That´s me

CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION______________________________________________	2
2 CONTEXT ____________________________________________________	3
3 KEY COMPETENCES _________________________________________	6
4 OBJETIVES ___________________________________________________	12
5 CONTENTS-ENGLISH _________________________________________	16
6 EVALUATIONS AND PROMOTION _____________________________	22
7 METHODOLOGY _____________________________________________	27
8 ATTENTION TO DIVERSITY AND DIFFERENTIATION OF INSTRUCTION __________________________________________________	35
9 INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND RESOURCES _______________	37
10 MEASURES FOR STIMULATING INTEREST IN READING AND THE CAPACITY FOR PROPER EXPRESSION ______________________	39
11 TIMING AND SEQUENCING __________________________________	40
12 DIDACTIC UNITS ____________________________________________	43
13 BIBLIOGRAPHY _____________________________________________	50

Didactic Units Unit 1. That´s me Unit 2. Friends Unit 3.Don´t stop the music Unit 4. A fantastic weekend Unit 5. I´ll be there for you Unit 6. Feeling good, looking good Unit 7. Living dangerously Unit 8. Trips and exchanges Unit 9. Healthy living Unit 10. Working together Unit 11. Help Unit 12. A question of luck? Unit 13. Multimedia mania Unit 14. It´s our world Unit 15. Printing

1 Introduction

The increment in international connections due to educational, commercial, professional, cultural or tourism reasons, among others, makes the knowledge of foreign languages a growing necessity in our society. Besides, the development of new technologies makes a foreign language an essential instrument for labour market insertion and for communication in general. The knowledge of foreign languages implies the possibility of accessing other cultures and idiosyncrasies. It also fosters interpersonal relationships, facilitates the individual holistic formation and develops respectful attitudes towards other countries, their people and cultures, and allows us to have a better knowledge of our own language. Foreign languages are a key element in the construction of the European identity: a multilingual, multicultural identity constitutes one of the factors favouring the free transit of citizens and facilitates cultural, economic and scientific cooperation among countries.

For this programme, I have decided to base my work on the third year of Compulsory Secondary Education. This is a particularly relevant age in the students´ physical and psycological development and it usually constitutes a turning point for their future success in the educational system.

The didactic programming serves to aid the instructor in planning and directing the education of the students in specific course subject matter. In this programme we will set the goals we intend to reach (key competences and objectives); the knowledge, procedures and conduct on which we will work (contents); the strategies, methods, activities, instruments and means that will help obtain them (methodology); and finally, the way in which we are going to show that the process we have designed serves to reach what we have planned (evaluation).

In the development of the didactic programme we will consider the characteristics of the pupils, their interests, their capacity, etc. Siince the characteristics of the students are not uniform, the programme contemplates measures of attention directed at the diverse nature of the pupils in order to help those who need it, realize the objectives and basic competencies of the subject matter.

2 Context

2.1 Legislative Frame

This programme of English of the 3^rd year of Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE) adheres to the rules and values of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and is based on the Statutory Law Education 2/2006, May 3, (LOE), (BOE of 4-05- 2006), as well as on the Royal Decree 1631 / 2006, December 29 (BOE OF 5 – 01- 20079, by which the minimum lessons corresponding to the Compulsory Secondary Education are established.

The Royal Decree of minimums fixes the common lessons and defines the basic competences that the pupil should reach at the end of the educative stage, assuring a common formation for all the students within our educational system, permitting geographic mobility and guaranteeing the validity of the corresponding titles.

The Autonomous Community of Madrid, within the framework of its educative competences by means of the Decree 23 / 2007, May 10, ( BOCM OF 29-05-2007), has established the curriculum of the Compulsory Secondary Education. This decree develops the stage objectives, the contribution of the different subject matters to the acquisition of the basic competences, as well as the objectives, contents and evaluation criteria of these.

The calendar of application of the arrangement of the educative system of the LOE (Royal Decree 806 / 2006, June 30) establishes that in the academic year 2007-2008, the lessons corresponding to the 1^st and 3^rd year of the Compulsory Secondary Education should be implanted.

The Decree of curriculum of the Autonomous Community of Madrid establishes that the teaching of the subject matter of English (as a foreign language) is common and compulsory. The Order 3320-01/ 2007, June 20 (BOCM OF 6-08-2007) regulates the implantation and the development of the Compulsory Secondary Education in the Community of Madrid.

The former Decree contains the instructions that need to be followed when dealing with:

– Organization and schedule for every single level of the CSE.

– Final Aim of the Stage.

– Objectives of the CSE.

– Evaluation and Promotion criteria.

– Attention to Diversity, including Curricular Diversifications.

– Evaluation of the centers.

– Catholic religion and its alternatives.

– Objectives, contents and evaluation criteria for all CSE subjects.

2.2 Characteristics of the Center

Physical Aspect and Surroundings

The Institute of Secondary Education (IES) is situated in the south east zone of the city in a densely populated working class district which has already reached 37.000 habitants. In the surrounding area there is a small, poorly kept park and a few zones dedicated to sport and exercise. There is also an Internet center nearby, run by the City Hall, where students who have no Internet at home can get access. A public library of the Autonomous Community of Madrid is only 200 metres from the school and the students also have the possibility of using their facilities, which include a small room with eight computers with access to Internet.

The institute consists of two three-story buildings which are connected by a passage on the third floor, an outdoor patio for sports and a small covered pavilion.

Tecnology

There is a multi-use room, a library with computers, an audiovisual room and a computer room which must be booked in advance.

The school also has a virtual domain which provides the students and the teachers with an e-mail account which can be useful for sending or receiving homework as well as differentiated tasks according to the students´ capabilities.

Social-economic and cultural aspect

In the Educational Project of our Institute we can find a study realized on the social surroundings. From this we determine that a high percentage of the families of our students are considered, due to economic profits, middle class or low middle class, that the parents and siblings´ level of studies is low and that there is a high percentage of unemployment. The rate of immigrant population is about 20 or 25% per cent, although it is decreasing due to the crisis. There is also a small number of gipsy students. None of these reaches the third year of Compulsory Secondary Education.

Studies

In our Institute, Compulsory Secondary Education (CSE) lessons are taught with a total of five groups per year. There are also two small groups of Curricular Diversification which integrate into the groups of 3^rd A of CSE and 4^th A of CSE. In Baccalaureate there exist the modalities of Nature and Health Sciences, Social Sciences and Sciences and Engineering.

Departments

The didactic departments are made up of the teachers that teach a common subject matter and have as a principal mission the elaboration, following and evaluation of the programs which are the guides of the teaching process.

The English department is made of five teachers, one of them with the condition of head professor whose functions include Head of Department and who belongs to the Commission of Pedagogic Coordination.

English is compulsory for all levels. Besides, students can choose English Extension as an optional subject in Baccalaureate.

Schedules

The Institute morning hours are from 8:30 to 14:20, with six fifty minute classes a day and a 30 minute recess. In the afternoon, there are reinforcement classes for the students with difficulties in the learning process. These lessons are part of a special programme and the teachers do not belong to the Institute.

