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English with Mr. Alex
FIVESTAR | 0 SYLLABUSSyllabus
Syllabus
On this page, you can find the plan for our English activities for the 2025-2026 school year. We will very certainly have LOTS of fun and collaborative activities!
As we go from fall into winter, and then winter into spring, you too will grow and change. Some days will be easy, others will be tough. We are all here to learn, grow, and support one another.
October 2025
1 | Introductions
1 | Introductions
TOPIC | IMPRESSIONS. This class is an introductory class to learn about students and Mr. Alex.
ACTIVITY | Students will learn tricks to introduce themselves strongly and professionally.
SKILLS | Curiosity, Community, Courtesy, Confidence
FIVESTAR | Introductions2 | Money and Value
2 | Money and Value
TOPIC | MINDSET. This topic will introduce students to a famous book popularly read by Americans to this day. It highlights the “secrets to success”
ACTIVITY | For earlier groups, we will have a shopping activity using “money.” For advanced groups, there is a discussion about what is success, value, and money
SKILLS | Creativity, Imagination, Passion, Focus, Value
FIVESTAR | Money and Value
3 | Refugee Conflicts
3 | Refugee Conflicts
TOPIC | MIGRANT JUSTICE. This topic will cover the basic rights and restrictions regarding international immigration.
ACTIVITY | For all levels, there will be a class-discussion led by Mr. Alex, with progressively challenging questions. This is a diagnostic, discussion exercise.
Grading will not be affected.
SKILLS | Independent thinking, Ethics, Empathy
4 | Gender Equality
4 | Gender Equality
TOPIC | GENDER AND CULTURE. This topic continues the discussion of immigration, but focuses on related social issues of gender, education, and poverty.
ACTIVITY | We will have an activity where two teams have to complete a challenge, but one team will have scissors, tape, and utensils. The other will not. We will talk about the concept of privilege after.
SKILLS | Cultural comparison, Social analysis
5 | Monsters and Magic
5 | Monsters and Magic
TOPIC | HALLOWEEN. This topic describes the history of Halloween and its various forms of contemporary celebration around the world.
ACTIVITY | Halloween Pictionary for younger groups, For advanced groups, we cover Monster Literary Theory, and why we are so fascinated by fantastic beasts.
SKILLS | Geographical analysis, Cultural Comparison
FIVESTAR | Halloween6 | Police and Crime
6 | Police and Crime
TOPIC | CRIME. There’s a criminal in this room! We will look a number of photos and examine the crime scene evidence.
ACTIVITY | We will look at text messages, a map, and also “evidence”, and be detectives to solve who stole the precious jewels from the Pyramids of Giza.
SKILLS | Creative Storytelling, Narration, Inference
November 2025
7 | Guy Fawkes Night
7 | Guy Fawkes Night
TOPIC | BRITISH HISTORY. This class is a short history of the British Holiday, Guy Fawkes Night, and why Americans choose to celebrate July 4th instead.
ACTIVITY | There will be a video about Guy Fawkes Night, and a handout with questions. There is also some time dedicated to accents in the USA vs the UK.
SKILLS | Timelines, Sociolinguistics, Historical Analysis
8 | Thanksgiving and Gratitude
8 | Thanksgiving and Gratitude
TOPIC | GRATITUDE. This topic will cover the history of Thanksgiving, and consider the importance of gratitude culturally, professionally, and psychologically.
ACTIVITY | Students will make at least one anonymous gratitude note for another student or teacher, exchange in a big bowl, and then we will read them out loud.
SKILLS | Gratitude, Historical cause-and-effect
9 | Technology in our World
9 | Technology in our World
TOPIC | THE DIGITAL AGE. This topic will introduce 7-10 different uses for technology, also considering problems.
ACTIVITY | Groups will have $10 million to fund tech projects, deciding how to spend the city’s funding.
SKILLS | Political argumentation, Respect for dissent, Negotiation, Prioritization, Cost-benefit analysis
10 | Space Exploration
10 | Space Exploration
TOPIC | SPACE EXPLORATION. This topic reviews the history of the moon-landing, and attempts to separate fact from fiction. We briefly review logical fallacies.
ACTIVITY | Students will get a series of cards and have to sort between what evidence they can actually trust.
SKILLS | Fact, Fiction, Logical Fallacies, Argumentation
December 2025
11 | A Day in the Life
11 | A Day in the Life
TOPIC | CALIFORNIA. This is a personal topic, about the life of Alex as a university student at UC Berkeley.
ACTIVITY | Students will make a fictional routine, such as life in Tokyo or life in ancient Rome. Then, we will as a class interview their character to learn about their routines, habits, and interests
SKILLS | Time, Description, Imagination, Interviewing
12 | Christmas Traditions
12 | Christmas Traditions
TOPIC | HOLIDAYS. This class introduces students to a wide variety of cultural traditions surrounding "Christmas" and December holidays.
