8th Grade Foreign Languages

8th Grade Japanese Mrs. Rose Hutchison rhutchison@lejardinacademy.com

I.  Overview

• Reading / Writing 

The katakana writing system is introduced and used concurrently with hiragana.
Kanji characters such as for the days of the week are also introduced.

• Oral skills are developed through dialogues, speaking & listening drills, question & answer, presentations, and pair/group work.

Learn the following language functions through Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8 in
Adventures in Japanese 1:

• Express like/dislike, skill level of different activities, such as hobbies and sports
• Describe physical characteristics
• Further express frequency, time, location, accompaniment, and means with action verbs
• Express going, coming direction verbs by different transportation vehicles
• Describe time in terms of hours/minutes, days of week, dates of month
• Use affirmative and negative forms of basic adjectives

III.Classroom Policy
Expectations of students

• Accept responsibility for your own progress in Japanese
• Come to class prepared with necessary materials and assignments
• Seek extra help
• Make up all work due to absence within a reasonable time period

IV. Grading
Responsible Learner                                             10%
Homework / Classwork                                         20%
Dialogues, Q/A, Presentations, Projects                30%                
Quiz / Tests                                                         40% (30% for Q2 & Q4)
(Semester Exam)                                                 (10% for Q2 & Q4)

HOMEWORK / CLASSWORK
On most homework and classwork assignments, points are earned as follows:

• 3: Neatly complete entire assignment
  Correct missed parts if reviewed in class

• 2: Complete ½ of the assignment
• Work is sloppy, crumpled, torn, or messy
• Not follow directions         

• 1: Complete less than ½ of the assignment

• 0: Not turn in the assignment on due date or the following day

RESPONSIBLE LEARNER:  20 points per quarter

10 points        INDIVIDUAL
                 A point is subtracted for acts such as

• Being tardy to class
• Turning in an assignment late
• Not bringing supplies to class

                    (binder, paper, pencil, pen, flashcards, textbook, workbook, etc.)

• Not taking responsibility for own learning

10 points        CLASS / PAIR / GROUP
                    A point is subtracted when not working well as a group member in such areas as

• Following the 4 School Agreements
• Staying on task
• Ensuring the safety of group members
• Maintaining a positive, productive learning environment
• Speaking English when specifically instructed to use Japanese

Every 3 subtracted point Parents will be contacted.

8th Grade French Ms. Allison Bourdlaies abourdlaies@lejardinacademy.com

Bonjour! Bienvenue to the MYP 3, 8th grade French program. This year’s focus will be on comprehending and speaking the target language. In combination with this expectation, students will be prompted to develop the strong grammar skills necessary to prepare for MYP 4. With an emphasis on speaking French, approximately 90% of this course will be conducted in French.

Bon Voyage! Level 1B is the text used in this course. The following verb tenses will be introduced and applied throughout the year: imperfect, conditional, future and past tense. This broad knowledge of tense-usage will provide a more realistic and less limiting vocabulary for everyday conversations. Allons-y! Let’s go!
                       
Course Materials:

• Textbook: Bon Voyage! Level 1B. Conrad J. Schmitt and Katia Brillie Lutz.Glencoe/Mcgraw-Hill, 2005.
• Bon Voyage 1 workbook
• Composition book/journal

Weighting grades:

• Homework/Classwork:           25%
• Quizzes:                              35%
• Tests/Projects/Journals         40%

Course Overview:
Quarter 1

• Identify and describe articles of clothing
• Describe people’s activities
• Compare people and things
• Express opinions and make observations
• Observe placement and spelling of colors with clothing items
• Discuss clothes and clothes-shopping in the French-speaking world
• Check in for a flight
• Talk about some services aboard the plane
• Begin learning imperfect tense
• Talk about people and things as a group
• Discuss air-travel in France
• Purchase train ticket
• Request information about train arrivals and departures
• Use expressions related to train travel

Quarter 2

• Talk about people’s activities
• Introduce conditional and future tense
• Point out people or things
• Discuss an interesting train trip in French-speaking Africa
• Talk about team sports and other physical activities
• Describe past actions and events
• Ask people questions
• Discuss popular sports in Canada and French-speaking Africa
• Describe weather
• Talk about seasonal sports
• Discuss past actions and events
• Make negative statements with past events
• Talk about a ski trip in Quebec

