Grade 10 - Communicating

This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

It is expected that students will:

introduce themselves and family members using appropriate relationship terms
communicate needs, desires, and emotions appropriately
describe events and experiences in logical progression
exchange information orally and in writing using hiragana and katakana
participate in a variety of familiar situations drawn from real life

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Communicating in other grades click on an icon below.

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

At this level, students display growing abilities to take risks and develop a range of language-learning strategies to assist comprehension and expression. Emphasis remains on the practical and everyday uses of language, with students describing in Japanese more of what they do inside and outside the classroom.

Have each student construct a real or an imaginary family tree representing three or four generations. Ask students to add captions showing the relationships among family members and to present their family trees to the class. Have each student write a description of a classmate's family.
Support students in role-playing various situations in which they need to relate information (e.g., having to leave the classroom suddenly, missing a date, being absent from school). Then ask students to write their information in short notes to friends, teachers, or parents.
Invite students to create one-month calendars showing activities that might occur during that time. The calendars should include where and when the activities will take place. In pairs, students ask one another about their calendars and use hiragana to summarize the information in a paragraph.
Suggest that students create their own name cards in katakana . Distribute the cards randomly to other students. Ask recipients to seek the owners of the cards and greet them using appropriate gestures and language.
Have students in pairs prepare sets of instructions for working with crafts such as origami or playing simple card games. Provide opportunities for student pairs to practise giving and following instructions by creating the craft items or playing the card games.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Students at this level are increasingly able to use vocabulary and structures they have memorized in new or spontaneous situations. The focus of assessment continues to be on the extent to which messages are meaningful and understandable. Students work toward accuracy, knowing that they will be supported when they take risks and use newly acquired language. Errors continue to provide important information and are essential to students' language development.

When students are engaged in role-playing or other activities in which information is exchanged (e.g., shopping games, questions and answers, a calendar activity), use a checklist or simple rating scale (e.g., 3fully; 2partly; 1not at all) to record how effectively they:
- convey understandable messages
- use appropriate, logical sequences to link statements in the past, present, or future
- actively engage in the interactions, using Japanese to gain required information
- sustain the interactions, using a variety of strategies
- take risks to extend language use and facility
Provide frequent opportunities for students to reflect on what they have learned and to set personal goals related to language skills. For example, at the beginning of each class, ask students to write two goals for that class (e.g., number of times they will speak, expressions or structures they want to practise, questions they want resolved, vocabulary or structures they want to discover and learn). At the end of the class, have students note the extent of their success. To gain important insights into students' attitudes and development, review and comment on their goals and records at regular intervals.