ACTIVITY | There is a short listening activity. After, students will get a BINGO sheet, with holiday songs as the boxes. We will listen to many songs as BINGO.
SKILLS | Cultural Comparison, Music appreciation
January 2026
13 | New Year Traditions
13 | New Year Traditions
TOPIC | RESOLUTIONS AND GOALS. This class will review typical New Year’s resolutions as well as the science to good habits, motivation, and goal-setting.
ACTIVITY | Students will first review the basic principles of good goals, then make their own. After, they will do “speed-chatting”, where they learn others’ goals
SKILLS | Curiosity, Concentration, Introspection
14 | Martin Luther King Day
14 | Martin Luther King Day
TOPIC | EQUALITY. This session will review the basics of unequal treatment and segregation in 20th-century USA.
ACTIVITY | Restaurant activity to illustrate unequal treatment. At the end of class, there is also a “correct-the-mistake” trivia game..
SKILLS | Ethics, Creativity, Advocacy
FIVESTAR | "I have a dream"FIVESTAR | I have a dreamFIVESTAR | EducationFIVESTAR | Education15 | World Education Day
15 | World Education Day
TOPIC | EDUCATION AND INTELLIGENCE. This topic has three parts:
1) perspective, 2) educational (in)equality, 3) educational values and kinds of intelligence
ACTIVITY | Passport activity- students travel to different countries, and learn about education values
SKILLS | Perspective of Intelligence + Professions
February 2026
FIVESTAR | American Super Bowl and SportsFIVESTAR | Sports and Superbowl16 | The American Superbowl
16 | The American Superbowl
TOPIC | SPORTS. This topic will introduce the popular sports in America, also covering collective nouns and true and false cognates between English and Spanish.
ACTIVITY | There will be a speaking game, where students attempt to guess the image out of 4. Students will also either do Team Charades or a ball game
SKILLS | Narration, Film Analysis, Team work
17 | Valentine's Day
17 | Valentine's Day
TOPIC | LANGUAGE OF LOVE. This topic looks at different kinds of love and ways to express love. We will also look at various types of parenting love.
ACTIVITY | We will listen to songs of different kinds of love first. Then, students will debate the two ideas of “ideal” parenting: strict father or nurturing parent.
SKILLS | Language Philosophy, Politics, Debate
FIVESTAR | Love and LanguageFIVESTAR | Valentine's Day18 | Running a Restaurant
18 | Running a Restaurant
TOPIC | CUISINE & CUSTOMERS. This topic introduces students to different cuisines that are popular to eat!
ACTIVITY | There will be four groups- each will have a different cuisine. They will make a small menu and invent prices for customers. However, at a certain point, there will be unexpected variables (inflation, shortages).
SKILLS | Cultural Comparison, Business, Etiquette
FIVESTAR | Chinese New YearFIVESTAR ¡ Lunar New Year19 | Lunar New Year
19 | Lunar New Year
TOPIC | LUNAR NEW YEAR. This introduces students to Chinese New Year traditions like cleaning and eating
ACTIVITY | Students will learn traditional lantern making and origami. If time permits, we will also do a Lunar Year Jeopardy game.
SKILLS | Decision-making, Game strategy, Cultural comparison
FIVESTAR | Folklore and FictionFIVESTAR | Fairytales, Folklore, and Fiction20 | Folklore, Fairytales, & Fiction
20 | Folklore, Fairytales, & Fiction
TOPIC | FAIRYTALES AND FOLKLORE. In this class, we will reflect on the importance of fairytales and folklore in our daily lives, psychology, and our gender norms.
ACTIVITY | We will make groups of 4-7 actors, and each will have a short (3-5 minute) fairytale skit. The rest of the class will be the audience and vote for the winner.
SKILLS | Making predictions; Team work; Imagination
March 2026
21 | To be an Olympian
21 | To be an Olympian
TOPIC | NUTRITION. This class focuses on athletic habits (diet, nutrition, exercise). It reviews the importance of eating in season as well as a balanced diet.
ACTIVITY | We will have a series of Olympic challenges (puzzles, challenges, spelling bee, races, alliteration challenges). Teams will compete in “English Olympics”
SKILLS | Listening; Team work; Habit building
Nuts22 | Women's Day
22 | Women's Day
TOPIC | GENDER EQUALITY. This topic will introduce three terms; feminism, misogyny, and gender norms. We will learn about Simone Biles and female champions.
ACTIVITY | We will have two activities. One is based on female artists and actresses, where students listen to music and watch films. We will also have a short discussion on equality, feminism, and gender norms.
SKILLS | Fluency, Music Appreciation, Argumentation
Women's DayFIVESTAR | Female Olympians~ Note ~
Some lessons have not been published due to intellectual copyright adherence.
Materials are under review by Mr. Charles and he will edit them soon and upload them for you!
23 | History of Luck & Superstition
23 | History of Luck & Superstition
TOPIC | LUCK. This topic will look specifically at the superstitions and traditions of luck.
