Montevideo

Junior 1
Syllabus 2021

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 Course Description

Junior 1 is a topic-based course for children and teenagers who have no knowledge of
English. It is designed to promote confidence in understanding and using English at a
young age. It should create interest and enjoyment in learning a foreign language. Lessons
are held twice a week for 1 hour and 30 minutes per class.

Course aims

• To promote English language learning by using topic-based activities which are central to
the immediate interests and surroundings of students.

• To engage students in learning to use English to do things that are purposeful, relevant
and pleasurable to them such as the use of project work, singing songs, playing games,
reading stories and poems, interacting with others and finding out about the world they
live in.

• To make learning meaningful and memorable.

• By the end of the junior stage (J1, J2 & J3) students should become basic users of the
English language*, which encompasses:
- Input: dealing with simple, straightforward input.
- Spoken production: taking part in basic factual conversations, expressing opinion (using
straightforward expressions e.g. ‘I don´t agree’) and asking simple questions on familiar,
predictable matters.
- Written production: completing basic forms, writing simple requests and leaving
straightforward messages on notes and letters (e.g. a thank you note).

*A1 according to CEFR. See www.coe.int/lang-CEFR

Level description

Junior 1 level students:

- Can use a basic list of isolated words and phrases related to familiar situations.
- Can establish basic social contact and describe themselves.
- Can ask and answer simple questions and respond to simple statements on
familiar topics.
- Can make and respond to suggestions.
- Can link groups of words with very basic connectors like ‘and’ or ‘then’.
- Have limited control of few basic grammatical structures and sentence patterns.

Suggested Course Materials

• Phases 1 – Student’s Book (Macmillan)

• Phases 1- Workbook (Macmillan)
• Readers: Pedro’s Project (Primary Readers- Movers) (Richmond)

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 Course Assessment

Oral assesment criteria: Marking scales:

Reception 5 marks 18 - 20 Excellent

Range (grammar and vocabulary) 5 marks 16 - 17 Very good
Pronunciation 5 marks 14 - 15 Good
Global Achievement 5 marks 12 - 13 Pass
0 - 11 Fail
Total Marks 20 marks

0 Shows no command of the area being assessed

Shows some command of the area being assessed but needs a lot
1
of improvement.
2 Shows some command of the area being assessed but needs improvement.

3 Satisfactory – Good

4 Very Good

5 Excellent

• Writing
Writing is one of the skills our learners need to develop for both its communicative value
and the fact that it helps students put what they have learnt into practice. This is why
teachers must look at the skills section of the syllabus and pay special attention to the
different pieces of writing our learners should do. It is essential that teachers focus not only
on the product, but also on the process. This is why one composition per unit is not enough.
We strongly suggest students practise writing on a weekly basis. This does not mean that
they will be writing fully assessed compositions every week, but it actually means that
there will be writing every week. The writing tasks should be filed in the students’ portfolios
(both the first draft and the final copy).

• Homework, classwork and portfolio

These are a fundamental part of the course. Opportunities for all students to participate in
class should be created. It is recommended that students are given homework on a regular
basis to foster the learning process. Also, each student should have their portfolio where
they would keep samples of their classwork. This is a tool for continuous assessment and
should therefore reflect the student´s progress throughout the course. It could be assessed
by giving detailed feedback on student´s progress. Teachers should insist on having the
students adding work of their own interest, be it pieces of writing, project work and
selected information. The aim is that the students should feel that the portfolio is very much
their own creative collection of relevant information which will add a plus to their learning
process and they will thus value it further. Portfolios may include the following:
- Writing

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 - Library (book reports and activities done using books from the library).

- Projects: there should be one for every unit; there are suggested projects in the syllabus
but you can, of course, plan your own
- Extra activities (songs, poems, videos, stories more ...)

- Tests (tests done during the year)

• Certificates: all the students will be awarded a certificate on completion of the final exam
for the course. The corresponding global achievement scale is as follows:

One IH (logo) 0 - 25% Unsatisfactory

Two IH (logo) 26 - 50% In need of improvement
Three IH (logo) 51 - 70% Satisfactory
Four IH (logo) 71 - 85% Very good
Five IH (logo) 86 - 100% Excellent

• Report cards: Teachers will have to write three report cards on students’ performance,
each of them after testing periods. They will include the results of the written and oral tests
together with comments on students’ performance.
• Promotion: Promotion will depend on formal and informal assessment (tests, classroom
work, homework, portfolio and attendance record.)

• Attendance Policy: In order to fulfil attendance requirements, students should attend at

least 80% of the lessons throughout the year.

