Queen Margaret College

Year 8 Spanish Programme 2023

Levels 1 and 2 of the New Zealand Curriculum

Phase 1 of the Middle Years Programme International Baccalaureate

Unit Title

‘My life’

‘My free time’

‘My school’

‘My family and friends’

Course details

Proposed assessment date

In the final two weeks of each Term, Students will be assessed on the language skills they have developed throughout the unit. Listening, reading, writing, and speaking will each be assessed twice during the year.

During the course of the year, students learn how to talk about themselves and others in a range of familiar situations. They describe people and places, what they usually do, their likes and dislikes using the present tense. In class, students are encouraged to speak Spanish and also improve their skills in reading, writing and listening. They have regular conversation sessions in class time with our Spanish language assistant to help develop their speaking and listening skills. In addition, they engage in eLearning, using their laptops to complete work on OneNote and to access various online language-learning resources. Students may study the following topics:

• My life o Greetings and introducing yourself, age and birthdays o Description of brothers and sisters, personality and pets

• My free time o Saying what you do and what you like to do

• My school o Subjects and opinions, describing school and the school day

• My family and friends o Describing your family, physical description and where you live

Course Information

• Year 8 Spanish is an option subject.

• Each class has 5 lessons per 10-day timetable

Homework expectations

Students are expected to complete some homework during the week. Your child should be learning at home for a total of at least 45 minutes per weeknight across all subjects. The key to language learning is ‘little and often’.

Homework might include:

• Learning a number of words, verbs or phrases

• Reading and grammar exercises to do or a short paragraph to write

• Before an assessment, students will be expected to revise their notes or to practise their spoken language

• Revision of vocabulary learned in class with www.educationperfect.com and www.linguascope.com

• Catching up on work missed due to absence

Head of Learning Area: Caroline Harding