Hawthorndene Primary School

Japanese Program Overview – Term 3, 2017

Foundation

Unit Topic(s): Introducing Myself/

The Foundations of Hiragana

Learning Outcomes – Communicating

introduce self, using formal spoken language and appropriate non-verbal

language, such as bowing

make simple statements about themselves, such as their name and age

participate as a group in classroom routines such as opening and closing lessons

Learning Outcomes – Understanding

understand that each Hiragana represents a basic unit of Japanese sound

recognise the first five Hiragana characters, using mnemonic clues

identify gender-specific pronouns わたし (girl) and ぼく(boy)

indicate affirmative and negative responses using はい (yes) and いいえ(no)

Year 1 and Year 2

Unit Topic: My Body

Learning Outcomes – Communicating

name body parts in Japanese and describe body parts using basic adjectives

and colours

mimic Japanese pronunciation, intonation and rhythm through shared reading

and song

sing and respond to the action song, ‘Atama, kata, hiza, ashi’ (Head, Shoulders,

Knees and Toes)

listen to basic texts to obtain information, such as colour, body part and size

and use this information in guided activities

Learning Outcomes – Understanding

recognise some hiragana in topic words, such as くち (mouth), め (eyes),

みみ (ears) and あし (feet)

demonstrate understanding of topic words and some kanji by matching,

labelling and sorting

understand how to specify items using the possessive particle の

describe the colour and size of body parts using adjectives and

understand where the adjective fits into a basic sentence structure

Year 3 and Year 4

Unit Topic: Pokémon/ Adjectives

Learning Outcomes – Communicating

create an imaginary character (i.e. Pokémon) and describe their appearance

using adjectives for colour, size and shape

show interest in and respect for others, by expressing praise or

encouragement, using formulaic expressions

work with a partner to give and follow instructions to draw a Pokémon

character, using only verbal descriptions (e.g. atama wa chiisai desu.

mimi wa nagai desu. = The head is small. The ears are long.)

take on the role of their imaginary Pokémon character to respond to questions

about its likes and dislikes

Learning Outcomes – Understanding

understand that vowel sounds of Hiragana can be elongated to change meaning

understand that there is a stroke order for both kana and kanji

use the Hiragana chart to support reading and writing, recognising its

systematic nature

describe Pokémon characters using adjective–noun phrases

seek information using the question wordなん and the sentence-ending

particle か

Year 5, Year 6 and Year 7

Unit Topic(s): Prepositions/

Japanese Picture Books

Learning Outcomes – Communicating

take on different roles and responsibilities in the classroom, such as taking

the roll and identifying the day of the week

work collaboratively with a partner to produce and present a Japanese

picture book for younger students

use the appropriate language/sentence endings according to the audience

(i.e.「subjectは objectの position kana?」for a children’s book and

「subjectは objectの position desu ka?」for formal texts

respond to simple Japanese picture books; connecting these with their own

experiences by using statements, such as かわいいです、

たのしかったです、だいすきでした。

Learning Outcomes – Understanding

know how to pronounce all the sounds in the kana chart, including voiced and

unvoiced sounds (てんてん and まる), combined and long vowel sounds

understand that the sounds of hiragana and katakana are identical even though

the associated scripts are different

learn to apply the basic principles of stroke order to write all hiragana and high-

frequency kanji

know how to use prepositions to describe the position of objects

understand the use of ～が あります/います。 to refer to inanimate/animate

objects

notice that language can be made casual or ‘softer’ by adding particular

endings

observe how language use reflects respect and social distance