This was the seventh online reading event supported by KumaReads, a growing community organization of extensive readers in Kumamoto. About two dozen joined via Zoom to listen to Branden Kirchmeyer talk about using questions to facilitate text engagement with children, and read Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill.

This was the sixth online reading event supported by KumaReads, a community organization of extensive readers in Kumamoto. About two dozen participants young and old joined via Zoom to listen to Joe Tomei (Kumamoto Gakuen University) read The very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

This was the fifth online reading event supported by KumaReads, a growing community organization of extensive readers in Kumamoto. About two dozen participants young and old joined via Zoom to listen to Branden Kirchmeyer read BIG Little by Leslie Patricelli. The event received positive feedback and organizers scheduled a follow-up event in one week’s…

This was the eighth online reading event supported by KumaReads, a growing community organization of extensive readers in Kumamoto. With schools around the country having opened up recently, only one participant was able to join via Zoom to listen to Branden Kirchmeyer talk about graded readers and read Octopus Attack! by Glenn McDougall. Some…

A small and dedicated group connected via Zoom, including one person outside of Kumamoto who was interested in digital learning research with Japanese students of English at the ES level. Huy started with a quick basics of creating a meeting on Zoom, in particular how to navigate the interface and settings. Then he led…

This was the fourth online reading event supported by KumaReads, a growing community organization of extensive readers in Kumamoto. About two dozen participants young and old joined via Zoom to listen to Rob Hirschel read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. The event received positive feedback and organizers scheduled a follow-up event…

This was the third online reading event supported by KumaReads, a growing community organization of extensive readers in Kumamoto. Over a dozen participants young and old joined via Zoom to listen to Branden Kirchmeyer read Am I Small? by Philipp Winterberg and Nadja Wichmann. The event received positive feedback and organizers scheduled a follow-up…

This was the second online reading event supported by KumaReads, a community organization of extensive readers in Kumamoto. About a dozen participants young and old (students of an existing online English class) joined via Zoom to listen to the reading of Invisible Alligators by Joe Tomei. This book is freely available in digital format,…

This was the first online reading event supported by KumaReads, a community organization of extensive readers in Kumamoto. About a dozen participants young and old (students of an existing online English class) joined via Zoom to listen to the reading of I, Crocodile by Joe Tomei. The purpose of this reading was to test the logistics…

PIGATE’s March meeting was held via Zoom for the first time as members adjusted to circumstances caused by the current COVID-19 pandemic. A total of eleven participants including university teachers, elementary school teachers, and university students met online to listen to two speakers, Branden Kirchmeyer & Rob Hirschel, and to share ideas regarding their…