The AP Japanese Language and Culture Course is the highest-level course in the AP Japanese program. The course admits students in their fourth to fifth year of studying Japanese, depending on when they were admitted to the school and their mastery level of the language. The class meets five times a week for 45 minutes per class. There are approximately 36 weeks or 135 hours in the school year: 18 weeks or 67 hours in the fall semester, and 19 weeks or 69 hours in the spring semester.
Note: The AP Japanese Exam is offered three weeks prior to the end of the school year. The final week of each semester will be devoted to an end-of-semester assessment. Therefore, the course has approximately 33 weeks of actual instructional time each year.
The course is designed to provide students with a learning experience equivalent to that of a second year college course that develops their Japanese proficiencies at the Intermediate Mid to
Intermediate Low range of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines. As articulated in Standards for
Foreign Language Learning in the 21st Century , the course also prepares students to be able to demonstrate their proficiencies across the three communication modes: interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational.
In addition to communication , the course also addresses the other goal areas of the five C’s: cultural competence (an example includes the ability to navigate various social situations utilizing the correct mannerism), connections to other disciplines (examples include science and history), comparisons between the Japanese language and culture and those of the students’
(examples include school life or gift giving) and the use of the language in multilingual communities beyond the school setting (examples include tutoring native speakers or eating at a local Japanese restaurant).
The class is conducted almost exclusively in Japanese to expand students’ productive and receptive skills as well as the cultural knowledge necessary to communicate with and understand native speakers and writers of Japanese. Students sign a pledge to use only Japanese during classroom time with the full understanding of the linguistic benefits of such a requirement.
Using the Standards as guiding principles, the following goals are identified to develop the AP
Japanese curriculum from Japanese I through AP Japanese.
Goal 1: Students will effectively engage in interpersonal communication, exchange information and opinions, and express feelings.
Goal 2: Students will be able to interpret authentic or semi-authentic written and spoken
Japanese on a variety of topics that relate to everyday life and contemporary society of Japan.
Goal 3: Students will be able to give an oral, multimedia, or written presentation to share research, ideas, and opinions on a variety of topics that relate to everyday life and

contemporary society of Japan.
Goal 4: Students will demonstrate an understanding of Japanese culture by studying the relationship of products and practices to their cultural perspectives in the life of
Japanese people.
Goal 5: Students will demonstrate an understanding of their own culture and values and the nature of language by comparing them with the Japanese language and culture.
Goal 6: Students will expand their knowledge in other disciplines and recognize distinctive viewpoints that are unique in Japanese culture.
Goal 7: Students will use Japanese outside the classroom and beyond the school setting to connect themselves with the real world.
1) Classroom interaction are focused around three modes of communication: interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational for meaningful purposes. The five C’s are integrated through a thematic content-based unit approach while students build up language competence. Students will work from both a whole-to-part and a part-to-whole approach to develop mastery of given topics.
2) Newspaper and magazine articles, films, NHK News, You Tube clips, WebPages, and other developmentally and intellectually appropriate authentic materials are used to help students expand vocabulary, kanji, and structures, and to provide them with opportunities to understand Japanese culture through experiences and observations. Scaffolding activities, such as prereading/ prelistening activities, using visual aids, and graphic organizers will be provided to support students’ comprehension of the materials for native speakers.
Students will be taught and trained to use their inference skills for reading and listening strategies.
3) The course will provide ample opportunities for students to learn about and express their opinions on Japanese culture, society, and people, as well as to deepen their understanding about differences and similarities between Japanese culture and their own. Students, in pairs and in small groups, engage in oral discussions, give oral presentations, and write articles on a variety of topics throughout the course with a special focus on the relationships that connect a culture’s products, practices, and perspectives.
4) Technology is integrated for efficiency, motivation, and enrichment of students’ language learning experiences. Applications used for the course include keyboarding practices, clickers,
Smart Boards, Skype, Moodle, PowerPoint presentations, Jing recordings, e-mail messages, voice messages, Audacity, Hot Potatoes, and Windows Movie Maker (or similar program).
Many of these applications will enable students to be connected with native speakers in Japan and in the global community. Students will have the opportunity to regularly interact with native speakers in the community and in the school while also developing the skills to text-chat and email in Japanese.
Students will also conduct Web searches in Japanese to get information for their projects and assignments.
5) Kanji skills will be developed in a multitude of ways. The first involves summer study before the AP year starts. Students are provided with a list of the 410 AP kanji and a handout discussing the many methods (including many online sites) for practicing and mastering at least 70% of the