Characteristics of the students of the group

Students who attend the 3^rd year of CSE are 14-15, they are beginning the age of adolescence, more so the boys because the girls tend to begin a year or two earlier. This is a period of notable physical, emotional and behavioural changes, etc. The adolescent reaches a new manner of thinking: formal thinking, with which the student can affront problems in an organized way, facilitating learning and better retention of what is learned and a formulation of abstract and structured questions. It is a very important time for the configuration of one´s own identity.

In the 3^rd year of CSE there are five groups with 25-30 students, the majority of which ascend from the 2^nd year of CSE .

3 Key competences

Key competences may be defined as the ability to combine the knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired through the Compulsory Secondary Education stage in a way which is appropiate to different contexts and situations, and to do so in an integrated way.

The inclusion of key competences into the curriculum is a guide to the teaching process, since it allows teachers to identify the essential, indispensable contents and assessment criteria which must be present in the teaching learning process. Key competences are also useful in the sense that they integrate different kinds of learning into our discipline: formal, informal and non- formal.

There are eight key competences listed by the European Commission:

1. Competence in Linguistic Communication
2. Mathematical Competence
3. Knowledge and Interaction with the Physical World
4. Digital Competence and Information Treatment Competence
5. Social and Civic Competence
6. Cultural and Artistic Expression Competence.
7. Competence on Learning to Leaarn.
8. Competence on Autonomy and Enterpreneurship

The official curricular document explains how the English Language subject contributes to the acquisition of the key competences. Our subject clearly contributes to the social, cultural and linguistic elements of these competences, whereas little can be done regarding mathematical and scientific competences. However, this scheme of work tries to approach these subjects as far as possible.

On the other hand, English may be much relevant in order to contribute to the digital competence, in the sense that it may introduce ICT into everyday classroom use, as well as because of the importance of English as the language for the international communication in business, research and for social purposes. Though all subjects do contribute to the achievement of key competences, informal and non-formal learning may be transmitted by means of organizational measures taken by the school and inside the classroom, by means of rules for students´participation, through the implementation of diverse methodologies and the resources available for learners. The physical environment, the tutorial action on the part of the teacher, and the complementary activities do also reinforce the development of key competences.

The contribution of the English Language Subject to the acquisition of Key Competences

The Decree 23 / 2007, May 10 (BOCM of 29-5-2007), which establishes the curriculum of the Compulsory Secondary Education stage for the Autonomous Community of Madrid , shows a detailed list of the contribution of every subject to the acquisition of key competences. On the basis of the official text, we have defined those corresponding to the 3^rd Year of CSE

1 Competence on Linguistic Communication

CONTRIBUTION OF OUR SUBJECT

a) Contribution to this competence is the main aim of the subject. The learning of communicative skills is carried out in different domains, among which stand out that of personal relationships (including family relationships and habitual social practices); the school domain, associated with everyday situations and actions within the school and linked to it; and the academic domain, related to the contents of the subject and other points of the curriculum.

b) Procedures are the core of the curriculum. They are aimed at achieving effective oral and written communicative competence. This procedural approach is based on both productive skills (speaking and writing) and receptive skills (listening and reading) which will allow the student to express him / herself with progressive fluency and correctness in diverse communicative situations, by using the most usual registers.

c) At the end of the course, students must be able to use linguistic knowledge to transmit, in a comprehensive way, their ideas, thoughts and feelings, and to participate in communicative exchanges using a simple, though varied, model of language. They will also be able to carry out diverse language funcions: ie- to ask for and give personal information

2 Mathematical Competence

CONTRIBUTION OF OUR SUBJECT

The subject is not directly implied in the development of this competence. However, by contributing to linguistic competence we enable students to reason, argue, formulate hypotheses, carry out processes of deduction and induction, etc… which will be of use to the achievement of the mathematical competence. The same may be said about activities in which comprehension of global and specific information is required, through which students acquire abilities to understand the main issues in a mathematical problem. Finally, numbers and dates are part of the content of the subject.

3 Knowledge and Interaction with the Physical world

CONTRIBUTION OF OUR SUBJECT

Inviting students to be aware of the importance of contributing to preserve our environment. The subject focuses on the human body, on nutrition, health, ecology, atmospheric phenomena and other relevant issues as point of interest when dealing with oral and written comprehension and expression activities. These phenomena are studied at a local, national and global level.

4 Digital Competence and Treatment of Information

CONTRIBUTION OF OUR SUBJECT

a) The subject aims at developing the students´ abilities to search, process and transmit information obtained from the Internet and other ICT, and on different supports. The subject also requires the execution of tasks and projects by means of ICT tools , not only for the English Language class, but also to other school subjects or topics which are interesting for students.

b) The subject contributes to the interaction and information of exchange with people from other places, possessing diverse linguistic models, and creates real, functional communicative situations: chats, forum, image recording, on line auditions, interactive tasks, etc.., taking advantage of mutimedia environments. The contents of all four blocks contribute to this task.

5 Social and Civic Competence

CONTRIBUTION OF OUR SUBJECT

a) Block IV, “Socio-cultural aspects and intercultural awareness”, promotes knowledge and respect for different lifestyles and other social and cultural organizations, fostering tolerance and non-biased acceptance of different points of view. The study of a foreign language conveys the knowledge of rules, laws, customs, traditions, festivities, etc.., of the societies in which the language is spoken, and that facilitates the overcoming of prejudice and social cultural stereotypes.

b) The subject also stimulates the recognition of similitude between countries and cultures, and the respect for and acceptance of cultural and behaviour differences, by encouraging a critical reflection on the students´own culture, specially when taking into account the influence of aspects, traditions and festivities imported from the foreign language speaking countries. Similarly, students are faced with historical, cultural, social and artistic characteristics of other countries, so that they may appreciate other ways of life, both critically and reflexively, avoiding racist attitudes and developing a feeling of global citizenship, in parallel to, and compatible with that of local identity.

6 Cultural and Artistic Expression Competence

CONTRIBUTION OF OUR SUBJECT

The subject favours the discovery, comprehension and critical appreciation of the cultural and artistic manifestations of the foreign language cultures and countries. These expressions enrich the cultural background of students, awakening the aesthetic sense and the sensibility to understand and appreciate a work of art, as well as the conveyance of emotion and pleasure associated with it.

7 Competence on learning to learn

CONTRIBUTION OF OUR SUBJECT

a) The subject especially contributes to this competence, since it aims at students being progressively aware of their own abilities, and of the necessary strategies to develop them. Block II promotes strategies to develop attention capacities, as well as to improve concentration, motivation, memory, by means of activities which are designed to develop the necessary abilities for learning. Similarly, the use of basic strategies in order to arrange, acquire, remember and use vocabulary, by means of learning tools such as dictionaries, reference books, conceptual maps and ICT resources is also fundamental to the subject.

b) Study techniques, observation and note- taking strategies, as well as peer and self correction, cooperative working, and organization and planning strategies will be encouraged and fostered in the subject. Learning a foreign language teaches students about the importance of attitudes of perseverance, effort, responsability and acceptance of others´contributions. Autonomy for lifelong learning of the foreign language requires an attitude of permanent self-evaluation, accepting error as a fundamental part of the learning process and associating it with a positive attitude to overcome it.

