PROULEX EDITION · Mega Goal by McGraw-Hill. The series includes: • Teacher’s guide • Student book • Workbook • Audio program • Student CDs • Online Learning Center

MEGAP

RO

UL

EX

E

DIT

ION

PJS PROULEX JUNIORS SECUNDARIA

PJS Manual

2 PJS

PR

OU

LEX

JUN

IOR

S SE

CU

ND

AR

IA

Contents

1. PROULEX Juniors Secundaria (PJS) 3

2. General objectives 3

3. Teacher profile 3

4. Student profile 3

5. Discipline 4

6. Methodology 5

7. Materials 5

8. Exams content 5

9. Daily planners 6

10. Grading criteria 8

11. Administration of exams and assessments 8

12. Forms 9

PJS Manual

3 PJS

PR

OU

LEX

JUN

IOR

S SE

CU

ND

AR

IA

1. PROULEX Juniors Secundaria (PJS) is for adolescents who are 11 to 14 years old. The program consists of twelve 40-hour levels, and the courses are semi-intensive with three options:

• Calendar A: Mondays and Wednesdays• Calendar B: Tuesdays and Thursdays• Saturdays

2. General objectivesStudents finishing this program will have developed skills and micro skills that will assure the achievement of the following goals.

• Students should be able to listen to and understand vocabulary, phrases, expressions, questions and conversations related to a variety of topics that are relevant to them, and that take place in a variety of familiar contexts: school, leisure time, and traveling, among others.

• They should be able to communicate fluently and accurately at an intermediate level with English speaking people in common everyday situations that require spontaneous interaction and exchange of information.

• They will be able to ask for and give information about familiar topics in different situations and contexts, and they will be able to express personal opinions.

• Students should be able to read and understand both short and long texts of different kind: articles, messages, letters, notes, forms, and signs that are at their level of proficiency or a little higher.

• They should be able to write single words, notes, brief messages, paragraphs and letters in order to provide or express information related to contexts, topics and situations familiar and relevant to them.

3. Teacher profileA teacher from the Juniors Program is a person who enjoys teaching, has a very good command of the English language and training in ELT. Specific training in teaching children and adolescents and previous experience with the target age groups are preferable and highly recommended.

A teacher from the juniors program should be responsible, cooperative, creative, patient, have good classroom management skills, and be willing to work on his/her professional development. Therefore, PROULEX encourages teachers to attend seminars, conventions and/or courses related to language teaching, and it provides teachers with in-service training.

4. Student profileAdolescent students come from different socio-cultural and educational backgrounds. They come from lower middle class and higher middle class, so some of them go to public junior high schools, while others go to private schools. English is part of the curriculum in both type of schools, but the number of contact hours, the materials and the methodology are very likely to vary. Therefore, students’ prior knowledge of English varies. There might be true and false beginners, and sometimes it is necessary to administer a placement test.

Generally speaking, all students are sent by their parents (they are forced to come). Nevertheless, adolescents are aware of the generalized need to learn English, thus most of them have instrumental motivation, and if they have a good experience at PROULEX, their motivation becomes integrative. PROULEX teachers’ personality, methodology, and classroom management practices have an important role here. They can have a positive impact on those adolescents who join PROULEX with little motivation and a negative attitude towards the language due to their previous English learning experiences.

Students’ most common interests are technology, music, movies, sports, famous people, internet, television, fashion, video games, and food. Additionally, one of the aspects students enjoy the most about PROULEX is the opportunity to make new friends. For that reason, teacher’s ability to establish a good rapport not only with students, but among students is very valuable.

PJS Manual

4 PJS

PR

OU

LEX

JUN

IOR

S SE

CU

ND

AR

IA

5. DisciplineIn order to favor good discipline in the classroom it is necessary that teachers establish a discipline contract with their new groups of students. These need to be involved in the contract design as to avoid imposing rules and to promote a positive and cooperative attitude towards the contract. Below is a list of standard PROULEX rules and their consequences.