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 Calendar - 2021

ASSESSMENT
HOLIDAYS
PARENTS MEETING
SPECIAL EVENTS (KIDS TO CH3)

March 8th – 9th Start of classes

March 29th – April 3rd Easter
May 1st National Holiday
May 17th National Holiday
May 12th – 13th May Oral Assessment
May 19th – 20st May Written Assessment
May 24th / May 28th First parents’ meeting
May/June Theatre Play
May 31st – June 11th Book Day-Open Class
June 19th National Holiday
June 28th– July 2nd Winter Holidays
July 18th National Holiday
August 7th Cambridge Mock Exams: FCE, CAE, CPE
August 14th Cambridge Mock Exams: KET, PET
August 12th – 13th August Oral Assessment
August 18th – 19th August Written Assessment
August 25th National Holiday
August 26th / August 31th 2nd parents’ meeting / International Exams meeting
September 20st – Sept. 25th Spring Holidays
October 11th National Holiday
November 2nd National Holiday
October 25th - Nov. 12th Open Classes – Kids to CH3
December 1st – 2nd Final Oral Assessment
December 6th – 7th Final Written Assessment
December 13th – 14th 3rd Parents Meeting

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 Junior 1 – Writing List

MARCH Who is your favourite character from a film, book, or series? What are they like?
(Unit 1)
Interview three friends and write a description of their favourite food, favourite
musician, and favourite Netflix series. (Unit 1)
Find a family picture and write a description of it. Say who is in the picture, how
old they are, where you are from, and where are you in the picture. (Phases p. 13)
(Unit 1)

APRIL What is your favourite animal? Write a description. (Unit 2)

Do you have a pet? Describe your pet. If you don’t have a pet write a description
of your dream pet. (Unit 2)
Write a note about a person in class. Include information about their name,
where they are from, their age, height, eye colour, hair style, family, and pet.
(Phases p. 23) (Unit 2)

MAY Write two truths and a lie about yourself. Read the three sentences to your
classmates to see if they can guess which the lie is. (Unit 3)
Do you have a healthy or unhealthy diet? Describe the foods you like to eat. (Unit
3)
What kind of lifestyle do you have? Write about what you eat for each meal
(breakfast, lunch, and dinner), sports and activities you enjoy, and what you do
in your free time. (Phases p. 37) (Unit 3)

JUNE What is your city like? Describe your city. What do you like about your city? Is
there anything you don’t like about your city? (Unit 4)
Write about special place you like to visit. What is the place like? What do you like
to do there? (Unit 4)
Write about a city in an English-speaking country. Include information about the
location, population, landscape, and important landmarks. (Phases p. 47) (Unit 4)

JULY What is food like in Uruguay? What is American or British food like? Which type
of food do you like best? (Revision 2)
What is life like in the countryside? What is life like in the city? Is it better to live in
the countryside or in the city? (Revision 2)
What is your school like? What do you like about your school? Is there anything
you don’t like? (Unit 5)

AUGUST What are you and your friends good at? What are your parents good at? Is there
anything you, your friends, or your parents are not good at? (Unit 5)
Who do you admire? Why do you admire them? What do they do in a typical day?
(Phases p. 61) (Unit 5)
What genre of film do you like best (action, romantic, science-fiction, comedy,
etc.)? Why? (Unit 6)
Write a review about your favourite TV Programme. Include the title, when you

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 SEPTEMBER watch it, the characters, why you like it, and a recommendation. (Phases p. 61)
(Unit 6)
Have you ever won an award or a prize? Do you know anyone who has won
something? What kind of award? Why did they win it? (Unit 6)
Write an email to your English friend. Tell them about your daily routine, a new
programme you’re watching, and something you are learning about in school.
(Revision 3)

OCTOBER What do you imagine your parents and other family members are doing at this
moment? Write an imaginary description of what they are doing right now. (Unit
7)
Write about a sport or activity you enjoy. What equipment do you need to do this
sport or activity? How often do you do the sport or activity? Why do you like it?
(Phases p. 85) (Unit 7)
Describe your house. Where is it? What does it look like from the outside? How
many rooms does it have? What does it look like on the inside? (Unit 8)

NOVEMBER What was your day like yesterday? Write about five things you did and who you
did each thing with. (Unit 8)
Write about your favourite room. What is the room like? What furniture and
objects are in the room? What do you do there? (Phases p. 95) (Unit 8)
Choose a famous person. What do you imagine their house is like? Write a
description of their house. (Unit 8)

DECEMBER Write about the best day last week. What did you do? Why was the day the best?
Write about the worst day last week. What did you do? Why was it the worst?
(Extra)
What is your favourite holiday? How do you celebrate? Why is it your favourite?
(Extra)

