Grade 8 - Acquiring Information

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:

locate and to some extent use specific information from age-appropriate Japanese-language resources to complete authentic tasks
convey acquired information in oral and visual forms, and in writing using hiragana and some katakana
identify hiragana and katakana language items when encountered in Japanese resources

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

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Students are generally interested in acquiring information or investigating things when they have a meaningful purpose. Where they are available, select interesting, age-appropriate Japanese materials from many sources, including the Internet, and keep tasks fairly simple. The format and context of the information should be familiar and related to topics such as food or school and community activities.

Ask students to listen to or view Japanese sportscasts to identify information and Japanese loan words. Then have students role-play sports announcers by relaying scores and other sports highlights.
Assist students in creating What's Hot and What's Not charts (or Japanese equivalents). Invite students to develop checklists in hiragana and katakana for categories such as music, celebrities, and movies. Ask students in groups to complete the checklists by filling in their likes and dislikes. Have groups use the checklist information to prepare questions to ask other student groups, carry out surveys, and compile this information into charts. As an extension, have students work in pairs to provide simple reviews of movies, music, concerts, or television shows and present them to the class.
Invite students to review a variety of fast-food restaurant menus in Japanese and role-play ordering meals from their favourite restaurants. Then have them develop and conduct a class survey of food preferences and eating habits. Provide students with copies of Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating and ask them to analyse students' meal choices and represent the food groups they contain. Working in groups, students could then use drawings, maps, and vocabulary to create a "Fast-Food Restaurant Guide" that includes food guide information.

SUGGESTED ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

Students are now acquiring and using information to complete realistic oral and written tasks. They continue to use visual representations to support and extend meaning, combined with limited writing of hiragana and katakana .

Look for evidence that students are developing effective language-learning strategies such as:
- confidenceapproaching tasks with positive attitudes
- resourcefulnesstrying a variety of approaches and strategies to solve problems
- perseverancecontinuing in the face of difficulty without becoming frustrated
- risk-takingwilling to attempt new and unfamiliar tasks or approaches
- commitmenttaking pride in completing assigned or self-selected work
- self-monitoringchecking on their own progress and making needed adjustments
To assess students' role plays of sportscasts, use criteria such as:
- offers complete information
- includes details to enhance the information
- incorporates useful vocabulary and expressions
- uses appropriate loan words accurately
- attempts to appeal to the audience
When assessing written work, criteria might include:
- meaning is clear
- uses learned structures and patterns appropriately
- uses a range of vocabulary to form simple sentences
- includes hiragana or some katakana for common words
Provide students with cards that contain examples of any of the three Japanese scripts and note how precisely they are able to distinguish defining characteristics (e.g., complexity, shape, angularity, boldness, roundness), recognize patterns within each script, and accurately categorize the cards by type of script.

RECOMMENDED LEARNING RESOURCES

Print Materials

Basic Japanese-English Dictionary
Everyday Japanese
Japan: An International Travel Map
Japanese - An Appetizer
Martin's Concise Japanese Dictionary

Multimedia

Kimono
Niko Niko

CD-ROM

Exotic Japan

Revised: January 26, 1999

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