English Quest 1,2,3

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  • The English Quest series is a two level English text for junior high and beginner level English classes.
  • The curricula follows very closely with the ‘New Treasure’ series (Z-kai).
  • It follows the SMART teaching approach.
  • It is highly adaptable to fit many different level classes and teaching styles.
  • Lessons are flexible and easy to follow with lots of critical thinking activities.

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The Origins of English Quest

When I first joined the school that I teach at now, I worked with Mr. Kubo and Mr. Yamada, two of the authors of the New Treasure series. From the beginning, it was my job to create a new Oral Communication program. The guidelines for the course were simple, ‘Create a course that follows the New Treasure curriculum.’

New Treasure is an excellent series, but with only one, or maybe two classes a week to teach oral communication, there’s way too much material to get through. Coordinating with the Japanese English teacher, we have to carefully choose the material we are going to teach. However, this can be quite challenging, especially if you are new to the series.

In my first year at the school, taking key targets from the grammar pages and communication sections, I created a curriculum for first and second grade. This first year required a lot of hard work; dissecting the New Treasure textbooks, making worksheets, and finally printing hundreds to thousands of photocopies for all the classes. But it was a great learning process.

One thing I noticed using the worksheet approach:

The Problem with Worksheets

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  • Worksheets don’t create a solid flow of work that students can review;
  • Worksheets usually end up lost or in the trash.
  • I can spend several hours a week at the copy machine printing over 1000 sheets of paper!

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From this, came the decision to put everything together into a textbook – And as a result:

Why using a textbook has been great!

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  • The students have taken more responsibility for their textbook and in turn, more responsibility for study in the OC class;
  • Reviewing material in class has been much easier, especially around test time;
  • Planning has been a breeze as everything is ready to go;
  • I spend much less time photocopying – and of course, none of the worksheets end up in the trash;
  • It’s easier to coordinate with the Japanese English teacher about what to teach each week.

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Inside The Textbook

Inside an Example Lesson

[su_row][su_column size=”1/2″]This video gives a quick look at a lesson from English Quest book 2.
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Here is how the lesson looks (click to enlarge):

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The Benefits of Using English Quest

The lessons in English Quest follow the S.M.A.R.T. teaching approach and each lesson provides lots of practice with the target language found in the New Treasure series. In addition, there are a number of other benefits of using the English Quest series:

Benefits to the students:

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  • It is easier to keep all your materials together (handouts get lost)
  • Extra practice of the main points of the New Treasure text
  • Highlighted language boxes makes for easier reference and review
  • Much easier to review and preview material for the Oral Communication class
  • Fewer handouts means less time handing out sheets and more time practicing language
  • A textbook gives a stronger sense that the Oral Communication class is a lesson in its own right

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Benefits to the Native English Teacher (NET):

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  • A ready to go curriculum that follows the New Treasure series
  • Focus on speaking but incorporates reading, writing and listening
  • A focus on critical thinking skills – get the students processing the English
  • A highly flexible arrangement of materials so lessons can be adjusted for different level classes.
  • Easier to review material and set homework to preview upcoming targets
  • Much less photocopying – handout can require 1000+ copies a week!

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Benefits to the Japanese teacher and the school:

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  • More opportunities to talk with the Native teacher about the OC class
  • OC lessons integrate perfectly with the regular English class
  • It is easier to see what has and will be taught in the OC lesson
  • It is much easier to show parents and new students what they will learn in their English classes

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Download more information and some sample lessons

Right-click and choose ‘Save as’ to download the file to your computer.

Get in touch to ask any questions

Contact Smart ELT