Object Speech--blackboards
The 4F International Course class did their third speech, the Object Speech. In this speech, students choose one object and tell the other students about it. This includes its history, why they chose it, a detailed description of the object, and how and why the object is used. By doing this speech, students learn how to describe objects in detail, explain historical information, and give simple instructions.
5G Commericals
The 5G International Course students made commercials in small groups. Each group made a commercial advertising an original product. Each commercial had to be exactly one minute. The commercials take about one month to complete. The students must create a product, make a detailed plan for the commercial, film the commercial, choose any music they want to use, and edit the commercial on video-editing computers, adding any special effects. By doing these commercials, the students learn to use visual communication effectively, including the role of colors, body language, actions, and lighting. They also learn how to communicate effectively using simple language in a very short period of time.
For more information and to see sample commercials, go to this page.
6G Team Debates
Creating a debate strategy
Meeting with the debate leaders
The 6G International Course class held team debates. In the debates, the students are in teams of three or four. They must debate a controversial topic related to their lives or currently in the news. This year, there were 5 debates:
The Yellow Card System Should Be Eliminated in Reitaku.
Human Beings Should Rapidly Explore and Settle the Solar System (within 50 years).
Argument and Debate Should Be a Required Part of the Curriculum in All Japanese High Schools.
Japan Should Develop Nuclear Weapons.
All Expressways in Japan Should Be Free.
Doing these debates teaches the students many skills which will be useful throughout the rest of their lives. They learn to look at both sides of an issue thoroughly before forming an opinion, how to do research, how to argue politely and logically, how to speak logically but also emotionally in order to convince people of their opinions, and how to work together as a team.
With our friendly opponents
5G Australia Experience
The 5G International Course students returned from Australia. They spent 6 weeks in Australia. Their first week was spent camping in tents near Mount Warning in New South Wales. After this, they moved to Gold Coast where each student stayed with a host-family. They also took English classes at Reitaku's sister school, Trinity Lutheran College. By learning for six weeks in Australia, the students not only improved their English. They also learned a lot about Australia, a lot about Japan by seeing it from the outside, matured, became more independent, and learned about themselves.
See the Australia page for more information on the Australia Experience.
6G Research Papers
On September 30, the 6G International Course class finished their Research Papers. The Research Paper is one of the major projects of the International Course. It is the longest project the students do in the course, taking ten months to complete. They are done at the same level as those done by high school students in the United States.
The Research Paper is a culmination of several skills the students have learned in the International Course: paragraph writing, essay writing, research, analyzing sources, advanced word processing, advanced reading comprehension, paraphrasing, summarizing, and a great deal of grammar. These skills are taught from the first year of the course and are built upon carefully throughout the three years of the course.
The students begin the Research Paper by choosing a topic. The topic should be about something the student is very interested in, and it must be approved by the IC teachers. The students then spend several months gathering sources. At least 50% of these sources are English sources. They read each source, take notes on it, rewrite and summarize the information they gather. The students must use three books, two encyclopedias, two reference books, three magazines, and three newspaper articles. They must also interview an expert on their topic. Most students use several other sources as needed.
Students then begin planning and writing their Research Papers. In the first term of their senior year, in May, they must use the information they have gathered to make an outline of their planned paper. In June, they must handwrite their first draft of the paper, which the IC teachers check. IC teachers mark mistakes and point out writing and logic problems; however, no corrections are done by the teacher. Mistakes are only marked. The first draft must then be rewritten and typed.
The students work on this over the summer, and the second drafts of the paper are collected by IC teachers in the beginning of September. During September, students must rewrite their Research Papers and their final drafts are due at the end of September. Following this, in November of the second term of their senior year, students give a short presentation on their Research Paper to the rest of the class, sharing what they learned about the topic.
By writing the Research Paper, IC students learn a number of important things. Each student has spent six months researching their topic and has become an expert on his or her topic. The students also learn how to do research, how to plan and write advanced academic English papers, how to use citations and sources, how to interview experts, and how to format a formal paper. They review all the English grammar they have ever studied. Review most of the vocabulary they have studied and develop their translation skill to a very high level. One final benefit is that they become good at planning and using their time wisely.
Students gain an extremely high level of English skill through doing the Research Papers. They read advanced academic books, magazines, and newspapers. These are the same types of reading materials that are commonly used on university entrance examinations. They must not only read these, but they must summarize them and use them in their paper, so their reading ability increases greatly through doing the Research Papers. Students also must actively use the large amounts of grammar they have learned in the International Course in a useful and, most importantly, realistic way. They write sentences in complex grammar, so by doing the Research Paper, their grammar skills increase. Finally, by writing an advanced academic research paper, using logical paragraphs and logical essay structure, they become much better at understanding and analyzing advanced written English. All of these skills immensely benefit International Course students when they take their university entrance examinations.
For more information on the Research Papers, and to see samples of previous papers, please see the Research Paper page.