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 SHOT TERM OBJECTIVES - FIRST ASSESSMENT - MAY

By the end of this term the learners will have been introduced to the content below:

Topic Can do Language Lexis Skills Further practice

statments

Welcome I can count to 100 Hello, what’s your name? Numbers 1-100 Learners can read and PROJECT:
(March) My name’s… listen for very simple and Learners get to know
I can introduce What’s your surname? Uruguayan, American, specific information e.g. each other with an
This unit is myself and greet How do you spell that? British, French, Japanese, numbers, names and information gap
not based on others. Spanish, Dutch, nationalities. activity in which they
the course -Can I go to the toilet, Portuguese & Argentinian find out names,
book I can say the please? family nationalities,
although alphabet and spell -Can I borrow a pen Bag, book, pencil, pen, number of siblings &
teachers can out my name. please? computer, desk & other personal
use materials -Yes, here you are. whiteboard details. As a follow
from the I can name What’s the meaning up they create a pie
Starter unit. different of…? chart with all these
nationalities -Can you speak louder, details.
please?
I can describe a -Can I go to the toilet,
classroom in a very please?
simple way.

I can ask my
teacher for
clarification of
meaning and other
requests.

My world I can ask and Verb to be
your world answer about (Teaching the
nationalities. contraction first is
(March / strongly advised as it will
April) I can talk about help learners acquire the
Unit 1 Manga and pronunciation of weak
characters in films. forms)
I can ask and give Subject pronouns (I, you,
simple personal he, she, it, we, you &
information. they)
Wh- questions
I can ask and talk
about possession. Possessive case in
singular and plural
I can talk about my nouns as well as proper
family in a very names
simple way using
prompts e.g. Possessive’s
picture or drawing. Apostrophe ’s to indicate
possession
Verb to be
(Teaching the
contraction first is
strongly advised as it will
help learners acquire the
pronunciation of weak
forms)
Countries and Nationali- Learners can identify a Learners write a
ties: Canadian, Ecuadorian, topic in a text. personal profile.
Chinese, Japanese, British,
French, Spanish & Learners can show Learners create a
Uruguayan. understanding of input by poster with a family
answering simple -wh tree and present it to
Family: aunt, brother, questions and completing the class, finding out
cousins, dad, grandad, simple true or false specific details about
grandma, grandparents, exercises. their relatives.
mum, parents, sister &
uncle. Learners can write a
personal profile including
Question words information regarding their
(What, Where, When, Who, age, nationality, likes and
Why, How) sports.
Where are you from?
How old are you?
What’s the name of your
school?
Who’s your best friend?
What are your favourite
sports?

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 SHOT TERM OBJECTIVES - FIRST ASSESSMENT - MAY

By the end of this term the learners will have been introduced to the content below:

Topic Can do Language Lexis Skills Further practice

statments

What are they I can describe Have got affirmative, Parts of the body: arm, Learners can deduce PROJECT:
like? animals. negative, contracted ear, eye, face, finger, foot, meaning from context. Students do research
(April/May) form. hair, hand, leg, mouth, about animals in
Unit 2 I can talk about Interrogative form and neck, nose, tail, thumb, Learners can actively listen their country.
possession and short answers. toe & tooth. to the interlocutor to Create a fact file, and
ask and answer respond appropriately. write a description
questions about it. Spelling: singular and Pets: cat, dog & horse. about one of them.
plural nouns. Learners can understand
I can talk about Adjectives of physical details and the gist of very
how to look after a description: long / short / simple animal
pet. straight / curly / fair / dark descriptions.
hair.
Tall & short. Learners can do research in
preparation for a writing
Irregular plural nouns. task.

Learners can write a

description of animals.

END OF FIRST TERM: MAY ASSESSMENT

SHORT TERM OBJECTIVES: SECOND ASSESSMENT – AUGUST

By the end of this term the learners will have been introduced to the content below:

Topic Can do Language Lexis Skills Further practice

statments

Healthy living I can talk about Present simple – all Food vocabulary: pizza, Learners can understand PROJECT:
(May / June) eating habits, ask forms (affirmative, apple, bread, cake, the gist and some details Learners conduct a
Unit 3 and answer negative and carrots, cheese, fish, of descriptions on very class survey in which
questions about it. interrogative) ice-cream, meat, milk, familiar topics e.g. they find out what
nuts, pasta, potatoes, someone’s life. kind of food they eat
I can talk about Present simple strawberries, yoghurt, for the different
free time activities. questions. vegetables, fruit, dairy Learners can read and meals of the day.
products & fizzy drinks. listen for specific
I can talk about Do I / you / we / they information. Project: learners
likes & dislikes read? Free time activities. write down what
Yes (I do) No (we don’t) Third person singular Learners can write a they eat during an
I can order food at endings- /s/ /z/ /iz/ description of a perfect entire week. Based
a restaurant using Does / he / she / it read? Verbs: eat, meet, stay up, day. on this, they discuss
very simple Yes (he does) No (he talk on the phone, watch, their diet in groups
language. doesn’t) wash, study, cook, play & and come up with a
drink. plan to lead a
Subject + like / love / not healthier lifestyle.
like hate + noun or ...ing. Adverbs of frequency:
always, usually, often,
Like vs would like sometimes, hardly ever &
never.