In all cases teachers need to explain the meaning of the rules, make sure students understand what they mean and explain the reasons for each rule to their students. In the rules below, each number indicates the action to be taken each time the inappropriate behavior is repeated by the same student.

a. Eat / drink outside the classroom (not in class) 1. Reminder: Ask student to put the food/drink away. 2. Confiscate: Take the food/drink away and return it when going to break or after class. 3. Throw away: Have the student throw his/her food/ drink away.

b. Always keep cell phones or any other gadget in your bags during class iPods, magazines, PSPs, etc. are examples of objects considered in this rule. 1. Reminder: Ask student to put his/her stuff away. 2. Confiscate: Take the gadget away and return it when going to break or after class. 3. Confiscate: Take the gadget to coordination. The student and his/her parent have to pick it up there.

c. Respect classmates and teacher. Some common misbehavior is fooling around, distracting others, getting off task, not paying attention to teacher, taking or hiding belongings from their owners, etc. 1. Reminder: Ask student to apologize, give things back or get back to work, depending on the situation. 2. Warning: Move student to a different place. During break or after class, talk to student to make him/her aware of his/her behavior and why it is not appropriate. In addition, you could keep student from participating in a game due to his/her behavior or write his/her name up on the board. At the end of the class, students whose name is on the board will have extra homework, which will count for the final grade. 3. Academic coordination: Take student to coordination to discuss why his/her behavior is not acceptable and what we expect of him/her. 4. Parents: Send a note for parents requesting to talk to them or have coordination (or somebody else) call parents for you.

d. Use English in class. We can be flexible, depending on students’ level and important needs to communicate something. In other words, the consequences can be considered when students speak Spanish unnecessarily. 1. Reminder or: Do not answer questions in L1. / Have students monitor each other’s use of L1 / Praise students who do speak English. 2. Warning: Talk (again) about the reasons for the use of English. 3. Board: Write student’s name up on the board. If he/she reduces the use of L1 and makes an effort to practice what he/she knows in L2, erase the name by the end of the class. If not, assign any extra homework you consider relevant and useful for the student. Not doing this extra homework will affect student’s grade negatively. 4. Academic coordination: Take student to coordination to talk about the reasons for this rule and how the student can benefit from trying to use English.

OTHER OPTIONS:Teachers may add other rules depending on the groups they get or what they consider important, for example: arriving on time. The list of rules should be kept short, and it is highly recommended to discuss it with Academic Coordination in advance.

In the case of more disrespectful behavior or serious offenses, we can use different consequences depending on each situation, and those need to be also discussed by Academic Coordination and the principal from the school.

AVOID: • Penalties with involve bringing money, candy,

cookies, food, etc.• Punishments such as making the student stand

up in a corner or in the middle of the classroom or having the student write a sentence down a hundred times.

• Having students who are eating or drinking in class share their food or drink with others.

• Deducting points for using Spanish. This is not part of the grading criteria.

• Sending PJ students out of the classroom (by themselves).

PJS Manual

5 PJS

PR

OU

LEX

JUN

IOR

S SE

CU

ND

AR

IA

6. MethodologyWe use a combination of the Communicative Approach and the PPP model (Presentation – Practice – Production). The Communicative Approach consists of presenting language in context and implementing activities that simulate real life situations and promote real exchange of information, thus communication. The initial focus is on meaning and use, which helps make the language relevant. Then, students work with controlled and semi-controlled practice activities to get acquainted with language patterns, which involve a focus on form.

The four skills of the language (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) are integrated into the courses, so that the students develop these in a balanced way throughout the program. For that reason, teachers should provide students with enough opportunities to practice and work with both receptive and productive skills, so as to achieve the linguistic objectives from each course.

The materials include projects and songs, and teachers may also incorporate games and video to add variety to the lessons and help students practice their English in interesting and enjoyable ways. In the case of video sessions, these need to be planned in advanced and authorized by academic coordination.

Teachers are expected to adapt their teaching to the age and overall characteristics of each group of students, trying to always personalize the language.