Quarter 3

• Describe your personal grooming habits
• Talk about your daily routine
• Talk about your family life
• Tell some things you do for yourself
• Talk about daily activities in the past
• Discuss a French family’s daily routine
• Discuss movies, plays, and museums
• Review use of conditional and future tense with routine
• Tell what you know and whom you know
• Tell what happens to you or someone else
• Refer to people and things already mentioned
• Talk about some cultural activities in Pari

Quarter 4

• Explain a minor illness to a doctor
• Have a prescription filled at a pharmacy
• Tell for whom something is done
• Talk about some more activities
• Give commands
• Refer to people, places, and things already mentioned
• Discuss medical services in France
• Culmination of all verb tenses learned in combination with review of chapter summaries

Late work policy:
Excused absences will allow 2 school-days (not just days we have French class) to turn in late work. Within the acceptable 2 school-day period, full credit for make-up work is available. After 2 days, work will not be accepted. It is a student’s responsibility to obtain missed assignments either from instructor or K12 Planet.

Tutoring:
A student requiring additional help should arrange a tutoring time with instructor. Although I am not available many study halls because I teach in the afternoons, I am available after school until 4 p.m. with the exception of Wednesdays. This personal assistance is intended to be a bridge, helping a student on a temporary basis. An ongoing need for outside help would indicate the necessity for a private tutor.

K12 Planet/online homework and grades
K12 is the online source that provides daily homework assignments and current grade status. Students and parents should use K12 regularly. Grade updates will be posted by Monday evenings of each week, with the exception of holidays.

Please contact me anytime via email to set up any conferences or arrange to speak about any issues.

Merci beaucoup for your interest and support of one of our world’s most practical modern languages, la langue française.

8th Grade Spanish Mr. Charles Blanco cblanco@lejardinacademy.com

Supplies: Textbook (Paso a Paso Level B); Practice workbook; Writing, Audio & Video Activities (WAVA) Level B workbook; 2 marble composition notebooks (1 used for written homework assignments and 1 for writing assignments); writing utensils; loose leaf paper or an extra notebook for taking notes; 1 small box of dry erase markers (used for in-class translations).

Course Description: Spanish 8 serves as the second half of an introduction to and overview of the Spanish language.  The main focus of this course is to continue developing communication skills in Spanish.  The students will further build upon these communication skills by continuing practicing to listen, read, write and speak in the Spanish language.  Students will also further their understanding and appreciation of the cultures of the Spanish-speaking people and learn to compare these cultures to their own.
            Spanish 8 is built upon seven themes: Leisure and vacation, home, health, community, movies and television, restaurants and the environment.  These are the organized themes in which students will continue communicating in Spanish.

Grading System:

Course Content and Objectives
Students will learn to talk about themselves (family, daily routine, food and clothing, seasons, directions, socializing etc.) with the use of basic sentence structure and vocabulary.  By the end of this year, students should be able to read and write basic Hanzi Chinese characters. 

Textbook  Students will have the opportunity to study using two textbooks.  Ni Hao:  Introductory Levels 1 and 2 will be used for the entire school year.  Ni Hao audio, DVD and CD ROM will be used as supplementary learning materials.  The Book 1 will be covered in entirely.  The first four chapters in Book 2 will be studied.

Outcomes for the first quarter:

• Introduce the concepts of language tones including initials and finals
• Introduce basic strokes of Chinese characters (hanzi)
• Greetings appropriate to time of day and person
• School, classmates, and teachers
• Spending time with friends (sports, identifying people)

Outcomes for the second quarter:

• Nationalities and countries
• Introduce self with more details
• Discussing families
• Seasons and festivals
• Food and clothing
• Health matters

Outcomes for the third quarter:

• Days of the month and week (including birthdays)
• Telling time (early, late)
• Discuss in detail daily routines at home
• Telling others about one’s day
• Shopping
• Clothing in more detai

Outcomes for the fourth quarter:

• Visiting friends
• Making phone calls
• Eating and food
• Weather

Socio-Cultural Information
In addition to the communicative skills above, socio-cultural matters will be introduced and discussed throughout the year.

• Chinese writing system and its origin
• Basic Chinese geography
• Polite and informal speech
• Using chopsticks
• Expected behavior patterns
• Current topics and interests of Chinese youth
• Last name based vs. first name based
• Small talk
• Manners in the classroom setting
• Superstitions and cultural beliefs
• Ways of counting and showing numbers
• Significance of colors
• Significance of birth dates and Chinese astrology
• Eating noodles
• Chinese school system and daily school life
• Daily food items, seasonal foods (festivals), drinks in China
• Chinese hobbies of modern youth
• How Chinese people respond to praise and complements