ACTIVITY | We will watch a series of short video clips, and think about what make someone lucky? Is luck purely based on chance? Can we make ourselves lucky?
SKILLS | Creative thinking, Modeling
24 | The Show Must Go On! Improv
24 | The Show Must Go On! Improv
TOPIC | THEATER. All the World’s a Stage! This topic introduces basic theater and film terminology
ACTIVITY | Early learners will get an improv scene to continue. Advanced learners give a formal speech on the topic. Then, they will practice receiving 2 positive notes and one note for improvement.
SKILLS | Improv/Imagination, Giving Feedback
April 2026
25 | How Companies Get You to Buy
25 | How Companies Get You to Buy
TOPIC | MARKETING. We will learn about tricks that companies use to get people to buy things.
ACTIVITY | Together, we will look at really good advertising, and then students will receive a social problem, and have to “invent” a product and advertise it to the class.
SKILLS | Persuasion, Creativity, Public Speaking
26 | Martial Arts Movies
26 | Martial Arts Movies
TOPIC | MARTIAL ARTS AND MOVIES. In this topic, we are talking about two kinds of art: movies and kung fu.
ACTIVITY | We are going to watch a few clips of martial arts stunts, and talk about the camera perspectives, angles, and try some of the camera perspectives.
SKILLS | Perspective, Teamwork
27 | Rolemodels
27 | Rolemodels
TOPIC | ROLEMODELS. The topic of this class is Leonardo Da Vinci and Great Minds.
ACTIVITY | Students will either write about an idol that they have, or invent an idol and describe the qualities of this idol to a partner or small group.
SKILLS | Descriptions, Character Analysis, Reasoning
Fivestar | Ecosystems28 | California! Types of Habitats
28 | California! Types of Habitats
TOPIC | NATURAL DISASTERS. This topic will introduce students the very unique terrain of California. We will learn about California’s diverse biomes, as well as natural disasters.
ACTIVITY | Students will choose one of the natural disaster scenarios and devise an “escape” survival plan
SKILLS | Geography, descriptive language, problem-solving
29 | Tea and Hospitality
29 | Tea and Hospitality
TOPIC | HOSPITALITY. This topic is tea, welcoming guests, and social customs we have in different cultures.
ACTIVITY | Students will design a “tea ceremony” or a welcome norm for inviting guests to their home or school.
SKILLS | comparison, etiquette, global citizenship
May 2026
30 | Whose Map?
30 | Whose Map?
TOPIC | MAPS AND GEOGRAPHY. Maps and geography are always changing and disputed. We will learn why.
ACTIVITY | Students will compare different historical maps of the world, from explorers, ancient China, ancient America, and more.
SKILLS | critical thinking, spatial navigation
31 | Accents!
31 | Accents!
TOPIC | ACCENTS. Why does Mr. Alex's English sound a little different? Learn about sociolinguistics and accents.
ACTIVITY | After learning about different accents, we will listen to a couple of videos and songs, and try to guess what the accent is!
SKILLS | Listening, articulation, phonetics, intonation
32 | Save the Bees!
32 | Save the Bees!
TOPIC | ECOLOGY AND ECOSYSTEMS. In this class, we will learn about interdependence in an ecosystem and why EVERY organism plays an important role.
ACTIVITY | Students will become species in a living ecosystem. Then, there will be big changes.
SKILLS | Collaboration, cause and effect, metaphors
33 | Ikigai and Science of Happiness
33 | Ikigai and Science of Happiness
TOPIC | HAPPINESS. In this class, we will talk about complex emotions like nostalgia and also well-being.
ACTIVITY | Students will role-play as doctor and patient, and will use a chart to deduce what good or bad habits might be in a patient’s life that they can modify.
SKILLS | Emotional wisdom, reading charts, kindness
FIVESTAR | Science of HappinessJune 2026
34 | Hollywood Bootcamp
34 | Hollywood Bootcamp
TOPIC | FILM INDUSTRY. What are auditions? Headshots? What is casting, slating and ‘making-it’?
ACTIVITY | Students will prepare and perform an “audition” for a movie or commercial. There will be many different scripts to choose from, or improvise.
SKILLS | Engagement, improv, persuasion, presence
35 | Technology and Big Changes
35 | Technology and Big Changes
TOPIC | TECHNOLOGY & CHANGE. In this class we will learn how AI is changing the society in which we live.
ACTIVITY | Students will think of ways that we can use AI, and ways we should NOT use AI to change our society. For example, in medicine, law, education, etc.
For earlier level students, we will play JEOPARDY!
SKILLS | problem-solving, moral and ethical reflection
36 | Love is Love
36 | Love is Love
TOPIC | EQUALITY AND RESPECT. In this class, we will learn about the long-history of LGBTQ+ rights and acceptance in society.
ACTIVITY | Students will write a message to a person that they love (not in the class), without saying the name of that person.
SKILLS | Mutual respect, tolerance for other opinions
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