8 Competence on Autonomy and Enterpreneurship

CONTRIBUTION OF OUR SUBJECT

The subject promotes responsibility, perseverance, self-esteem, creativity, and the acceptance of errors as a source for learning, together with the encouragement of a positive attitude to taking risks. Similarly, it relies on the role of motivation in order to carry out tasks successfully.

On the other hand, interaction is essential to communicate in a foreign language. In order to do so, it is essential to have social skills as well as being able to cooperate and work as a team, assuming someone else´s points of view and ideas, so that dialogue and negotiation of ideas can be made cooperatively and in a flexible way. To achieve these aims, students are asked to plan and organize their work responsably. Activities such as interviews, using audiovisual media, and performing small plays, do reinforce self-esteem, self confidence and creativity, and allow students to become aware of their ability to communicate, despite the appearance of errors.

4 Objectives

4.1 Stage Objectives

The objectives of the Compulsory Secondary Education stage are listed in the Decree 23 / 2007, May 10 issued on May 29 by Education Authority in the Autonomous Community of Madrid:

a) To know, assume and exercise values and respect towards the others, to practice tolerance, cooperation and solidarity between people and groups, exercising the dialogue and reinforcing human rights, considering them as common values of a pluralistic, open and democratic society.

b) To acquire, develop and consolidate habits of discipline, study and individual and team work, as necessary conditions for successful learning tasks and as means of personal development.

c) To foster attitudes for the coexistence which avoid violence, not only at school, but also at home and social scopes.

d) To value and respect, as an integral part of our civilization, the equality of rights and opportunities among people, no matter their sex and rejecting any kind of discrimination.

e) To develop basic skills in the utilization of information sources to, with a critical sense, acquire new knowledge as well as a basic preparation in the technological field, especially with information and communication.

f) To conceive scientific knowledge as an integrated knowledge structured in different subjects, as well as to know and to put into practice methods to identify problems in the fields of knowledge and experience.

g) To develop the enterprising spirit and confidence in oneself, the participation, the critical sense, personal initiative and capacity to learn to learn, to plan, to make decisions and to assume responsibilities, assessing the effort to overcome difficulties.

h) To understand and express correctly complex texts and messages, orally and in a written way, in Castillian language, considering their communicative possibilities as a common language for all the Spaniards and as an international language and to start in the knowledge, reading and learning of its literature.

i) To understand and express orally and written in one or more foreign languages in an appropriate way

j) To know basic aspects of the culture, Spanish and world Geography and History, to respect artistic, cultural and linguistic patrimony, to know the diversity of cultures and societies to assess them critically and to develop attitudes of respect for their own and others´ cultures.

k) To analyse the devices and values that rule the working of societies, in particular, those related to the citizens´ rights, duties and liberties and to adopt personal views and attitudes towards them.

l) To know the working of the human body as well as the beneficiary effects for the health of the physical exercise and an adequate feeding, incorporating the sport practice to aid the personal and social development.

m) To value social habits related to health, consume and the care for the living beings and the environment, contributing to its preservation and enhancement.

n) To value the artistic creation and to apprehend the language of the different artistic realizations, using different means of expression and representation.

The objectives in our programme

Many of these objectives can be applied to any of the subjects taught in Compulsory Secondary Education. We can notice how objective i) To appropriately understand and be able to use at least one foreign language, is more directly connected with the study of English as a second language.

However, our interdisciplinary approach will allow us to address objective h) concerning the knowledge and study of Spanish language, as comparison and contrast strategies will make the student reflect on structures and vocabulary from his native language.

Objectives e) and n) will also be addressed as we will encourage our students to use different technical and artistic codes in receptive and productive activities that will help them develop higher levels of awareness of the importance of English language and its possibilities in different fields of human activity.

Objectives a), c), d) reflect the need to use the different subjects as tools for the teaching of positive, democratic and tolerant values that will help our students become productive members of society. The study of foreign languages is intimately related to those values. With the learning of new languages comes the understanding and valuing of other cultures and realities. This same understanding will also help us address objectives j) and k), as we learn to have a better appreciation of our cultural heritage when we get to know better other peoples around the world.

Finally, objectives l) and m) will be specifically treated in the themes of some of our lessons and the encouragement of positive and healthy habits will be present throughout the year.

4.2 Objectives of Foreign Language (English)

The objectives of the English Language Subject in the stage of Compulsory Secondary Education are likewise depicted in the Decree 23 / 2007, May 10 issued on May 29 by Education Authority in the Autonomous Community of Madrid:

1. To understand general and specific information from oral texts in different communicative contexts.
2. To express orally in daily communicative situations, in and out of the classroom setting, in an autonomous and appropriate way.
3. To read and understand in an autonomous way diverse written texts, with the aim of extracting general and specific information, and to use reading as a source of pleasure, personal development and a deeper knowledge of other cultures.
4. To write simple texts with diverse purposes about different topics by using adequate cohesion and coherence devices.
5. To use correctly and in a reflective way the basic elements of language (phonetics, lexical items, structural and functional components of the foreign language) in diverse real communicative contexts.
6. To develop autonomy in learning, reflecting on their own learning processes, and to transfer the knowledge and strategies of communication acquired in the mother tongue or other languages to the foreign language learning process.
7. To use learning strategies and all available resources at their reach (dictionaries, reference books or audivisual material), including ITC autonomously to obtain, select and present information orally and in a written way autonomously.
8. To reflect on how foreign language works and appreciate it as a means for the access to information and as a tool for learning diverse contents.
9. To appreciate the foreign language and languages in general as means of communication and entertainment among people from different places, diverse languages and cultures and avoiding any sort of discrimination.
10. To acquire self-confidence in the skill of learning and usage of the foreign language.

How we teach to get these objectives

These objectives align perfectly with the methodology used in this programme.

The emphasis on the communicative approach to the teaching of English corresponds with objectives 1, 2, 3 and 4. We have also included in every didactic unit a section devoted to reflection on language rules and structures which follow objectives 5 and 8.

Objective 6 will be developed through a variety of teaching strategies and instruction differentiation methods to address the different needs and styles of our students.

Dictionaries and multimedia material will be regularly present in our instruction, as it is suggested in objective 7. The development of tolerant and respectful attitudes, as reflected in objective 9, is present in all our units. Finally, our instruction will work in the direction pointed in objective 10 because our aim is that students become progressively aware of their own abilities in the use of the English language.

5 Contents – English

3^rd Year Compulsory Secondary Education

Contents are the knowledge and the skills which we want our students to acquire or develop through the scheduled period; in our case, the 3^rd Year of CSE. Until recent years, emphasis was put on the transmission of knowledge, but nowadays, specially under the point of view established by LOE, education is aimed at the students´development of their abilities, that is to say, to lead students in their own process of learning how to do things and also how to learn as a lifelong process.

In the English Language subject, the contents we propose are oriented towards the acquisition of communicative competence in the foreign language, by means of adopting a communicative approach which emphasizes language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) as the basis of language mastery. The foreign language is to be valued both as a tool and as a means through which communication is possible, so that the relationships with other cultures and countries is facilitated and encouraged, accepting differences and excluding bias.

