Fujimigaoka English Program Description
Fujimigaoka’s High School English program operates on the principal of providing high quality courses at a variety of levels, with a variety of goals, to successfully meet the large spectrum of individual student needs. In other words, students of all levels and experiences can have their educational needs met in one comprehensive program. This comprehensive program will be explained in detail below.
All classes operate on the FOUR SKILLS principal. This means that while some classes may emphasize one or two skills, all classes utilize the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing to meet the educational goals. This ensures that students are using a more natural approach to learning English that includes active student participation and meaningful communication.
LIST of HIGH SCHOOL COURSES
Course Name
1. English Expression 1, 2, 3
2. Advanced English Expression 1, 2, 3
3. Returnee Adv. Language Arts 1, 2, 3
4. Academic English 1, 2, 3
5. Extensive Reading *HS 1 Only
6. Literature Appreciation *HS 1 and 2 Only
LIST of JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL COURSES
Course Name
1. Listening and Speaking 1, 2, 3
2. Adv. Listening and Speaking 1, 2, 3
3. Returnee 21st Century Issues 1, 2, 3
4. Returnee Discovery through Fiction 1, 2 *JHS 1 and 2 only
5. Returnee Written Expression Seminar *JHS 3 only
6. Extensive Reading *JHS 3 only
7. Literature Appreciation *JHS 2 and 3 only
Explanation of Classes
High School Year 1
1. English Expression (Twice a week)
This course brings together English language and Information Technology using student laptops. The students have an e-textbook which is downloaded to their laptops AND they have access to online content. Classes require students to improve their listening and speaking skills in English through the medium of computer and web-based materials. Reading and writing skills are also used to successfully complete listening and speaking assignments. The online web-based portion of the curriculum ensures that students are engaged in using English outside of class time as well. Each unit ends with student presentations which helps students to become comfortable using English in formal and informal situations.
The e-textbook is published by Oxford University Press and is titled Q:Skills for Success. Topics studied include Social Psychology, Education, Cultural Studies, Sociology, Architecture, Health Sciences, Global Studies, and Technology.
This course also includes an intensive listening module that is completed over the summer holiday. Students listen to a dramatic story on CD at their own pace and then answer comprehension questions and complete vocabulary assignments based on the words in the story. This helps students with listening comprehension skills needed for standardized tests they will be taking in the future. The story that is studied changes for the level of student. Global course students do one story and Advanced A and B students do a more difficult story.
2. Advanced English Expression (Twice a week)
This course follows the same style and methods of English Expression EXCEPT the e-textbook that is used is LEVEL 2 of the Q:Skills for Success series. Also, this course includes more online practice and more formal writing done using electronic discussion board assignments.
Topics studied in this course include Business and Marketing, Psychology, Social Psychology, Technology, Sociology, Behavioral Science, Environmental Science, and Public Health. This course also has a summer intensive listening module. The story is the same one that is studied by Advanced A and B students.
3. Returnee Advanced Language Arts (Three times a week)
This is an English Literature and Critical Thinking course that challenges students who have spent time living abroad. The course uses literary analysis to springboard into discussion and written response to a wide range of social topics. Students are encouraged to develop their critical thinking skills to draw connections between literature and today’s world.
The book studied in first year high school is George Orwell’s Animal Farm and topics explored in class include the corruption of those with power, the rewriting of history, censorship, the dangers of totalitarianism and romantic idealism. Students are graded on their ability to formulate thoughtful responses to what is discussed in class in both speaking and writing.
4. Academic English 1 (Twice a week)
This course was developed for returnee students as a way to learn more advanced academic English skills needed in University. These skills include listening, speaking, reading, and writing for standardized tests like the British Council’s IELTS test and the TOEFL.
Students use IELTS and TOEFL preparation materials that teach academic and test taking skills through the exploration of content-based themes. Examples of themes covered in class are Home, Festivals, Teamwork, Education, Family, Pop culture, Science, Environments, and the Future.
5. Extensive Reading (Once a week)
This course was developed to help students to strengthen their vocabulary while developing their reading and grammar skills. Students choose books to read from a wide range of graded readers* provided for them. There is a wide range of levels and students choose books that are slightly below their current English level. Each student works independently to read books and take simple reading tests online to accumulate pages that translate into their course grade at the end of the year. Students are encouraged to choose easy and entertaining books to increase their appreciation and enjoyment for reading in English without dictionaries or translation. The continued repetition of meeting known words and reading perfect grammatical sentences benefits students comprehension skills in their regular English classes. As students' English comprehension level grows naturally from the reading, they are also able to read increasingly sophisticated stories. One of the main goals of extensive reading is to make reading an enjoyable activity that students can do outside of class and on into the future.
Please see the Extensive Reading page on this website for pictures and more information!
*Returnee students are required to read regular novels rather than graded readers. Rather than taking tests on the books they have read, they complete book reports.
