March 2005 Meeting:

Making Reading Easy and Fun! - with the Potato Pals

Speaker: Oliver Bayley (Oxford University Press)

Date: March 6, 2005... Time: 1.30-4.00

The presenter will guide participants through practical and enjoyable group-work activities and classroom ideas that will benefit all teachers of very young learners. He will also introduce the Potato Pals, Oxford's newest course for pre-school / kindergarten-aged children. All participants will receive a free Potato Pals reader. The second half of the presentation will focus on reading, and how to turn students of any age and interest into "Bookworms". The presenter will discuss how teachers are currently using graded readers in various schools, as well as looking at some of the latest graded readers from Oxford University Press (including their new series - DOLPHINS), and will introduce a variety of fun and effective activity types for students of all ages.

Oliver Bayley: After graduating from the University of Birmingham, England, Oliver came to Japan in 1995. Having taught English to students of all ages in Kyoto, Oliver joined Oxford University Press Japan, where he is now the Sales Manager. He is well known around Japan for his lively and entertaining presentations.

Place: Aichi University Bldg 5 - room 53A
Cost: members free; "One-day members" 1,000 yen.

Upcoming meetings -

The April meeting will be held on April 17, when Hillel Wright, a poet
and writer from Tokyo, will talk about using short stories and poems to
teach English.

In May we will be hoping for the sun to shine on our annual barbeque and picnic, which will probably be held on 22 May.

The June meeting is scheduled for 12 June.

How about earlier meetings in 2005?