The Contents of the subject, for the 3^rd Year of CSE, are those established by the Decree 23/2007, May 10 issued on May 29 by Education Authority in the Autonomous Community of Madrid.

1. Listening , Speaking and Conversation

– Listening and understanding oral messages of a progressive complexity, such as instructions or explanations which facilitate oral interaction in real or simulated contexts.

– Listening and understanding of general and specific chunks of information with the support of verbal and non verbal elements, on well known topics, such as hobbies and likes, everyday activities, personal relationships, narration of events, etc, with an increasing degree of difficulty.

– Listening and comprehension of simple messages provided by audiovisual media.

– Development and use of strategies of comprehension of oral messages: inference of contents through the verbal and non-verbal context and through the previous knowledge on the situation. Identification of key words as well as the intentions of the speaker.

– Production of oral descriptions, narratives and short explanations of events, experiences and knowledge on diverse areas.

– Oral interaction in real or simulated situations both inside and outside the classroom, with a gradual autonomy in participating in dialogues on everyday topics and on issues of personal interest, showing varied communicative intentions and producing utterances with an adequate pronunciation and intonation and keeping the balance between suitable structures and a certain degree of fluency.

– Usage of spontaneous replies in communicative situations within the classroom environment.

– Developmnent and progressively autonomous use of daily communicative strategies such as gestures, asking for repetition, clarification or confirmation, to overcome the difficulties which commonly arise in communicative situations, both real and simulated, and to start and maintain close communicative exchanges.

2. Reading and Writing

– Identification of the content from a written text with the aid of both verbal and non-verbal elements

– Comprehension of frequent expressions for the resolution of activities and of general and specific information from “authentic” or adapted texts, on different formats (paper, multimedia, digital…) on everyday topics of general interest, and related to the contents of other subjects of the curriculum by developing specific tasks for the purpose.

– Autonomous reading of texts with a progressively increasing length, related to their different areas of interest.

– Use of different sources on different formats (those formerly mentioned), so as to enjoy the act of reading or with the aim of carrying out individual or group tasks.

– Autonomous use of different reading strategies transferred from other languages known or studied by the learner; use of textual and non textual elements, of the context, and dictionaries, as well as application of word formation rules in order to infer meanings.

– Recognition of the characteristics and conventions of written language and its differentiation from oral speech, reflecting them in their own written output.

– Gradually autonomus production of simple, structured texts, with diverse communicative intentions, showing some elements of cohesion to clearly highlight the relationship between ideas, and using basic strategies in the process of written composition (planning, drafting, revising and achieving a final version)

– Appropriate use of spelling and punctuation signs, as well as of the appropriate register, taking into account the addressee (formal or informal)

– Interest for the preservation and presentation of written texts on different formats (paper or digital), appreciating their relevance for the effective fulfilment of communicative needs.

– Progressively autonomous personal communication with speakers of the foreign language through ordinary post or by means of electronic means.

– Use of information and communication technologies to obtain and transmit information and to establish personal relationships: browsing websites, participation in chats and discussion forums, use of e-mail, digital presentations, adequate use of electronic dictionaries and translators.

3. Knowledge of the Language: Use and Learning

A) Language and Grammar Functions:

– Identification of features that differentiate the oral code from the written one

– Use of structures and functions associated to diverse communicative situations.

– To greet and to introduce oneself and others. To express habits, abilities, physical and personality descriptions. Expressing likes and dislikes through verbs: love/ like/ dislike/ hate. To contrast actions in progress with those frequent in time. Formulae. Present Simple and Continuous. Use of Can. Adjectives in attributive or predicative . Degrees of comparison.

– The expression of quantity: much/ many / a lot of / too / not enough.

– To relate facts and experiences from the past and biographies. Past Simple and Continuous. Could. Time expressions: ago / since / for / later / when / after/ before/ then, etc. Discourse markers: connectors and other cohesive devices. Spelling and punctuation.

– Ask and answer about facts which have already finished or have not finished yet. About recent events and experiences. Present Perfect + ever / never / just. Simple Past. When.

– Make suggestions and answering them. Let´s….. How / What about + ing? Why don´t we……? Shall we………? Accepting and refusing proposals and offering alternative suggestions.

– Giving advice: Should / shouldn´t

– To express plans; the use of future as an intention, prediction, probability, possibility and promise. Present continous with future meaning. Will / will not. Be going to. First type of conditionals.

– To express obligation and lack of obligation. Have to / don´t have to. Must / mustn´t. Should. Adverbs

– Description of places; to give and ask for information about products which demand an elaboration process: music, cars, books, etc. Passive voice. Adverbial phrases.

B) Lexical items:

– Progressively autonomous usage of common expressions, set phrases and words about topics of personal and general interest, topics on daily matters and topics related to contents from other subjects

– Identification of synonyms and antonyms, “false friends” and most frequent affixes in words.

– Formulae and expressions.

C) Phonetics:

– Progressive notice of phonological symbols and the pronunciation of some difficult phonemes. Contracted forms pronunciation. The ending of verbal tenses pronunciation. Weak forms.

– Production of certain patterns of rhythm, intonation and stress in words and phrases.

D) Reflection on learning:

– Gradually autonomous use of strategies for organising, acquiring, remembering and using adequately lexical items.

– Organization in an autonomous way of several learning resources such as dictionaries, reference books, libraries and information and communication technologies.

– Analytical approach and reflection about the usage and significance of different grammatical forms through the comparison and contrast with the mother tongue and other second languages knowledge.

– Take part in the self-evaluation learning process and the use of self-correction strategies.

– Organization of personal work as a strategy necessary to improve in the autonomous learning.

– Interest for taking profit of those learning opportunities created within the classroom context and out of it.

– Take part in activities and group works.

– Self-confidence and initiative to express in public and in a written way as well.

4. Socio-cultural aspects and intercultural awareness

– Appreciation of the use of the foreign language as a way for communicating with people from diverse origins.

– Identification, knowledge and a critical view of common features and of the most relevant differences between the customs, usages, attitudes and values of the foreign language society and the students´ own. Respect towards them.

– Appropriate use of linguistic formulae associated to specific communicative situations (politeness, agreement, disagreement, etc)

– Awareness and a critical perspective of the most relevant cultural elements of the English speaking countries such as its literature, its art, its music, its cinema, its cuisine, etc.

– Interest and initiative in the execution of communicative exchanges with speakers or learners of English, either by the use of letters or by using new technologies.

– Recognition of the personal enrichment caused by the relation with people from other cultures.

– Development of attitudes which help the students to value their own culture from the contrast with others.

– Respect towards English native speakers, no matter their origin, race or mother tongue, promoting the approach and the elimination of barriers in the communication, avoiding prejudices, stereotypes, etc.

6 Evaluations and Promotion

Educational assessment is a valuable tool for monitoring and evaluating the results obtained, as well as for the improvement of the processes which allow them to be obtained.

The field of application is very complex, and shows different dimensions:

– Evaluation of the learning process: we analyze their learning processes, in order to detect if the objectives and key competences have been achieved.