kanji with the idea that more than half of the AP-listed kanji should constitute review. Second, students will learn and build up their productive knowledge of kanji that are selected from each chapter of Nakama 2 . They fill in kanji practice sheets and learn to write designated kanji compounds. Simultaneously, students will independently engage in kanji study according to their self-determined goals for receptive skills. Kanji will always be assessed in context which stresses the students’ increasing knowledge of kanji and kanji compounds and how meanings and readings can shift within a given source.
6) Portfolio assessment: Students will cumulatively save their works, such as recordings of oral presentations, school announcements, PowerPoint presentations, copies of text chats, story narrations, compare-and-contrast articles, cultural posting articles, posters, etc. Students will be asked to take pre and post tests, self-assess their progress at the beginning of the year and at the end of each quarter, as well as to write reflections on their learning strategies, focusing on what worked best to facilitate learning. They will use this information for review throughout the year.
7) Best practices will be applied to day-to-day classroom instruction, such as cooperative learning, differentiated instruction, KWLH technique, graphic organizers, UDL, TPRS, and other teaching strategies that are useful in maximizing students’ learning and retention of new information.
8) Language learning techniques, including the use of metacognition, circumlocution, and skimming/scanning will be mixed with interdisciplinary skills, such as memorization techniques
(mnemonics), study skills, and time management practices. All these skills will be explicitly taught to ensure students are able to achieve their learning goals.
9) AP Japanese and Japanese 4 will be a combined course. While the topics and chapters covered will remain the same, assignments and assessments will be differentiated to compensate for the different levels of abilities and motivation. Students will enter into a “learning contract” before each new chapter to determine which “track” they will take knowing what assessments and assignments they will be expected to complete during that period. These assessments and assignments will be differentiated by the depth of the content, the level of difficulty in the source material, and the rubrics provided. Students are allowed to move between these different “tracks” upon completion of a chapter or unit and the start of a new one to assist them in finding the right compromise between a challenging curriculum and an impossible curriculum. This also allows students to display a preference for some topics over others based on their personal interests and strengths. These tracks are called AP 5, AP 4, and AP 3, referring to the score students aim to receive on the test. Japanese 4 students will also have access to an AP 2 grading system while the
Japanese AP students will not.
10) Utilizing the principals stressed in UDL (Universal Design for Learning), students will be given some say in what assignments they will complete per chapter by providing more choice in assessment or practice by allowing multiple ways to access the same subject matter and to also allow multiple ways to demonstrate understanding (assessment) of the subject matter. Students are still expected to interpret, discuss, and present information in a variety of formats so all four of the language skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) are equally emphasized and no one skill is exploited over the others.

