Case Study 2: Our School

Diana Vivian, Japanese teacher at Moonee Ponds West Primary, discusses a cross-curricular unit of work which allows her senior students to practise their language skills in an authentic and engaging context.

Diana works with other teachers at the school to integrate LOTE outcomes into the “Our School” unit. The students select an aspect of the school to research. In pairs, they write questions and conduct interviews, and take photos. They use this information to create information products targeted at Japanese students:

• An email to a keypal asking about school life in Japan
• A photo-story about their chosen aspect of Moonee Ponds West Primary, with a voiceover in Japanese, to be included on the school website.

Students have the opportunity to demonstrate interdisciplinary and PPS skills such as independent and pair work, time and resource management, effective communication when presenting information, and use of ICT .