– Evaluation of the teaching process: the teacher evaluates his / her own teaching practice, in relation to the achievement of the educational objectives established by the curriculum, in order to review and update the didactic scheme of work.

The curricular document on the Autonomous Administration in Madrid establishes the Foreign Language Subject (English) as a common subject in the 3^rd year of CSE.

6.1 Evaluation Criteria

The assessment criteria are the standards of reference upon which the degree of achievement of educational objectives is measured. They allow for the appreciation of the type and degree of acquisition and learning of objectives, and they are the fundamental reference in order to assess the achievement of key competences. Here are the assessment criteria for the English Language subject in the 3^rd Year of CSE in our autonomous community as established in the Decree 23 / 2007 10 May:

1. To understand and extract general and specific information, the main idea and some relevant details of oral texts on specific and known issues, and from simple messages uttered clearly by audiovisual media.

2. To participate in communicative exchanges related to habitual or of personal interest situations, with several communicative aims, using the conventions proper of conversation and the strategies necessary to solve out the difficulties found during interaction.
3. To understand and extract general information and all relevant data from real written texts, as well as adapted, of a varied length, differentiating facts and opinions and identifying, if necessary, the communicative intention of the author.
4. To write in a guided way different texts in several formats, paying attention to the lexical items, the structures and the elements of cohesion and coherence necessary to remark the relation between ideas and to make them comprehensible for the reader.
5. To use, in a conscious way, in varied communicative contexts, the knowledge acquired on the linguistic system of the foreign language as a tool for self-correction and self-evaluation of the student´s own oral and written productions, and as a way to understand other´s.
6. To identify and consciously use different strategies to advance in learning.
7. To use the information and communication technologies in a progressively autonomous way in order to search for information, produce texts from models, to send and receive e-mails, and to establish oral and written personal relationships, showing interest in their usage.
8. To identify the most relevant cultural aspects of English speaking countries, signalling the most significant characteristics of the customs, rules, attitudes and values of the foreign language society, and to appreciate differnt cultural patterns, reflecting on the influence they exert or have exerted on their own.

6.2 Evaluation Plan

Evaluation of the learning process

a) Procedures and assessment tools:

To assess students, teachers rely on the programmed assessment criteria, but they need to use different procedures and tools. In this course we will use:

– The diagnostic test to determine the knowledge the students possess at the beginning of the year.

– Written tests at the end of each unit, so that the learning progress can be measured. These tests will be relevant for the term´s final score. Therefore, at the end of the term, the teacher will have several marks regarding the process carried out during the units. Each teacher establishes his / her own test.

– An oral test, including speaking and listening skills, in every unit, in which attention in class, understanding of concepts and correction in expression will be highlighted

– Written and oral test at the end of the term: in order to carry out summative evaluation, one final test will be taken at the end of the term, so that students get used to the assessment methodology used in Bachillerato stage. There is no overall test on the yearly subject except for the retake exam. These tests are different, implemented by different teachers, but follow the guidelines of the department.

– Observation of attitudes and behaviour both inside and outside the classroom, including neatness and self-organization.

– Notebook and Workbook observation including activities and explanations carried out during the course: one revision per term. The realization of tasks and activities in a clear, organized way, as well as correct written expression will be taken into account.

– E-notebook where they will include all the compositions of the year as well as sound files of exercises they will have to record individually or in pairs.

– Projects: assessing their contents as well as their structure and format, the language used and their oral presentation.

– Daily observation file.

b) Grading Criteria:

Grading Criteria for Compulsory Secondary Education wll be the following: in accordance with Statutary Law 2 / 2006, May 3, Education (LOE), grades will be expressed as it follows, and will be accompanied by a numeric expression from 1 to 10, without decimals, according to the following scale:

– Insuficiente: 1,2,3,4

– Suficiente: 5

– Bien: 6

– Notable: 7,8

– Sobresaliente: 9

Students obtaining a 10 grade will qualify to be awarded an Honorary Mention, provided that this grade is the result of excellent academic achievement and specially remarkable effort and interest. Honorary Mentions will not exceed ten per cent of registered students per area and subject.

The final grade for each grading period will be based on formative and summative assessments. Our grading system will include:

n Results of objective tests based on productive and receptive oral and written skills (taken from the text book or from other sources) 60 % of the grade.

n Completion of trimester individual, group and classroom projects: 15 % of the grade.

n Appropriate homework assignments completion and notebook control: 15% of the grade.

n Respectful and collaborative attitude in class: 10% of the grade.

Evaluation of the teaching process

Each month, a Department session dedicates itself to a reconsideration of the Didactic Programme, realizing the proper adjustments. The teachers of the compatible departments are also consulted about the programme in order to coordinate the basic and related contents. In January a study of the cumulative grades of all of the 3^rd Year of CSE is performed, comparing the results of the different groups with the initial test. The necessary adjustments are realized to improve the processes so that the rhythm of teaching is similar.

6.3 Retake Planning

Three modalities will be available for students who were not able to pass English in 2^nd Year of ESO but were promoted to the 3^rd Year:

a) In our methodology, and attending to the Educational Authorities recommendations, foreign languages are not taught or learnt in a linear way, and the same contents are often repeated in different years at different levels of depth. Especially during the first trimester, it has been programmed that students review the contents seen in the previous year of ESO. Furthermore, the teacher will lead the student during the course so that he/she may recover the knowledge negatively evaluated with reinforcing exercises and different recuperation tests.. These students will be informed that, if they are able to achieve the goals corresponding to 1^st and 2^nd grading periods with the rest of their classmates, they will have obtained a passing grade for the previous year.

b) Those students who have not fulfilled the requirements to pass the 1^st or 2^nd grading periods will have to pass a final test in June on the contents taught in the previous year. The date of this test will ber announced at least one month before it takes place. The result of this test will determine if the student has passed the subject. If they do not pass this, students will not be able to pass 3^rd year either. The teacher will give them a script with the main study points and references on where to find extra materials with linguistic content practice for independent work.

c) Students who do not pass this test will have another opportunity in an extraordinary test in the month of September.

7 Methodology

Most experts agree that meaningful learning only occurs when the materials presented to students are understood and modify their previous cognitive structures, since even memorizing is not an automatic but a cognitive process. This emphasis on cognition has its origin in the early sixties, in the mentalist views on linguistics and psycolology which arose from the linguistic theories posited by Chomsky and the psycological tenets of Piaget. Research on both fields has led to the birth of a new science, psycholinguistics, which although still in infancy, is likely to shed light on the process along which humans learn both first and second languages.

7.1 The Communicative Approach

The research done so far has, nevertheless, rendered some results already. The main one is, probably, understanding second language learning as learning to communicate in the target language, that is the birth of the so called Communicative Approaches to language learning and teaching, which have important implications when elaborating a programme.

According to this approach, the materials should be selected according to the topics that may appeal to the students´interest, so we will devise our programme around topics and not around structures, in order to supply meaningful input for the students. These topics will also be aligned with ESO and Foreign Language Area Objectives and Contents established by educational authorities in the Autonomous Community of Madrid. We should add that, in order for input to be more accessible to the students, it should be contextualized as far as possible and any suitable aids should be provided, such as visual representations.

