term overview

Minasan konnichiwa
Year 2
This term the students will be solidifying their knowledge of colour and number and simple greetings. Students will participate in action related activities to interact with each other, using visual and non-visual support to make meaning of simple texts. Students will listen to texts identifying colour and numbers to demonstrate comprehension by actions, drawing and labelling. The students will respond to questions relating to colour and number using single words and set phrases and by selecting images. They will describe objects by colour. Students will begin to write and recognise kanji numbers. They will write the colour words in hiragana. Students will notice patterns in sentence structures and make comparisons between Japanese and English when describing objects and asking and answering what colour they and their peers like.

Year 3 and 4

Students this term will focus on the folk story Ookii kabu. Using their knowledge of hiragana they will learn to read the story and then create and perform their own folk story based on the original. Based on the vocabulary in the story students will identify specific items of information to comprehend the meaning of the story. Students will identify and write high frequency words of the story in hiragana and kanji where appropriate. They will be able to comprehend and recreate a simple story using correct word order. Students will be able to translate the story noticing words that do not always translate easily. Students will identify examples of cultural differences between ways of communicating in Japanese and their own language.

Year 5

This term the students will be working on a unit to learn about time. They will learn how to say the time in Japanese and organise and ask time questions to be at a specific place. They will be able to ask for clarification and assistance relating to what is the time and when particular events are held. They will read hiragana and kanji for number words and be able to write them. The students will be able to locate specific information in texts relating to time. Students will comment on similarities and differences when expressing values such as politeness, consideration and respect in Japanese compared to other languages and cultures. Students will create their own skit asking for information to get to a specific place and what time it is.

Year 6 and 7

This term students will use their Japanese to share and convey information about daily routine activities and events , using time expressions. They will extend their sentences using soshite, and sorekara. They read and write their own and their peers daily routines in hiragana and kanji. Students locate specific information relating to daily routines. They create connected sentences and use particles correctly. They will describe and recount events and experiences in time. Students will use present, past, negative verbs forms when doing their routine. Students will create their own journal of daily activities using the ipad app kids journal.

Please find attached the achievement standards for the Japanese curriculum.
Japanese curriculum – Achievement standards

Minasan konnichiwa

Year 1 and Year2/3

This term students will be working on the topic, “What is important to me?” We have brainstormed some ideas and you will be happy to know that family was the number 1 priority for our students! We have begun the term focussing on family and celebrations with an emphasis on Mother’s Day and Children’s day in Japan. Following on from that students will discuss friends, pets and things they like. Reiko our exchange teacher will be working with small groups on hiragana.
Keiko and Kenzo have been visiting student’s homes and sharing an adjective they would like to know in Japanese. It has been wonderful hearing the students discussing what an adjective is, as this is what students are learning in their classrooms also. Some of the adjectives have been used to decorate something special for Mother’s day.

Year 3/4

Students in these classes will be focussing on hiragana, with the emphasis being on recognising the 46 basic hiragana sounds. On the blog are some links to some activities for students to practise their hiragana if they wish, the title of the post is called, “A few links to help with hiragana!”. Students will also learn stroke order of the sounds. Students will be involved in a range of experiences so that all of the student’s learning styles are addressed. Activities will be broken up into sensory, repetition, IT technology and games. Reiko will be working with small groups of students on conversational Japanese.

Year 5,6,7

Hiragana will be the focus for these students also, although they will be expected to recognise and write hiragana with correct stroke order. Again students will be in small groups once instruction of the sounds has been given, with students having the opportunity to be involved in experiences that best support their learning styles. Students can find a number of resources to support their learning on Edmodo or on the blog. A weekly quiz will be given to monitor student’s progress. Students will be able to work at their own pace, meaning if they are finishing their hiragana recognition or writing they can continue ahead, or if they are finding hiragana difficult they can focus on the sounds that are challenging. Reiko will be working with the students in small groups preparing them for using their Japanese knowledge naturally.

I look forward to yet another busy term working with these wonderful students.

Davey sensei yori

日本語
Minnasan Konnichiwa (Hello everyone!)
Yasumi ni nani o shimashita ka (How was your holiday?) This term will be a very exciting one for our students in their Japanese classes, as we begin to use ipads in our Japanese lessons to engage students with technology and Japanese in a productive, purposeful and challenging program. Our Year 1 – 5s will be developing their reading and writing skills in Japanese, focusing on the hiragana writing system. We will be using the ipads to practise writing, recognise kana characters and produce our own writing in hiragana. Students will be working in groups, rotating around the room using ipads and participating in activities that facilitate their Japanese reading and writing skills.
Edmodo
Students in years 5, 6 and 7 have been working on Edmodo. Initially, when I introduced Edmodo to the students, it was to increase students’ exposure and engagement with the Japanese language and culture. The added ICT benefits have been that the students have been sourcing resources online to complete tasks, begun storing resources I share with them in their own online Edmodo library, participated in quizzes, uploaded completed assignments onto Edmodo and finally, by using Edmodo, developed skills to be responsible digital citizens. Teething problems at the beginning of the term, such as forgetting passwords etc, have now all been rectified and the students are using Edmodo responsibly. Yoku dekimashita (Well done!)
Class dojo
Students in the Japanese room have been earning class dojo points this year for being responsible learners. Students who are on task, help pack up, share Japanese words, work cooperatively in their group and help other students gain a dojo point. If they earn 10 points they earn a prize. This system also has the ability to be shared with parents, which I will hopefully be able to do in the future.

Keiko and Kenzo
Thank you so much to all the families who have looked after either Keiko or Kenzo in their homes and shared stories of their family life. Students have been noticing how each person has a story regarding how their names were given to them, and that Keiko and Kenzo have their own unique story regarding their name. They have begun to notice cultural differences in naming children. Once all the students have shared their name story, we will ask the children another question regarding their home life, so they can compare life in Australia and Japan. The words the students wish to learn from having Keiko and Kenzo have been diverse. I have been writing the words the students have wanted to learn on cards and then we go through them in class. Students have been grouping words based on categories, for example, animals, homes, people. I am in the process of having the cards made into a word wall, however the students do love to use the cards in lessons, so the word wall has taken longer than anticipated. Thank you to Anne for helping me create the cards for the word wall.

Receptions
New receptions have settled in well to the Japanese classroom routines. This terms new receptions will learn basic greetings. Mrs Williams’ and Mrs Bennett’s class will work on body parts and how to describe if something hurts or if they are sick. We will compare differences in what people do when they are sick, based on cultural norms.

Year 6 and 7
The 6/7 classes will work on communicating for a purpose. Whilst they can answer questions, they will also be learning how to ask questions in Japanese. This will be beneficial when they communicate, via email, with students at another local school who are also learning Japanese. Hopefully we will also have some Japanese pen pals to communicate with this term.
Should you have any questions regarding the Japanese program please feel free to come and see me, or contact me at the school on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday.