Shaler Area High School Curriculum Night Presentation

Topics

✔Course Offering

✔Curriculum (Goals, Structure, Learning Activities, & Teaching Activities)

✔Learning Strategies

✔Assessment (Why, What and How and Grading)

✔Japanese National Honor Society

Course Offering & Extra Curricular Activity

✔ Level I

✔ Level II

✔ Level III

✔ Level IV

✔ Level V

✔ Potential of the Future Japanese AP course(?)

✔ Extra Curricular Activity (JNHS)

Curriculum Goals

✔ Developing Learner’s Communicative CompetenceKnowledge and skills in five areas (Listening, Speaking, Reading,

Writing and cultural Understanding)

✔ Helping Students How to Apply Their Learning Strategies– Six Types of Learning Strategies are Identified. Students should

become aware of each type and apply them for their own study

✔ Technology Integration in Japanese Language Learning– Japanese word processing use, Internet use for written language

practice, Power Points use for presentation, E-mail, Scanner and Digital camera use for presentation

Curriculum Structures

Topics/ Themes (about 15topics)PersonalInformation

Family Life

House andHome

Shopping

Weather

Community

Etc.

Language Functions (Approx. 56)Introducingself

Socializing

Describing

Confirming

Expressinggratitude

Giving areasonEtc.

Text types & Text levels

Word level(1 for 1, signs,maps, calendars)

Phrase level(words or phraseswith little or noconnected text , andvisual clues)

Sentence level(Factual accountsof common eventsin choronologicalsequences,instructions,structured orstereotypediscourse)

Complexsentence

Etc.

Macro Skills

Listening

Speaking

Reading

Writing

Scope of Learning Activities

✔ Listening to (audio cassette tapes, teacher guided listening activities, fellow students talking & presentation)

✔ Speaking (responding to the teacher’s question in Japanese, role plays, skit preparation and presentation, using basic classroom expressions, dialogues performance and pattern drills)

✔ Reading (reading aloud, making cards for recognition of katakana, kanji card, pair work as well as self)

✔ Writing (warm-up exercises for words or letters students learned previously, card making, a draft writing for an essay, final writing work.)

✔ Independent, open ended project (Writing, recording, research, a group presentation work)

✔ Cultural activity participation

Diagram of Learning Strategies

Cognitive Strategies

Compensation Strategies

Metacogntive Strategies

Affective Strategies

Social Strategies

Memory Strategies

Example of Language Learning Strategies (everyone learns differently)

✔ Memory Strategies (creating mental linkage. Applying images and sounds, reviewing well)

✔ Cognitive Strategies (Practicing, Receiving and Sending messages, Analyzing and reasoning, creating structure for input and output)

✔ Compensation Strategies (guessing intelligently, overcoming limitations)

✔ Metacognitive Strategies: Attitude (Setting personal goals, arranging and planning your learning,, focussing on tasks)

✔ Affective Strategies (Lowering your anxiety, encouraging yourself, taking your emotional temperature)

✔ Social Strategies (Asking questions, cooperating with others)Resources: Language Learning Strategies, Rebecca L. Oxford

Teaching Activities/Techniques

Memory

SocialCognitive

Compensation Affective

Attitude

(vocabulary intro with picture,student drawing of objects or event, students see and say, TPR

(Explaining lang. Structure, close form exercise, repeated structure drills

Pair work, small group, playing cards while learningalphabets, kanji)

Guessing from context, use of gesture to communicate

Focus on task, mind set, prioritizing, Focus on task, mind set, prioritizing, responsibilityresponsibility

Calligraphy, TPR. Playing calm music, physical exercise

Assessments: What? Why? And How?

Instruction LearningWhat? What?-Curriculum scope -Learning outcome of know-

& sequence ledge and skills-Instructional Technique -Learning process- Material

Why? Why?-To plan effective instruction - To check /monitor learner’s-To feedback for instructional progress effectiveness

How?Assessment Methods: Traditional Vs alternative

Traditional AlternativePurpose Purpose-Learning outcomes (the products - Emphasis is on the process of are assessed. learning as well as the product-To allow comparisons across - To assess instructional processes populations as well as instructional objectives

Contents Contents Discrete points are assessed -Tasks are often open ended, offer

students a wide range of choices Formats Formats-Multiple-choice responses -Demonstrations, performance),

portfolios, journals, observations, conferences

Grading

✔ Benchmarks for each grade level and each four skill areas

✔ Areas of grading– Active participation (the percentage of this portion decreases on

each level) – Homework (The types of homework also changes on each level)– Written class work– Quizzes (oral/aural, reading and writing)– Performances (Oral response, skit, interviewing, tape recording a

monologue, or interview)– Independent project

Reference to Language Developmental Stages

✔ Knowledge which a student can recall that they learned

✔ Knowledge and usable skills which a student can consciously recall and use

✔ knowledge which students have already accumulated unconsciously (can recall without laborious efforts)

✔ Knowledge and proficiency which a student can fluently command

Japanese National Honor Society

✔ Goals of Society Members Activities --Experience of leadership, community services to share their knowledge and skills

✔ Membership Selection Criteria - Third year of Japanese, good grade and good citizenship

✔ Merits of Five Years (not four years) JNHS membership --Increase of receiving scholarship, Character references, and Leadership experience in working for community services

✔ Annual JNHS Activities:– Homecoming parade participation, - Shaler North Hills Library– Visit of a private elementary school Origami workshop– Japanese students newspaper publishing suggested this year “The ideas of

innovative activity for the JNHS from students are welcome.”

Graduation Project Personal Thought at this stage.

✔ Start early--Each year a student keeps your representative work for Portfolio (a recorded tape, a writing project, authentic letters, photos commemorating some event.

✔ Add more personal touch, such as e-mail or letter exchanges, event of meeting or hosting a Japanese student, and keep a personal journal

✔ Community Japanese family visit

✔ Internship at a Japanese company (?)

✔ Final Project can be presentable in a various form, such as Power point, web page publication or as a book

Thank you for Coming