Japanese

Japanese 1A is a year-long course that is equivalent to 1 Semester of High School Japanese. This course prepares students to carry on basic conversation in Japanese , read and write simple sentences about familiar topics, and explores Japanese culture. Close attention will be paid to developing communicative skills that focus on listening comprehension and speaking, as well as written expression. At the conclusion of this course, students will be able to ask and answer questions; carry on simple conversations; express opinions and needs; read and write the 2 syllabaries Hiragana and Katakana as well as 30 Kanji. In addition, students will experience the Japanese culture through our exchanges and hosting opportunities with our Japanese sister school, Japanese food preparation, and celebrations of Japanese festivals and holidays.

Japanese 1B is a year-long course that is equivalent to 1 Semester of High School Japanese. This course builds on skills developed in Japanese 1A. Students will continue to develop their communicative skills focusing on listening comprehension and speaking. Students will learn to read and write 60 additional Kanji. At the conclusion of this course, students will have a deeper understanding of Japanese culture and be able to engage in conversation about themselves, interests, their surroundings, school, and daily life. In addition, students will experience the Japanese culture through our exchanges and hosting opportunities with our Japanese sister school, Japanese food preparation, celebrations of Japanese festivals and holidays, speakers from the Japanese community and local field trips to explore the local Japanese community.

Japanese 2 is a year-long course that is equivalent to 1 Year of High School Japanese. Semester 1 is Japanese 2A, and Semester 2 is Japanese 2B.

Japanese 2 will build on skills developed in Japanese 1A and 1B. Students will learn 50 additional kanji. We will focus on communication skills, and students will be able to sustain conversation on familiar topics by asking and answering a variety of questions with justification, expressing opinions, feelings and needs. Students will be able to understand a variety of authentic written texts and audio and video recordings. Students will use their Japanese language to create skits, videos, treasure hunts, and presentations, including video production using green screen and other technology to create advertisements.

If students successfully complete 3 years of middle school Japanese, (Japanese 1A, 1B, and Japanese 2 (A&B)) they will earn 2 years of Japanese High School credit and may continue in high school in Japanese 3.

In addition, students will experience the Japanese culture through our exchanges and hosting opportunities with our Japanese sister school, Japanese food preparation, celebrations of Japanese festivals and holidays, and local field trips to observe college level Japanese classes and explore Japanese culture in our community.

Spanish

Spanish 1A is the first part of a two-year middle school course or one year high school course that introduces students to Spanish language and Spanish-speaking culture. The course prepares students to carry on basic conversation in Spanish, read and write simple sentences about familiar topics, and explores how and where Spanish-speaking people live. Close attention will be paid to developing communicative skills that focus on listening comprehension and speaking, as well as written expression. At the conclusion of this course, students can ask and answer questions; carry on simple conversations; express opinions and needs; read and write short paragraphs; gain knowledge and understanding of Spanish-speaking culture.

Spanish 1B is part of a two-year middle school course or one year high school course that introduces students to Spanish language and Spanish-speaking culture. Because Spanish 1 is a full-year course, the description for 1A and 1B are the same. In 1B students continue to build their language and culture proficiency in order to be prepared for Spanish 2. The course prepares students to carry on basic conversation in Spanish, read and write simple sentences about familiar topics, and explores how and where Spanish-speaking people live. Close attention will be paid to developing communicative skills that focus on listening comprehension and speaking, as well as written expression. At the conclusion of this course, students can ask and answer questions; carry on simple conversations; express opinions and needs; read and write short paragraphs; gain knowledge and understanding of Spanish-speaking culture. The Spanish curriculum guided by a set of rigorously vetted course objectives that span basic word recognition to using memorized phrases and familiar vocabulary to talk about oneself and their surroundings. The course objectives encourage students to talk about themselves, their friends and family, home, school, food, clothing, travel, and interests. This course prepares students for college and career through a carefully constructed course of study that builds language and culture proficiency. The course broadens students? global perspective as they learn to communicate with different types of Spanish-speaking people. As a result students are prepared to carry on short conversations in Spanish, read and write short paragraphs about a variety of topics in Spanish, and understand the products and practices of Spanish-speaking cultures. Through a structured progression of topics that are current, relevant and meaningful for them, students will gain the knowledge and skills that enable them to become global citizens. At the conclusion of the course students will have a ready command of basic communicative use of the Spanish language at the ACTFL Novice-low to Novice-mid level preparing them for the focus of more complex use of the Spanish language in Spanish 2.

Spanish 2 A & Bis a year-long high school course that builds upon skills developed in Spanish 1. The course prepares students to comprehend and sustain a conversation about self, family, friends, interests, daily routine, health, school, travel and personal history. Students will read written materials on topics of personal interest and derive meaning from selected authentic text. They will write about familiar topics and explore how and where Spanish-speaking people live. Close attention will be paid to developing communicative skills. At the conclusion of this course students will be able to initiate and sustain conversation on familiar topics with pronunciation that does not interfere with communication; ask and answer a variety of questions with justification; express opinions, feelings and needs, providing solutions to problems; comprehend main ideas of selected authentic audio recordings, broadcasts and video and understand selected authentic written text; write short paragraphs, stories, skits, and dialogues on familiar topics (up to 150 words); gain knowledge and understanding of Spanish-speaking culture.

Course Descriptions