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

PRESCRIBED LEARNING OUTCOMES

• exchange information on familiar topics, using hiragana , katakana , and some kanji (see Appendix A) in familiar Japanese linguistic patterns
• exchange ideas and opinions using both semiformal (masu/desu ) and informal/plain forms
• describe or narrate events, situations, or experiences with some supporting detail
• interact in a variety of communicative situations drawn from real life

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

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Encourage students to describe their favourite sports or other activities, giving key information about them and explaining why they enjoy them. Have students use semiformal (masu/desu ) and informal/plain forms. Ask other students to select two activities they have never tried and give reasons for wanting to try them.
• Throughout the year, organize students to develop questionnaires and survey their classmates about various topics of interest (e.g., music, sports celebrities, part-time jobs, fitness, smoking). Divide the class in half and have each group conduct an internal survey. Groups then compare results, summarize their findings, and present them to the class.
• Hold brief weekly discussions about what students do on weekends, including days, times, places, and people involved. Assist students in creating role plays about making arrangements with friends for the following weekend.
• Have students role-play various authentic situations such as:
  • making an appointment with a doctor to discuss a medical problem
  • visiting a travel agent to plan a trip to Japan, including consideration of budget, transportation, dates, hotels, and any special requirements
• Provide students with a simple kanji text for reading practice. Then ask them to use familiar kanji to read parts of more complex texts that contain unfamiliar kanji . Challenge students to try to infer the meaning of the new kanji .

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

• When students are interviewing each other or role-playing with partners, arrange for each pair to be observed by at least two other students, who look for evidence that:
  • the interaction takes place in Japanese
  • students convey appropriate, relevant information
  • students use a variety of strategies to negotiate meaning and sustain the interaction (e.g., rehearsing, questioning, repeating key words and phrases)
• When students describe events or experiences, look for evidence that they are able to:
  • describe or narrate a sequence of events
  • make the order and relationship among events clear
  • include relevant details
  • speak clearly
  • use appropriate vocabulary and a variety of linguistic patterns
• Assess students' journals and written reports for evidence that they are able to:
  • use hiragana and katakana to present clear and appropriate messages
  • include some kanji , vertically and horizontally, as appropriate
  • include an increasing amount of detail
  • use appropriate vocabulary and a variety of linguistic patterns
  • use the appropriate language style (e.g., semiformal or informal/plain)
  • organize information and time sequences clearly
  • avoid serious errors that obscure meaning
• Encourage students to record and monitor two or three short-term goals each in their journals or notebooks. They might review and write about their progress in Japanese.

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

• 250 Essential Kanji for Everyday Use
• 501 Japanese Verbs
• Active Japanese 5 and 6
• Easy Katakana
• A Guide to Reading and Writing Japanese (Revised Edition)
• In Japan
• Japanese for Everyone
• Kanji and Kana
• Mangajin's Basic Japanese Through Comics
• Nihongo: First Lessons in Kanji
• Nihongo Notes 1
• NTC's Basic Japanese

• 101 Japanese Idioms
• Japanese Language and People
• Kimono
• Moshi Moshi

• KanjiWord
• Kcom2
• Power Japanese

• Dynamic Japanese
• Exotic Japan
• Multimedia Kanji Learning System

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