Makino, Seiichi, Yukiko Abe Hatasa, and Kazumi Hatasa. Nakama: Japanese Communication,
Culture, Context . Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998–2002.
Kano, Chieko, et al. Basic Kanji Book . 2 vols. Tokyo: Bonjinsha, 1990, 1991.
Makino, Seiichi, and Michio Tsutsui. A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar . Tokyo: The Japan
Times, 1989.
Makino, Seiichi, and Michio Tsutsui. A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar . Tokyo:
The Japan Times, 1995.
Okano, K. et al. Total Japanese . Tokyo: Waseda University, 1994
Nagara, Susumu, et. al. Everyday Japanese . Tokyo. Gakken Co. Ltd., 1990
Kokusai Koryu Kikin. Erin ga Chosen: I can speak Japanese (Vol. 1). Tokyo. Bonjinsha, 2005
Other Sources
Hasegawa. “The Wonderful World of Sazae-san.” Kodansha International, 1997.
高畑勲 脚本監督、アニメ映画「ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん」 1999.
The Japan Forum. “The Way We Are: Photo Essays of High School Students in Japan.” www.tjf.or.jp/thewayweare/index.html
ECIS インターネット放送局 http://opal.ecis.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~jems/hosokyoku/bangumi.html
朝日小学生新聞 www.asagaku.com/shogakusei.html
中日こどもタイムズ www.chunichi.co.jp/kodomo/
Denshi Jisho Online dictionary www.denshijisho.org
日本語読解学習支援システム:リーディングチュウ太 http://language.tiu.ac.jp/
Nippon VoiceBlog: Japanese Narration Voice-Blog www.voiceblog.jp/nippon/
AJALT 歳時記 www.ajalt.org/saijiki/index.html
「世界がもし 100 人の村だったら」
Minna no kyouzai: http://minnanokyozai.jp/kyozai/home/ja/render.do
Deai: http://www.miniature-earth.com/ (English) http://www.oasisjapan.org/main/modules/pico/index.php?content_id=4 http://www.tjf.or.jp/deai/

Asahi shougakusei shimbun: http://www.asagaku.com/shogakusei.html
Google Japan: http://www.google.co.jp/
Rikai.com: http://www.rikai.com
Online poster creator: http://poster.4teachers.org/index.php
LinguaFolio http://www.doe.virginia.gov/linguafolio/
While in Pre-AP Japanese, all students have become accustomed to doing certain activities on specific days. Therefore, a similar schedule will be followed within the AP classroom so that students are able to anticipate what types of activities will occur and prepare accordingly. During weeks when students are completing projects or other multi-day assignments, the schedule will be altered as necessary.
Each day the students begin with a brief learning task, which is identified as bellwork. Examples of bellwork include reading or writing kanji characters in context, listening to a brief clip of audio or video and answering comprehension questions, activating previously learned information, or reviewing essential vocabulary critical to the day’s task all while the teacher takes attendance and attends to other class business. Bellwork takes five to ten minutes to complete most days.
Day 1: Input Day (Interpretive/Interpersonal)
Typical Activities included:
Discuss the weekend’s activities or similar topic.
Respond to presentation on new topic/chapter/grammar point
Watch a movie/video/ or other clip related to the week’s topic
Practice in pair/small groups with new patterns or vocabulary
Receive and discuss homework/assignments due later in the week
Receive and discuss any rubrics relating to the week’s topic
Participate in pre-reading or pre-listening activities or other related activities
Day 2. Listening/Speaking Day (Interpretive/Interpersonal)
Typical Activities included:
Practice orally in pair/small groups the new patterns and/or vocabulary
Interpret audio/video source material introduced in class
Participate in pre-listening activities or other scaffolding strategies
Complete listening comprehension worksheets or related activities
Work on projects/ multi-day assignments
Day 3. Assessment 1 (Presentational) & Reading/Writing Day (Interpretive/Presentational)

Typical Activities include:
Take first assessment of new topics introduced in Day 1
Interpret text or other source material based on topics introduced in day 1
Learn additional patterns or vocabulary related to the week’s topic (extension activities)
Work on projects/ multi-day assignments
Day 4. Review and Consolidation Day (Presentational, Interpersonal)
Typical Activities include:
Review homework, written assignments
Complete text interpretation exercises from day 3
Conduct peer editing of written work from day 3
Work on projects/ multi-day assignments
Prepare for Day 5 assessment
Day 5. Assessment 2 and Cultural Connections Day (Presentational/ Interpersonal/
Interpretive)
Typical Activities include:
Take second (often summative) assessment of week’s topic(s)
Focus on cultural aspects of week’s topic in class or group discussions
Present information related to week’s topic by one’s self, in groups, or in pairs
Complete assignments due by the end of the week
Work on projects/ multi-day assignments
Quarter 1: 9 weeks
Topic
AP Pretest
Content
Students take portions of the
2007 AP Japanese test
Preliminary
Chapter Review
Chapter 1
天気と気候
Weather and
Review of materials learned in
Japanese 1-3 (Pre-AP)
Complete LinguaFolio Self-
Assessment for portfolio
1) Weather forecast
2) Climate
3) 詩 「雨ニモマケズ」
Objectives/Descriptions
Students understand their current strengths and weaknesses concerning the Japanese language, set goals for the year, semester, and quarter, and develop an action plan to help them achieve it.
Emphasis will be on feeling comfortable using circumlocution strategies and other clarification requests when they have difficulty communicating, casual forms of verbs/adj./nouns, and recognizing 250-300 kanji from the AP list (student’s summer homework)
Students will learn vocabulary and expressions related to weather and climate, study different seasons in Japan and how

Climate
Chapter 2
旅行
Travel
4)
1)
2)
Haiku
Geography; map of Japan
Travel brochure
3) Travel plan
4) Travel journal
5) Postcard climate influences culture, such as in seasonal foods and clothing; discuss feelings conveyed in a poem by Kenji
Miyazawa; identify how seasons play important roles in haiku; and demonstrate their understanding by writing haiku while also learning a simple technique for
Japanese book-binding.
Students will learn about geography and traveling in Japan; how to read travel brochures and role-play with a travel agent; make a telephone conversation to make a hotel reservation; make a travel plan in a group; write a journal and postcard to describe their trip to Japan.
Performance Indicators (some of the following may not be conducted due to time constraints):

Listen and watch weather forecasts in Japan from both NKH and online sources and compare Japan’s weather with weather in the United States and other parts of the world.
 Make tomorrow’s weather forecast for one city in the world as a TV meteorologist

Read and appreciate Kenji Miyazawa’s poem , “雨ニモマケス” ; recite the poem; and explain how he/she feels about the poem.

Work collaboratively in a small group to find out the climate of one region during spring, summer, fall, and winter, as well as discover the typical seasonal events, customs, and festivals that take place in that region of Japan (Web search). Each group will present what they learn in class.

Identify four famous haiku poems that represent each season in Japan, and create a haiku book (using Japanese book binding techniques) with the poems and illustrations/ interpretations.
 Write a haiku in Japanese that reflects the current season, things in nature, and one’s state of mind and present it in class; after listening to classmates’ interpretations and criticism, offer one’s own explanation about the haiku; Add self-authored haiku in its final form to the book and continue to add haiku throughout the year to reflect the changing of seasons or special events.

The class works collaboratively to create a wall map of Japan that includes points of interest, such as major mountain ranges, rivers, national parks, large cities, and attractions.

Examine a travel brochure of a tourist spot in Japan and report what options are available while also paying attention to the high and low travel seasons in Japan and how it affects costs.

Text chat with a travel agent for necessary information and suggestions regarding the trip.

Role-play to make a telephone call to a hotel for a reservation.

Work collaboratively in a small group to make a travel plan, including transportation, hotel reservations, attractions and activities to cover on the trip given a specific budget; report the plan in class.

Write a travel journal as if students actually followed through on the plan in Japan.


Write a postcard from the mock trip to the teacher.

Conduct a text chat interview with a Japanese person/teacher about traveling experiences.
Formative Assessment:

Small vocabulary quizzes, kanji quizzes, and chapter tests

Listening comprehension test on weather forecasts

Text chat with a travel agent for suggestions

Role-play to make a telephone call to a hotel for reservations
Summative Assessment:
Oral presentations and peer evaluations:

Weather forecast as a TV meteorologist

Oral presentation on one season and typical seasonal events and customs in Japan (group)
 Recite Kenji Miyazawa’s poem with interpretation of feelings of the poem
 Haiku presentations and interpretations of classmates’ haiku poems
Written presentations:

Compare-and-contrast article about a season in Japan and that season in the Midwest

Travel journal that students write in about the details of the area and activities based on the travel plan they made in their group

Postcard written from Japan to the teacher

Creation of Haiku book
Interpersonal communication:

Individual or small-group oral interviews
Interpretive communication:

Read a travel brochure and summarize the content

Listening comprehension test on weather forecasts
Quarter 2: 9 weeks
Topic
Chapter 3
お願いとやり方
Asking for Favors and How to Do
Something
Chapter 4
きそく
Content
1) Asking for favors
2) Offering help
3) Manuals
4) Cooking a Japanese dish
5) “How to ~” Project
1) Postal Service
2) Banks
Objectives/Descriptions
Students will learn how to explain a problem and ask for help, and offer help or suggestions; practice reading manuals and recipes, and demonstrate how to operate/cook as directed; prepare a
Japanese dish and gain understanding of
Japanese cooking methods, ingredients, and seasonings in comparison with western-style cooking
Students will learn about postal services and bank services in Japan; compare how

Rules 3) School manual
4) Class schedule and school uniforms payments are made in Japan and the United
States; learn differences and similarities about rules in Japanese high schools and
American high schools; and appreciate the differences in class scheduling practices between Japan and the United States
Preparation for the
Japanese Language
Proficiency Test,
Level 3/Level 4
Chapter 5
私の将来、じゅん
び
My Future, Making
Preparations
1) Practice test for interested students
2) Other students will take level 4 test.
1)
おばけのやしき
(The Japan Forum)
2) “The Way We Are 2005”
3) Newspaper articles about youth and society in Japan
4) Time Capsule project
Students will evaluate their performance on the Japanese Proficiency Test; reflect upon their language growth over the past few months; create new or adjust beginning of the years’ goals
Students will learn about transitive/intransitive verb pairs and their usage through a ghost story; gain understanding of Japanese youth and the social problems they face; learn what dreams some high school students have for their future; think about and express their own future dreams.
Exam Week
Performance Indicators

Role-play situations where one needs to ask someone for favors, such as asking a teacher to write a letter of recommendation.

Read the manual for a simple machine such as a rice cooker, a fax machine, etc., and explain the steps in class.

Listen to the teacher present how to make a Japanese dish to the class; record and note the ingredients and methods needed to recreate the recipe.
 Learn how to cook a Japanese dish, cook it at home, and share it with one’s family.

Gain familiarity with measurements based on the metric system.

Write a compare-and-contrast article about Japanese cooking and American cooking.

Read signs in the post office and discuss postal services in Japan.

Role-play situations where one buys stamps and sends a letter, a postcard, and a parcel.

Discuss methods of payment in Japan and compare different ways financial transactions are made in Japan and the United States.

Examine a Japanese high school manual
(学生手帳)
and list school rules.

Work collaboratively in small groups to create a version of the school manual in Japanese for the use of Japanese language exchange students and their families who move into the community.

Write a compare-and-contrast article about rules in Japanese high schools and those in
American high schools. If there are big differences, discuss why those differences exist.

Working in small groups, create interview questions and conduct an interview of a native
Japanese speaking student who relocated to America. Questions should explore his/her experiences of being in both a Japanese and American school and dealing with the

transition between the two. The interview will be conducted and recorded via video Skype and/or Jing.

Write a report summarizing the result of findings about high school life in Japan.

Create a piece (visual/written/audio/video/etc.) that demonstrates understanding of transitive and intransitive verb pairs and how they are used in context.

Read online photo essays by Japanese high school students in “The Way We Are” (The
Japan Forum), found at www.tjf.or.jp/thewayweare/index.html. Choose one essay and reintroduce the student in class, with the focus on why this person is special for the writer.
 Participate in a blog by submitting a comment to one of the students in “The Way We
Are.”

Tell a personal story in a creative way by describing something unique about oneself, combining photos and oral narration in Photo Story, PowerPoint, iMovie, or a similar program.
 Read an article about one of the featured high school students in “The Way We Are 2005.”
Find and report what he or she plans to do in the future and what he or she is currently doing to prepare.
 Lay out one’s future plan in a graphic organizer and engage in a Skype/Moodle text chat with the teacher(one-on-one) about the plan.

Read a newspaper article about フリーター/ NEET and discuss employment issues in Japan.
Discuss possible reasons why some people prefer to be フリーター/ NEET .

