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