Another important tenet of Communicative Methodology is that students need the predisposition to acquire the language if they are to succeed. However, the situation in Compulsory Secondary Education is not very likely to foster this predisposition because the students do not need the language to attain social integration, they have a very limited access to natural input, and very few opportunities to use it in real communication with native speakers. So, our task here will be to substitute predisposition by motivation, prefabricating artificially the input and providing as many communication situations as possible.

7.2 Pedagogical Principles

In order to ensure a correct development of the teaching / learning process and of classroom practice, our work is based on the following learning principles.

n Meaningful Learning

The teacher is the guide of the teaching- learning process. Learning will be effective when it departs from the student´s previous knowledge, so that the implementation of diagnostic tests at the beginning of each year is absolutely necessary. If the student´s previous knowledge is far from that required for the new contents, meaningful relations between concepts and ideas will not be made in a natural way; learning, therefore, will only be based on mechanic, memoristic processes, rather than comprehensive and meaningful.

Therefore, it is necessary that the teacher reviews previous contents and links the new ones to those already studied by the student, in a systematic way, all along the course, so that they become the basis for new knowledge.

n Activity

We want the student to become the protagonist of his / her own learning process, learning by him / herself, putting knowledge into practice in real situations, since this autonomous learning has proved one of the best ways to consolidate knowldege generation, and it favours the development of learning to learn strategies. By means of this approach, our objective is the active integration of the student within the teaching-learning process in the classroom, which must show an atmosphere of calmness and respect, which is highly beneficial for the learning process.

n Interaction

Learning is often carried out by interaction between teacher and student, which is extremely important and recommendable. However, students do also learn from peers, specially in a linguistic subject. Therefore, it is necessary to have students interact and work in pairs and groups. The teacher must organize class dynamics which favours all kinds of interaction.

n Motivation and Self-esteem

Academic results are deeply influenced by students´ motivation and their level of self-esteem. By designing and implementing activities with appealing, interesting contents and interactive procedures, motivation is increased.

It is very important to know the interests and likes of students. For this, they will answer a questionnaire at the beginning of the year. It will be a personal questionnaire which students will take in pairs. This tool will be useful for us in two aspects:

a) We will check all the abilities of the students in reference to speaking, listening, reading and writing, as we will use it as a diagnostic test.

b) We will start to know our students: their background, their interests, the tools they use in their studies.

The teacher can know if they usually read, what music in English they like, type of movies they watch, etc. We will encourage them to bring their music to class so that we can prepare activities on it that can be interesting for them.

It is also very important that the student perceives the usefulness of the contents proposed, both in real life, functional way and for academic purposes. Another strategy to rise the degree of motivation is to pose feasible challenges, rather than complex difficult activities. When the adolescents are able to carry out these challenges successfully, self-esteem increases and they feel able to obtain positive results in the future.

n Attention to Diversity

This principle, to be developed extensively in another section of this work, implies the teacher´s attention to individual differences, different learning paces and styles, and different interests and motivations. The aim, then, is to achieve a comprehensive customization of teaching.

n Interdisciplinary Approach

Subject matters are not sealed areas of knowledge. The English language, in particular, is closely connected with Spanish. The development of the subject´s contents must take into account this interdisciplinary feature. Permanent contact among the whole group of teachers is a must to implement the curriculum in a satisfactory way.

n Education in Values

According to LOE; education in values will be dealt with cross-curricularly. Students must know, assume and uphold their rights and obligations with respect for others, being tolerant, cooperative and solidary with individuals and groups. Dialogue must be encouraged grounded on the human rights as common values of a pluralistic society.

7.3 Methodological Strategies and Techniques

In the implementation of the above mentioned pedagogical principles, different strategies will be used within a same sesion, in the sense that explanatory strategies will be combined with practical or interactive activities.

n Teacher´s explanation to the whole group

It is usually the way to transmit theoretical contents, with or without audiovisual support, together with some practical presentations in the classroom. Grammar explanations should not be too long, after explaining in English, we would read aloud the grammar section in the appendix of the book. This section is in Spanish and in this way we can be certain that all of them listen to the important points at least once.

n Pairwork

Some oral activities, specially dialogues and role-play activities, are to be carried out in pairs. If the activities are not difficult, we will make pairs of homogenous level, giving the advanced students the opportunity of extending if possible. If we are dealing with more complex activities, it might be better to group them in mixed abilities so that the advanced can help and even teach their companions, contributing in this way to create a cooperative atmosphere in the class.

n Projects

Works on specific topics to be carried out inside and outside the class. There will be individual, group and classroom projects. I will deal with them more extensively in another section.

n Class decoration

The atmosphere in which the class takes place is very important for the development of the class. The ideal situation would be to have a subject-classroom in which all the English lessons took place. In this case, besides posters and visual supports provided by the teacher, we would have the possibilty of showing all the projects and works that students made. As well as a visual support for the class, posters and projects have a motivational function for students, they are likely to work harder in activities that can be showed to the class.

If we do not have our proper English classroom, we would agree with the other departments to have some room for an English chart in which works could be exposed.

7.4 Activities

The different activities that will be carried out can be grouped based on their purpose. These vary depending on the didactic unit to which they are applied.

n Initiation activities

Before beginning a didactic unit, we realize one or more of the following activities that allow us to detect the knowledge a student possesses of the matter to be studied:

– Warm-up activities: pictures or flashcards related to the vocabulary of the unit.

– Brainstorming of ideas asked randomly to the students.

– Conceptual maps where certain concepts are missing so that students will complete them individually.

These activities are very important because they permit a variation in the methodology in a dynamic fashion based on the level that the students possess, and will help us design or adapt the rest of the activities of the unit.

n Motivational activities

These should be designed in such a way to help the students become more interested in the study of the didactic unit. They may include:

– Exhibition of videos connected with the didactic unit

– Reading of newspapers and magazines.

– Exercises on songs chosen by the students.

– Dynamic games on the contents of the unit.

– Debates.

n Developmental activities

These should permit the student to obtain the basic knowledge of interest for each didactic unit. The selection of these activities is related to the initial evaluation of the students. Among these we could include:

– Skills class

– Problem solving

– Realization of simple tasks by the teacher.

n Activities of expansion

They serve to expand on the acquired knowledge. When time allows, we will make small reports on the topic of the unit. Anyway, the final unit of each trimester will be devoted to this type of activity.

n Reinforcement activities

In the cases of students with certain learning deficiencies, or if a specific unit proves to be difficult for them, we will design activities that will help the students overcome these obstacles and understand the main concepts of the unit, in order to reach the objectives with success.

These activities may include:

– Summaries.

– Elaboration of incomplete conceptual maps to be completed by the student. Once it is finished and corrected by the teacher, the student will have a coonceptual map that will help him / her understand the didactic unit entirely or a specific part of it.

– Completion of exercises that, while simple in nature, connect various concepts explained in class.

These activities are designed individually depending on the progress of the learning of the concepts of the didactic units. For this reason it is very important to perform frequent revisions of the students´ notebooks.

n Evaluation activities

The evaluation is continous but all the units will begin with activities to connect with the knowledge and representations that the students already possess. Each trimester there will be several evaluative excercises with the objective of improving motivation and self-esteem with the accomplishment of short term goals. There is also a cumulative written exercise at the end of each evaluation.

8 Attention to Diversity and Differentiation of Instruction

In our Community of Madrid the Order 3320-01 / 2007, June 20, which regulates the implantation and development of the Compusory Secondary Education, points out that the didactic programmes should include educational reinforcement measures directed at the students of CSE that have difficulty in learning. We should also try to pay attention to quick learners.

Particular ways of treating diversity go right from curriculum adaptations to spaces in the curriculum left for optional subjects. In extreme cases, it will be necessary to make curricular adaptations.

As far as this programme is concerned, possibilities for differentiated instruction will have to be an essential part of it. In every moment of the teaching-learning process, we need to be able to establish different kinds of activities or to adapt assigned tasks and materials to the particular student needs. In the area of English Language instruction, some possibilities are:

n To increase the amount of receptive activities, which are usually more accesible to weaker students.

n To facilitate the comprehension of the materials used by the class, providing easy comprehension exercises, which may help the learner to get through the text, without a feeling of failure.

n To provide self-study materials, in the forms of diagrams, simple imitaiion exercises, etc.

n To use graded readers at different levels in the reading tasks, related to different topics, in order to foster student engagement.

n To diversify the tasks, giving each student something that is suitable both to their abilities and interests. Our textbook provides extra materials for each unit with three levels of difficulty (low, course level, advanced).

The presence in our classrooms of students with specific educational needs will not be considered as exceptional. In Compulsory Secondary Education, not only students labelled as “special” deserve individualized attention. The study of different learning styles concludes that using a variety of activities and teaching strategies will help us better serve the needs of most of our students. If we know that not all students learn the same way, we should not try to teach them all the same way. The teaching of foreign languages offers the possibility of adapting our instruction to age relevant topics or to specific themes of special importance for some students.

Although the basic materials adopted for this programme allow for a certain degree of instruction differentiation, I have also included materials specifically created for students that may need a more intensive or personalized help, including integration or compensatory education students. In all cases, initial and continuous assessments will be very valuable tools to help us decide on the best approach or strategy to follow.

Educational reinforcement for students who have to retake English 2

Sometimes these students have the possibility of a seventh hour of class to help them pass the contents of the previous year. These classes have both advantages and disadvantages. On one hand students are not too willing to stay an extra hour at school; on the other hand, the groups are very small, so we can give very personalized help to the few students coming to this class.

Besides this extra hour, we must provide the students with extra work that can be done in their homes in an autonomous way, we would check this work and orientate the students so they would succeed in achieving the objectives.

9 Instructional Materials and Resources

Basic textbook:

n Macmillan Secondary Course 3: This will be the textbook selected for the course. The reasons for the selection of this book have been the alignment with the goals and contents specified by educational authorities for this year, as well as a well-balanced inclusion of authentic and adapted materials for this age and level. It also includes a workbook suitable for independent use student.

The Resource File contains extra activities for each unit at three levels of difficulty as well as tests for each unit and final tests for each term and for the year. Tests are also organized in three levels of difficulty.

Students have also the possibility of using www.mac-english.com where they will find useful activities at different levels.

Supplementary Materials:

n MacMillan Topics by Susan Holden: The Topic series presents factual information in a modern magazine format. It offers challenging insights into the modern intercultural world froma a teenager´s viewpoint. Written in direct up-to date English, the texts and illustrations are closely integrated for maximum impact.

n Axterix and Tintin comics: selecting the copies according to their difficulty.

n Posters, charts and visual aids from a variety of sources.

n Authentic materials: magazines, newspapers, websites, DVDs and other materials adequate to support the different themes and to increase engagement among students.

n New materials designed for this programme: In order to supplement the above mentioned resources, and due to the lack of appropriate published materials for some of the present realities of our schools, we have developed some materials to address the needs of our diverse classrooms and educational communities. These include differentiated work for very low academic levels and different cultural, linguistic and national backgrounds.

n Technological equipment: to be used for an optimal instructional programme. Students should be able to have access to computers at least once in every didactic unit. As computers´rooms are not usually very big, if we have splitting in our class once a week, perhaps we could take our students in two groups to make the most of our resources.

n Overhead Projector: TV/DVD system.

n Dictionaries: Any medium-sized bilingual dictionary is welcome (about 500 pages), so that it is easily portable and contains enough information. Recommendable dictionaries following these guidelines are those published by Cambridge University Press, Collins, Longman, Oxford university Press and Richmond. Some of these dictionaries come with a CD-ROM, highly recommendable.

n Reference Grammars: Murphy, R. English Grammar in Use (with answers) by Cambridge University Press.

Oxford Practice Gramma Basic by Oxford University Press.

n Writing Practice: Academic Writing : from paragraph to essay. Macmillan.

10 Measures for Stimulating Interest in Reading and the Capacity for Proper Expression

As established by the Decree 23/ 2007, May 10 issued on May 29 by Education Authority of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, which regulates the structure and curriculum of the Compulsory Secondary Education, the scheme of work must include the measures taken in order to encourage the interest for reading and the ability to express oneself correctly. Our programme includes the following ideas:

n Use of graded readers: this is a very common tool in English lessons, we have added two new elements:

a) Visit to a Publishing House: it would take place at the beginning of the school year and it would serve two objectives- to show them the process of printing these graded readers, which could very instructive for them, and to involve them in their own learning, since after this visit we would vote in the class to choose the books they want to read in the first two terms. For the last term, we would give them the possibility of individual choices to read on their own

b) Attractive warm ups: we would try to create expectation through the preparation of attractive posters which could work as television ads.

n Encouragement of adequate oral and written expression: by means of activities in every unit, with their corresponding assessment- written papers, reports, projects. In written texts or exams, in the marking of activities, there will be a section of the mark addressed to the correct written expression.

n New technologies: websites such as www.englishclub.webgarden.es

n Macmillan Topics: interesting publication in magazine format.

n Axterix and Tintin comics: funny and entertaining situations.

11 Timing and Sequencing

Didactic Units distribution has been done estimating an instructional calendar with 12 weeks in the first trimester, 10 weeks in the second and 10 weeks in the third. The units are divided into three blocks.

We have devoted some lessons to meeting our students in the initial lesson. Then, we have started from the textbook which contains nine units divided into three trimesters. The lessons that correspond to a unit of the text will take 8 classes in the first trimester and 7 in the other two.

Every three units, we have added a revision unit (they would be units 5, 9 and14). The initial unit and the revision units will be shorter (5 or 6 sessions). The two units devoted to projects will take four lessons each.

Anyway, this is just a general orientation, and we may have to change some timing during the year.

1^st Term Project

The project corresponding to the first trimester would be individual and would have the objective of making the students know their companions and their school better. It would be the addition of several reports or written works. It would deal the topics treated in the previous units from a personal point of view and would also include information on the background of the students. We must keep in mind that our classrooms normally contain students from several nationalities, so one of our aims must be that they can benefit from this variety. The project would also include an interview with a teacher, and the students should enclose the sound file for the teacher to check.

2^nd Term Project

In the second term, the project would be made in groups of two or three students. They have been in the same class for three months, so they must know who they can work better with. The theme would be any of the ones treated in units 6, 7, 8 and we would also have oral expositions of the works. All the groups will present the works orally.

The projects of these two terms would be showed on the walls of the class or on any chart prepared for this finality.

3^rd Term Project

The project designed for the last trimester will be a class magazine which will summarize the year´s experience and will address the students´ particular interests and social realities. It will include some sound archives, – texts, interviews- something similar to Speak Up, and also one or two videos connected with the articles. The contents will be related to the themes of the whole year, having also the possibility of including others which could be of special interest for them (i.e: their academic or professional future; their role in the school, etc…).

For this activity, in coordination with the Technology department, we will use the Microsoft Front Page Computer Program. This program has been selected because it offers the possibility of using our final product in the school web page. We will assign different coordination roles to several students and will clarify the levels or participation fields that every child will have.

· 1st Trimester

· 2nd Trimester

· 3rd Trimester

· UNIT 1 (5 hours)

· UNIT 2 (8 hours)

· UNIT 3 (8 hours)

· UNIT 4 (8 hours) Revision and extension

· UNIT 5 (6 hours) (Individual project, mainly as homework)

· UNIT 6 (7 hours)

· UNIT 7 (7 hours)

· UNIT 8 (7 hours)

· UNIT 9 (5 hours) Revision and extension

· UNIT 10 (4 hours ) Group Project

· UNIT 11 (7 hours)

· UNIT 12 (7 hours)

· UNIT 13 (7 hours)

· UNIT 14 (5 hours) Revision and extension

· UNIT 15 (4 hours ) Class Project

12 Didactic Units

First Term

Unit 1 – That´s me

Number of sessions	Five
Minimum Contents	Greetings, introducing oneself and others. Exchanging personal information. Writing about yourself. Present simple of to be. There is / there are. Present simple of have got.
Vocabulary	Greetings, favourites, classroom expressions, countries, school vocabulary.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled activity groups, specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective test/classroom assignments, self- assessment, homework assignments completion.

Unit 2 – Friends

Number of sessions	Eight.
Minimum Contents	Expressing likes and dislikes. Talking about routines. Talking about current actions Writing a personal description. Present simple. Adverbs of frequency. Present simple / continuous. Word stress and prefixes
Vocabulary	Adjectives of personality. Appearance- clothes and hair.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled activity groups, specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective test/ classroom assignments, self –assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 3 – Don´t stop the music

Number of sessions	Eight.
Minimum Contents	Talking about abilities with can and could. Writing a biography. Past simple of be. There was / were. Past simple. The –ed ending.
Vocabulary	Musical instruments and musicians. Kinds of music. Suffixes for people.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective tests / classroom assignments, self –assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 4 – A fantastic weekend

Number of sessions	Eight
Minimum Contents	Describing scenes in the past. Writing a narrative. Past continuous. Quantifiers. Past simple and continuous .Pronunciation of past of be Vocabulary: Socializing. Weekend activities.
Vocabulary	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: revision and extension.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: revision and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective tests/ classroom assignments, self assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 5 – I´ll be there for you (Review/ reinforcement unit )

Number of sessions	Six
Minimum Contents	See units 1-4
Vocabulary	See unit 1-4
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: revision and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective tests/ classroom assignments, self assessment, homework assignment completion.

Second Term

Unit 6 – Feeling good, looking good

Number of sessions	Seven
Minimum Contents	Giving advice with should and shouldn´t. Writing opinions. Comparative and superlative adjectives. Too and not enough.. The weak form in –er and than.
Vocabulary	Healthy and unhealthy habits. Adjectives describing clothes.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective test / classroom assignments, self assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 7 – Living dangerously

Number of sessions	Seven
Minimum Contents	Talking about special moments in the past. Writing a postcard. Present perfect- short answers. Present perfect with ever and never. Pronunciation of contracted forms of have.
Vocabulary	Dangerous sports. Irregular past participles.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective test / classroom assignments, self-assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 8 – Trips and exchanges

Number of sessions	Seven.
Minimum Contents	Chatting to an exchange student. Writing a letter. Present perfect with for, since and just. Sentence stress.
Vocabulary	Places in a city and the country. Activities on trips and excursions.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective test / classroom assignments, self-assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 9 – Healthy living (Review /reinforcement unit)

Number of sessions	Five.
Minimum Contents	See units 6-8.
Vocabulary	See unit 6-8.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: revision and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective tests/ classroom assignments, self assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 10 – Working together

Number of sessions	Four
Minimum Contents	See units 6-8.
Vocabulary	See units 6-8.
Attention to Diversity	Group projects considering each student´s abilities. Specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, self assessment, oral and written presentation of the project.

Third Term

Unit 11 – Help

Number of sessions	Seven.
Minimum Contents	Talking about prohibition and no obligation with mustn´t and don´t have to. Writing an e-mail. Have to, don´t have to. Be going to. Present continuous for future arrangements. Intonation in questions.
Vocabulary	World problems. Helping charities.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective test / classroom assignments, self-assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 12 – A question of luck?

Number of sessions	Seven.
Minimum Contents	Making suggestions. Writing a personal profile. Will– first conditional. Pronunciation: won´t / want.
Vocabulary	Adjectives of emotion. Superstitions.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective test / classroom assignments, self-assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 13 – Multimedia mania

Number of sessions	Seven.
Minimum Contents	Giving opinions. Writing a review. Present simple passive. Past simple passive. The passive with by. Weak pronunciation of are.
Vocabulary	Computer games. Electronic gadgets.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective test / classroom assignments, self-assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 14 – It´s our world (Review/ reinforcement unit )

Number of sessions	Five
Minimum Contents	See units 11-13.
Vocabulary	See units 11-13.
Attention to Diversity	Graded activities, contribution to mixed ability groups, contribution to levelled ability groups, specifically designed activities: revision and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, objective tests/ classroom assignments, self assessment, homework assignment completion.

Unit 15 – Printing

Number of sessions	Four
Minimum Contents	See units 1-13.
Vocabulary	See units 6-8.
Attention to Diversity	Class project considering each student´s abilities. Specifically designed activities: review and extension.
Assessment	Teacher observation, self assessment, oral and written presentation of the project.

13 Bibliography

CABERO, J.: Nuevas tecnologías aplicadas a la educación. Síntesis. Madrid, 2000.

CHRISTOPHERSEN, P.: Second Languaje Learning, Hamondsworth, 1971.

COPEN, H.: Utilización didáctica de los medios audiovisuales, Anaya. Madrid, 1982.

GIMENO SACRISTÁN, J.: La educación obligatoria: su sentido educativo y social. Morata. Madrid, 2000.

KRASHEN, STEPHEN D.: Second Languaje Acquisition and Second Languaje Learning, Prentice Hall, Hemel Hempstead, 1988.

PARAMO GUTIERREZ, M.J.: New Discoverer for ESO, Burlington Books. Limasol, Cyprus, 2002.