Write a letter to oneself addressing the future self in five years with an emphasis on the plans made in the writer’s “future plan” assignment completed earlier (time capsule project)

Take the Japanese language proficiency exam (level 3 or 4) and prepare to take the real exam (optional) on the first Sunday in December.
Formative Assessment:

Small vocabulary quizzes, kanji quizzes, and chapter tests

Role-play situations at a post office

Listening test to following directions on how to prepare a Japanese food

Text-chat with the teacher about one’s future plan(s)

Transitive/Intransitive verbs project and presentation
Summative Assessment:
Oral presentations and peer evaluations:

Explain how to operate a simple machine in class
 Cook a Japanese dish at home; the student’s family will evaluate the task and the food

Report the result of a series of interviews with Japanese native speakers about transitioning between school life in Japan and America.

Describe a Japanese high school student with the focus on why this person is special to the writer

Oral narration to describe himself or herself while showing one’s photos in PowerPoint,
Window movie maker or similar program
Written presentations:

Compare-and-contrast article about Japanese cooking and American cooking


Create a school manual in Japanese of the school’s rules and regulations

Completion of time capsule letter to future self (to be mailed by the teacher in five years)
Interpersonal communication:

Individual or small-group oral interviews

Write a series of interview questions for native Japanese speakers who have spent some time in both American and Japanese schools.
Interpretive communication:

Read articles related to school rules or youth in Japan and answer questions about youth in
Japan
Quarter 3: 10 weeks
Topic
Chapter 6
道と聞き方と教え
方
Asking for and
Giving Directions
Chapter 7
贈り物
Gifts
Chapter 8
就職相談
Talking about
Employment
Content
1) Map of Tokyo Metropolis and transportation system
2) 時刻表 timetable
3) Announcements
1) Gift-giving customs in Japan
2) Manners of gift giving and receiving
3) Expressing gratitude
1) Biography
2) Career and volunteering
3) Resume
4) Job interview
Objectives/Descriptions
Students will review words and expressions used when giving directions; gain familiarity with train timetables and the transportation system in Japan; and gain knowledge of the transportation system in Tokyo
Students will learn gift-giving-related vocabulary and gift-giving occasions and purposes, and learn customs and manners of exchanging gifts in Japan
Student will learn honorific, humble, and other polite expressions and compare them with those in their own language(s); research and write about one famous Japanese person; create their own resume; and learn to talk positively about themselves and show enthusiasm in a job interview.
Performance Indicators (some of the following may not be conducted due to time constraints):

Use MapQuest.com to describe how to get to one’s house from school and rewrite the directions in Japanese.

Text chat on moodle to invite a friend for dinner and give him or her directions to one’s house.

Make a skit in which one person gets lost in Shinjuku Station and the other helps him or her to get on the correct train to go to Tokyo Disneyland.

Extract specific information from the timetable (example: a departure time nearest to noon of a 新幹線 from Tokyo and its arrival time at Fukuoka).


Listen to announcements in stations, on trains, and in buses for specific information.

Make announcements of school events in class. Students take turns and do it every day.

Compare means of transportation practices in Japan and the United States and write about them. Discuss possible geographical, political, and/or historical reasons for the differences.

Read a magazine article about お
ちゅうげん
,中元 and お
せいぼ
,歳暮 , the two major gift-giving seasons in Japan.

Summarize the article using a graphic organizer and compare one’s summary with those of other classmates.
 • Read the site on お中元 and お歳暮 at www.taka.co.jp/okuru/sasa_ochugen.htm and discuss what items and costs are appropriate for a gift. Also, discuss why people give お中
元 and お歳暮.

Make a skit of exchanging gifts in which A presents a gift to B as a token of gratitude. B in return presents a gift or a thank-you note to A a few days later.

Discuss in class whether the gift exchange in each skit was appropriate.

Write an article discussing Japanese gift-giving customs.

Make a PowerPoint presentation of a famous Japanese person’s life and give an oral presentation.

Find a volunteer job in the WWOOF Japan site (www.wwoofjapan.com), describe the job in detail, and state the reasons for wanting to do it.

Identify and describe information about the skills, knowledge, and personal characteristics needed in order to pursue one’s targeted career.
 Read a Japanese person’s resume and write one’s own in Japanese.