7. MaterialsThis program uses a special PROULEX edition of the series Mega Goal by McGraw-Hill. The series includes:

• Teacher’s guide• Student book• Workbook• Audio program• Student CDs • Online Learning Center

8. Exams contentThe table below indicates the units to be covered for both midterm and final exams in all levels.

Level Midterm exam Final exam

1 Unit 1-3 Unit 4-6

2 Unit 1-3 Unit 4-6

3 Unit 1-4 Unit 5-7

4 Unit 1-4 Unit 5-7

5 Unit 1-4 Unit 5-7

6 Unit 1-4 Unit 5-7

7 Unit 1-3 Unit 4-5

8 Unit 1-2 Unit 3-4

9 Unit 1-2 Unit 3-4

10 Unit 1-2 Unit 3-4



PJS Manual

6 PJS

PR

OU

LEX

JUN

IOR

S SE

CU

ND

AR

IA

9. Daily plannersThe daily planners vary according to the number of units to be covered in each level. Following are the planners corresponding to calendars A and B, which are followed by those for Saturdays.

9.1 Calendars A and B

Levels 1 and 2

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Unit 1 Unit 1 Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 2


Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 3Unit 3 Review

Midterm exam Unit 4


Unit 4 Unit 4 Unit 5 Unit 5Unit 5 Unit 6


Unit 6 Reading assessment

Unit 6 Speaking assessment


Review Final exam

Listening assessment Final grades

Levels 3 to 6




Unit 3Unit 3 Unit 4

Unit 4Unit 4 Review

Midterm exam Unit 5







Review Final exam


Level 7




Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 3 Unit 3Review

Midterm exam







Review Final exam


PJS Manual

7 PJS

PR

OU

LEX

JUN

IOR

S SE

CU

ND

AR

IA

Levels 8 to 12




Unit 2 Unit 2 Unit 2 ReviewMidterm exam

Unit 3







Review Final exam


9.2 Calendars Saturday Levels 1 and 2

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4

Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3Review

Midterm exam Unit 4


Unit 4 Unit 5

Unit 5 Reading assessment Speaking assessment

Unit 6 Listening assessment Speaking assessment

Unit 6 Review

Final exam Final grades

Levels 3 to 6


Unit 1 Unit 2

Unit 2 Unit 3

Unit 3 Unit 4

Unit 4 Review

Midterm exam


Unit 5 Unit 6

Unit 6 Reading assessment Speaking assessment


Unit 7 Review

Final exam Final grades

Level 7


Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3Review

Midterm exam Unit 4


Unit 4Unit 5

Reading assessment Speaking assessment


Review Final exam

Final grades

Levels 8 to 12


Unit 1Unit 1 Unit 2

Unit 2Review

Midterm exam Unit 3


Unit 3Unit 4

Reading assessment Speaking assessment


Review Final exam

Final grades

PJS Manual

8 PJS

PR

OU

LEX

JUN

IOR

S SE

CU

ND

AR

IA

10. Grading criteriaStudents are evaluated through the following elements. The minimum passing grade is 80.

Midterm exam 20%

Final exam 20%

Reading assessment 10%

Listening assessment 10%

Portfolio 10%

Ongoing oral assessment 10%

Formal oral assessment 10%

Homework 10%

TOTAL 100%

10.1 PortfolioThe portfolio includes two pieces of written work that students need to develop throughout the course. The procedure for each piece of work is as follows.

1. Teacher assigns a written work and a due date. The writing task needs to have a clear objective and is it is pre-selected. It is marked in the book.

2. Students do their work and hand it in to the teacher.3. Teacher gives formative feedback (comments on

presentation, content and task fulfillment) and marks linguistic mistakes (grammar, vocabulary, spelling, and punctuation) by using correction symbols that need to be presented to students in advance.

4. Students rewrite and resubmit their piece of work.5. Self-evaluation.

Presentation = 1 pointClear handwriting (if not typed), clean, and organized

Task fulfillment = 2 pointsCompleteness of the task

Proof-reading and edition = 1 pointCorrected and improved after teacher’s feedback (Feedback for first draft will be on presentation, task fulfillment, content, and linguistic areas: grammar, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation)

Submitted on due date = 1 pointTeacher may modify the score if he/she thinks it does not cover all of the aspects mentioned above.