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 SHORT TERM OBJECTIVES: SECOND ASSESSMENT – AUGUST

By the end of this term the learners will have been introduced to the content below:

Topic Can do Language Lexis Skills Further practice

statments

Out and I can describe There is/ There are Places in town: chemist, Learners can read Unit 4
about location. church, cinema, hotel, library, and listen to Students choose a country
(June / July) Questions: Is there a big museum, newsagent, conversations for and city. They do research
Unit 4 I can describe a football stadium? Are restaurant, school, shoe shop, gist. about it and present the
city or village, there any mountains near shopping centre, sports most interesting facts.
and ask & Liverpool? centre, supermarket, & Learners can They can use Earth Cam, to
answer underground station. understand the gist see what people are doing
questions about A/an, some, any. and details of texts there right now. For
this. Prepositions of place: behind, on familiar topics. example: Earth Cam Abbey
There’s / There’re between, in front of, near, Road:
I can make (affirmative & negative) next to, on & opposite Learners can write a https://www.earthcam.com
suggestions e.g. There’s some food / city guide. /world/england/london/ab
about a day out. There’s a table / There are Landscape: beach, forest, beyroad/?cam=abbeyroad_
some tables. island, lake, mountain, river, Learners can write uk
sand, tree, wave, snow & the description of a
water city.

School life I can talk about Adverbs of frequency: Daily routine: do homework, Learners can read PROJECT – Students find
(July/August) my school life. never, sometimes, often, finish school, get dressed, get and answer out about a classmate’s
Unit 5 usually & always up, go to bed, have a shower, questions about routine and then write
I can understand have dinner, play the piano, school life. about A day in the life of
facts about Can and can’t (ability) start school, have lunch, go to their classmates.
other schools. the cinema & tidy your room. Learners can write a
magazine article
I can describe Time: o’clock, quarter past, half about someone they
my daily routine. past & quarter to. admire.

I can tell the School subjects: art and Learners can

time design, drama, English, French, understand gist and
geography, ICT, literature, some details of a
I can talk about maths, music, PE, science & description of a
ability. history. school and a person
they admire.
Activities: make costumes, play
the piano, swim, dance, sing,
play football & draw.

END OF SECOND TERM: AUGUST ASSESSMENT

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 SHORT TERM OBJECTIVES: FINAL ASSESSMENT – NOVEMBER / DECEMBER

By the end of this term the learners will have been introduced to the content below:

Topic Can do Language Lexis Skills Further practice

statments

I can talk about Love, like, not like and TV programmes and films: Learners can read PROJECT: Learners
Film and TV likes and hate+-ing. action, adventure, animated, and listen for gist interview their classmates
(September dislikes. We like watching comedy, fantasy, horror, and detail about a about their likes and
and October ) science-fiction films. musical, romantic comedy, range of films and TV dislikes of films and TV
Unit 6 I can describe a I love going to the science-fiction, thriller, war & shows. programmes and report to
film and TV cinema western the class.
programme. Learners can write a
TV programme
Adverbs of manner: well, review.
fast, hard, awful,
beautifully & slowly.

Sports for all I can use the Present continuous Sports: football, athletics, Learners can write
(October and present affirmative negative and basketball, cycling, golf, judo, an e-mail. Watch Earth Cam to
November) continuous to interrogative. snowboarding, swimming, describe what people are
Unit 7 talk about tennis & yoga. doing right now on Sunset
actions in beach (or different places
progress. Contrast between the Adjective of opinion: amazing, Abbey Road / Time Square,
present simple and boring, dangerous, difficult, etc.)
I can listen present continuous. easy, exciting, fun & interes- Learners can http://sunsetsxm.com/plan
about ting. read about a e-info/
commentaries snowboarding blog.
about unusual Verbs: watch, play, run, sit,
sports. walk

I can give
opinions about
sports.

LEAVE OUT:
Unit 8 – Teachers can choose to teach this unit but it won’t be tested. We strongly suggest they use some time
in November to revise vocabulary and develop speaking and writing strategies for the End of Year Exam.

END OF YEAR ASSESSMENT: NOVEMBER / DECEMBER

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