
Writing-C	To be able to take notes and write (including statements of agreement or disagreement) about what has been heard or read
Speaking-C	To be able to respond to or give opinions about (in speaking) things that have been heard or read

When making contributions to this project, please have specific instructional ideas in mind.

Another important consideration is to think about the content of what will be written. Below are some of the goals of Global Studies that should guide the decisions made regarding content selected for writing.

• We must place importance on the quality and depth of learning through both independent and collaborative learning activities that lead to the discovery and resolution of (academic) issues.
• We must improve students’ communicative abilities and their abilities to act independently regardless of the situation and their attitude of respect for diversity and the ideas of others so that they can join hands with the peoples of other countries through experiential activities developing richness of spirit and the ability to build relationships with others.
• We must develop students who have pride in Japanese and Saitama City tradition and culture and contribute to society as they move into the future.

Below we have provided some sample topics:

Culture and Society	Hikawa Shrine	Saitama City’s history	Your home country
UNESCO World Heritage sites	Japanese food in other countries	Iwatsuki dolls	Urawa Unagi (eel)
Koichi Wakata	Urawa Reds	Omiya Ardija	Saitama Stadium 2002
Saitama Super Arena	Omiya Station	Minuma Canal	Omiya Bonsai Village
Omiya Bonsai Art Museum	Saitama University	Saburo Katoh (Omiya Bonsai Village)	Inventions from your country

 

Current events	Saitama Criterium	World Bonsai Convention 2017	2020 Olympics
Holidays	Festivals

 

Topics close to students	Taking test	Events in Saitama City	Trends in music
School life in other countries	Club activities	Work experience	Famous people
What does ALT’s family want to know about Japan	What’s the most important thing to you?

 

Moral Education	Bullying	Volunteering for the elderly	Caring for the environment
Helping family

 

Global / Local issues	Aging population	Changing family structure	Mobile phone abuse
Globalization	Global warming	Gender Equality	Income inequality

 

Finally, when you have finished with the writing it would be helpful to include an activity that matches the purpose of the reading. For example if the goal of the reading is to understand specific information from the article, then questions about such information would be fine. Or if the goal is to have students read with the appropriate expression, then a 5-point scale for rhythm, pronunciation and expression are best.

3. Language

Students in Saitama City may have dictionaries, but the only resource that they are guaranteed to have is the textbook. Before the glossary at the back of the textbook there is a list of grammatical structures taught in that grade. Using this makes it easy to control the language you use when you write.

With regards to vocabulary use, the easiest way to make sure you are using vocabulary that the students can look up in their text books is by using the MS Excel file that can be found on the Sunshine text book CDrom. This is a searchable list of words that shows the grade and page number that the words first appear on.

4. Format

One key aspect that will affect how students learn from texts that you write is how professional it looks. Following a style guide can help make sure that your writing looks like it is a part of the programs formal materials.

• Place the Global Studies Logo at the top left corner
• Use Times New Roman 12 point font for the body of your text
• Use bold Times New Roman 17 point font for the title
• If there are sections with titles use bold Times New Roman 12 point font for section headings and bold italic Times New Roman 12 point font for subheadings
• At the bottom of the page insert a text box that labels the document using Cambria 8 point font:

Global Studies: Grade-Program Description # of #

• Use non-copyright images or original images that are copy friendly
• DO NOT write any Japanese on the document

4. Process

① Choose a purpose from the list instructional objectives above.

② Consider the goals of Global Studies and how your writing might help students meet these goals.

③ Select the grade that you will write for and write your text based on that grades grammatical structures and vocabulary.

④Write your extensive reading.

5. Examples

Attached are examples that intended for use with second grade students. Each example is about 200 words and both are intended to be used as a way to practice reading strategies and also writing about reading.

1. Story of Sony Walkman 2. Story of the Karaoke Machine 3. The Story of Instant Ramen 4. The Story of Nintendo’s Games 5. The Story Of Hideo Shima 6. The Story of Satoshi Tajiri