[English Education] How to teach general verbs do/does and the present progressive tense

"do is a general verb."
"For she, it becomes lives; that's the third-person singular s."
"It's the third-person singular present tense."

What I still remember is when I heard these words as a first-year junior high school student, I couldn't understand them at all, English became increasingly confusing, and I developed a dislike for it. Isn't the term "third-person singular" difficult? I used to think, "What is the third person?" This was during the second term of my first year of junior high.

Understanding the developmental stages of learning (Meaningful Reception Learning)

I believe there are developmental stages for this as well. Ausubel proposed "meaningful reception learning," and I will explain it simply by applying it to English.

Functional Learning
Until the age of 12 or 13 (or roughly from the first year to the first half of the second year of junior high), it is effective not to teach rules like grammar, but to have students repeatedly use specific expressions in communication activities and memorize them mechanically; this is called functional learning. For example, there is a method of learning chunks of English expressions physically, which is similar to the process by which infants learn language.

Meaningful Learning
This involves properly learning rules such as grammar to study a foreign language and connecting it with what has been learned so far, which helps learning take root. This is called meaningful learning, and the timing is considered to be 14 or 15 years old or older.

Applying this theory to English education, what does it mean?

Elementary school students don't learn grammar, right? In other words, it can be said that they are at a developmental stage where they cannot fully understand even if it is explained in words. However, once they become first-year junior high students, their teachers dive right into grammar instruction. This leads to breaking the students' spirits. "It's boring" and "I don't get it" become common. I think it is truly important to consider developmental stages.

The golden period of the first year of junior high?

People often talk about the "golden three days." It is a term used for the start of classes and classroom building, meaning it is the most important period for absorption. Personally, I feel like asking, "What can really be conveyed in English class in three days?" Doesn't the time end up being spent on conveying and enforcing rules and discipline for belongings and attending class?
For first-year junior high students, wouldn't it be good to provide plenty of input through sound and rhythm until at least Golden Week? This is because it is a period to provide a soft landing for what they learned in elementary school, so I think it is important to have classes centered on "speaking" and "listening."
When you open a junior high school textbook, the lessons up to Lesson (Unit) 3 or 4 can be progressed while reviewing what was learned in elementary school, so from a broader perspective, wouldn't it be better to proceed as if the entire first term is a golden period?

Grammar: Don't use difficult words

In the first term of the first year of junior high, I have students input a lot of sounds. I imitate Goro Tajiri's teaching method for be-verbs and general verbs. In my first year as a teacher, one of Tajiri-sensei's former students was my senior colleague. I, who didn't know how to teach English, was told to "follow me," and that summer I met Tajiri-sensei for the first time. I remember being moved, thinking, "Wow, there's a teaching method like this; it's so easy to understand!" Since I had grown up being bad at (and hating) English myself, I felt that a teaching method I found "easy to understand" would surely resonate with students. (I realized later that it wasn't that simple, but now I know the timing of how long I need to keep teaching before students start to understand.)

I was only a lecturer for one year, but after I was hired, they invited me to training sessions other than Tajiri-sensei's, and I feel lucky that I was able to learn about lesson planning at an early stage.

Video (Tajiri-sensei)

I wanted you all to have an image, so I looked for it and found this. The sound part doesn't appear, but if you put it in through sound during the first term, the instruction of do/does in the second term can be explained like in the video, making instruction easier.

I use cards like this to explain.

I also teach third-person singular present using chants with gestures (punch games) at this stage, so I don't use the term 'third-person singular.' I reveal the secret when they reach their second or third year, and since they remember the punch games, it helps them realize, 'Oh, that's why it was one hand (or both hands).' Every time, I realize that for first-year junior high students, verbal explanations of grammar should be kept to a minimum.

By the way, the way I teach the present progressive—the 'angel holding a monaka (in the middle of)' (the 'ing' of love)—is also from Mr. Tajiri. I have been using a drawing of the 'angel of love (ing)' that I had an ALT draw for me for a long time. When the be-verb appears, I keep telling them, 'This person doesn't get along with Mr. General Verb,' and I teach it as a story where they can get along when the angel of love is present. Since 'monaka' can also be read as 'saichu,' I introduce it as 'in the middle of doing something.'

　It's hard to convey without audio, haha.
　If you have any questions, please feel free to ask at any time. By all means, use this for your second-term instruction!