10.2 Ongoing oral assessmentThis is formative assessment that is carried out throughout the course. It focuses on attitude, cooperation, and performance. That is, it assesses non-linguistic factors that also have an impact on students’ performance when working with speaking activities. By being formative, the objective of this type of assessment is to help students improve in the different areas it includes. The specific guidelines and the corresponding form are available in Academic Coordination.

11. Administration of exams and assessments

Before1. Request exam binder from the office before the class

begins. 2. Verify that the binder has enough exam copies for all

your students. 3. In the case of listening assessments, collect CD player,

as well.4. Have students help you arrange chairs in a traditional

classroom seating arrangement.5. Instruct students to put all their material away

(schoolbags, books, cell phones, etc.), except for a pencil and an eraser. Wait until everybody has done so before distributing the exam or assessment.

During6. Hand out the exams.7. Go over the instructions from each section in order to

clarify any possible question. If necessary, explain the examples that might be included.

8. Ask students to be silent during the exam. Indicate that cheating is penalized by invalidating the exam. Trying to take photos or copying questions from the exam to take them away may involve a more serious disciplinary action.

9. Indicate students how much time they have to answer. 10. Take a proctor role.11. If students finish the exam before the time is up, they

have to stay in the classroom. They need to continue being silent, and cannot take out their books. They may leave to go to the bathroom or drink water, but students must come back to the classroom.

12. You can start marking the exams from the first three students who finish. These marked exams can be used as answer keys for you to mark the rest of the exams at home.

After13. Make sure you collect all the exams.14. Return binder with exams in numerical order and the

answer key to the office right after class.15. Handout results the following class.16. Hold on to the answer sheets for the rest of the

course. Consult with your Academic Coordinator about procedures at your site.

11.1 Allotted time for exams and assessments

Exam type Duration

Midterm exam 1 hr

Final exam 1 hr

Reading assessment 30 min

Listening assessment 30 min

Formal oral assessment 2 hr

PJS Manual

9 PJS

PR

OU

LEX

JUN

IOR

S SE

CU

ND

AR

IA

11.2 Key for recording grades on the attendance list

Midterm exam M

Final exam F

Reading assessment R

Listening assessment L

Portfolio P

Ongoing oral assessment OO

Formal oral assessment FO

Homework H

12. FormsThere are several forms that teachers need to fill out throughout each course. These are the following.

12. 1 Mandatory forms1. Boleta de calificaciones (Report card)

Teachers record students’ performance throughout the course, as well as their exam and assessment grades. This form is in Spanish, because it is directed to students’ parents who should sign it. Specific guidelines to fill out the form are available in Academic Coordination.

2. Homework record This is for teachers to keep record of the homework students do, because it is part of the grading criteria.

3. Ongoing oral assessment As indicated above, this form is to record students’ performance during speaking activities throughout the course. See 10.2.

4. Student management record This is to record key characteristics of each student, so that the following teacher gets information about his/her group to be. The form is filled out at the end of the course.

12.2 Forms to be used when necessary1. Inasistencias (Absences)

It is to inform students they have reached the maximum number of absences allowed per course. The form is in Spanish, because it needs to be signed by parents and given back to teachers.

2. Incumplimiento de tareas (Lack of homework notice) In case there are students who constantly miss homework, teachers need to notify parents through this form. It is pasted in the students’ notebook.

3. Reporte (Warning) It is for students who are very disruptive and have not improved their behavior after being warned. It can also be used when a student causes a serious problem, even if it is the very first time. The form is in Spanish, since it is directed to parents, who have to sign it. It can be glued in the students’ notebook.

Optional form1. Portfolio

It is to record grades from the students’ portfolio tasks. It is optional, because the information is to be recorded directly in the students’ book (last page).

Documents

PROULEX EDITION · Mega Goal by McGraw-Hill. The series includes: • Teacher’s guide • Student book • Workbook • Audio program • Student CDs • Online Learning Center