Study honorific and humble expressions in Japanese and compare polite expressions between Japanese and one’s own language.

Advocate for oneself in a mock job interview and show enthusiasm about the position.
Formative Assessment:

Small vocabulary quizzes, kanji quizzes, and chapter tests

Write a memo to explain directions from school to your house in Japanese

Text chat to invite a friend for dinner and give directions to your house

Listening comprehension test to hear specific information in an announcement

Summarize gift-giving customs in a graphic organizer

Make a skit of exchanging gifts
 Write one’s resume in Japanese
Summative Assessment:
Oral presentations and peer evaluations:

Present a famous Japanese person • using PowerPoint

Getting to Tokyo Disneyland from Shinjuku Station
Written presentations:

Write a compare-and-contrast article about means of transportation practices in Japan and the United States

Write an article discussing Japanese gift-giving customs

Interpersonal Communication:

Individual or small-group oral interviews

Write an email to the teacher that gives directions from home to school [C2, C13]
Interpretive Communication:

Read articles related to gift giving in Japan and answer questions

Listening comprehension test on giving directions

Web-based test over giving and receiving
Quarter 4: 8 weeks
Topic
Chapter 9
Content
1) Four-koma manga
2) Family relationship
3) Neighborhood and community
4) School problems （いじめ）
Objectives/Descriptions
Students will identify common expressions of emotion, such as happiness, sadness, and emotional stress; compare and contrast how people complain in Japan and the United
States; and compare and contrast the sense of self-esteem and self-confidence among
Japanese and American people.
Chapter 10 1) Environmental issues
2) Recycling
3) Global Warming
Students will learn to express their opinions, agreement, disagreement, and conjectures; compare environmental practices in Japan and the United States; and deepen their understanding of the need to protect the earth and each other.
AP Exam (early
May)
Literacy Project 1) Vocabulary Podcast Students will create a oral and visual description of an important concept from one of the five major core content areas for use by Japanese speaking ESL students
Final Exam and
Portfolio
Assessment
Performance Indicators

Narrate stories of family/neighborhood/community conflicts depicted in a four-framed comic and identify the way to develop a narrative story.

Watch episodes in
「まんが映画「となりの山田くん」
and identify and explain expressions for happiness, sadness, and stress.

Students work in pairs and write a narration of one episode of
「となりの山田くん」.

Each group will present a role-play of the selected episode and moderate discussion within the class about the conflict and solution in the story.


Read newspaper articles about bullying in Japan and discuss the social network between family and friends in Japan.

Interpret information about environmental practices and recycling programs in Japan based on the site こどもエコクラブ (www.env.go.jp/kids/ecoclub/index.html).

Compare environmental practices in Japan and the United States, and write an article about it.

Read an article about global warming and exchange opinions about how to protect the earth.

In small groups and as a class, read and interpret the essay 「世界がもし 100 人の村だっ
たら」

Engage in a classroom discussion on how our current environmental state of affairs for both the country and the world affect the people of this “village”.

Create a poster/PowerPoint/movie/multi-media presentation to promote one action plan in order to protect the earth, and give a speech in class.

Create a podcast that describes in both English and Japanese a term from a specific content area (i.e. U.S. History, Biology, 9 th
Grade English) to aid Japanese ESL students at the school.
Formative Assessment:

Small vocabulary quizzes, kanji quizzes, and chapter tests
 Narrate a story in “The Wonderful World of Sazae-san,” both orally and in writing

Write a narration of an episode in 「となりの山田くん」

Role-play an episode in
「となりの山田くん」 and moderate discussion

Perform as a class the ideas expressed in 「世界がもし 100 人の村だったら」
Summative Assessment:
Oral presentations and peer evaluations:

Give a speech to promote one action plan to help protect the environment

Create a podcast focusing on a content-specific term essential to success in the course for
Japanese ESL students to use.

Present an interpretation of 「世界がもし 100 人の村だったら」 in small groups to the class
Written presentations:

Write a compare-and-contrast article about environmental practices in Japan and the United
States
Interpersonal communication:

Individual or small-group oral interviews
Interpretive communication:

Read articles related to environmental issues and answer questions