6. Literature Appreciation (Once a week)
This class aims to expose students to a wide range of literary types and genres, while encouraging group learning in a conversational, free-flowing classroom environment.
Throughout the year, students work through various literary texts - both famous works from the literary 'canon' as well as less well-known materials. In discussions, students are encouraged to identify prevailing themes, how these themes are constructed, and how these topics connect to present day issues. Class time is typically divided equally between reading and conversation activities. In every grade, at least half of assigned texts are written by a female author.
An important tenet of the class is that a literature shouldn't simply be treated as something to be analysed or dissected. While literary analysis and close reading skills are given air time in Literature Appreciation, the class also aims to help students discover for themselves the joy of reading for pleasure.
This year, SHS first year students are reading 'Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation', 'Piecing Me Together' by Renée Watson and 'Norse Mythology' by Neil Gaiman, as well as a small range of poetry.
High School Year 2
1. English Expression (Twice a week)
Students in this course advance to the next level in the Oxford Q: Skills for Success series. Students continue to develop their four skills, this time learning about Business, Cognitive Science, Sociology, Physiology, Psychology, Marketing, and Behavioral Science.
Over the summer, students participate in an Environmental Poster Contest where they are encouraged to think of creative and practical ways to sustain the environment.
2. Advanced English Expression (Twice a week)
This course follows the same style and methods of English Expression, but incorporates more production exercises that include writing detailed personal responses to the topics and doing more free discussion. Topics for this course include: Sociology, Nutritional Science, Psychology, Marketing, Behavioral Science, Neurology, and Economics.
Students in this course are also involved in the Environmental Poster Contest over the summer, but they are additionally required to give a presentation about their posters when they return at the end of the summer.
3. Returnee Advanced Language Arts (Three times a week)
This is an English Literature and Critical Thinking course that challenges students who have spent time living abroad. The course uses literary analysis to springboard into discussion and written response to a wide range of social topics. Students are encouraged to develop their critical thinking skills to draw connections between literature and today’s world.
The book studied in second year high school is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Themes explored in this course include Literary elements, Gothic and Romance literature, Science, Friendship, Nature, and the Responsibilities of knowledge and power. Students are graded on their ability to formulate thoughtful responses to what is discussed in class in both speaking and writing.
4. Academic English 2 (Three times a week)
This course was developed for returnee students as a way to learn more advanced academic English skills needed in University. These skills include listening, speaking, reading, and writing for standardized tests like the British Council’s IELTS test and the TOEFL. Students use IELTS and TOEFL preparation materials that teach academic and test taking skills through the exploration of content-based themes. Examples of themes covered in class are Media, Languages, History, Buildings and Cities, Workplaces, and Urban sports. Students in this course also begin focusing on how to write university level papers and how to do research.
In second year of high school, the second semester has students focus on writing various types of essays using readings as source material and using different types of media to express themselves.
5. Literature Appreciation (Once a week)
This class aims to expose students to a wide range of literary types and genres, while encouraging group learning in a conversational, free-flowing classroom environment.
Throughout the year, students work through various literary texts - both famous works from the literary 'canon' as well as less well-known materials. In discussions, students are encouraged to identify prevailing themes, how these themes are constructed, and how these topics connect to present day issues. Class time is typically divided equally between reading and conversation activities. In every grade, at least half of assigned texts are written by a female author.
An important tenet of the class is that a literature shouldn't simply be treated as something to be analysed or dissected. While literary analysis and close reading skills are given air time in Literature Appreciation, the class also aims to help students discover for themselves the joy of reading for pleasure.
Second year students study a number of short stories, poems and plays, including the work of William Shakespeare, Ray Bradbury and Maya Angelou.
High School Year 3
1. English Expression (Twice a week)
This course is a continuation of the four skills focus of the previous two years. Students advance to the next level in the Q: Skills for Success series. In this course, students are expected to complete more online homework and have more complicated discussions than in previous years. There is also a higher expectation for the quality of their presentations at the end of each unit. The topics covered include Social Psychology, Technology, Sociology, Behavioral Science, Environmental Science, and Public Health.
This course includes an intensive listening module that is completed over the summer holiday. Students listen to a dramatic mystery involving Sherlock Holmes at their own pace and then answer comprehension questions and complete vocabulary assignments based on the words in the story. This helps students with listening comprehension skills needed for standardized tests they will be taking in the future.
2. Advanced English Expression (Twice a week)
This course follows the same style and methods of English Expression, but incorporates more production exercises that include writing detailed personal responses to the topics and doing more free discussion. Topics covered include Business, Behavioral Science, Developmental Psychology, Science, Nutritional Science, and Education.
Students in this course also complete the intensive listening module over the summer holiday. They listen to the same Sherlock Holmes story as the third year English Expression class.
3. Returnee Advanced Language Arts (Four times a week)
In the third year of this course, students work on increasing their vocabulary skills and their critical thinking skills. In the first semester, students dive deep into critical thinking covering a wide range of topics including recognizing arguments, assumptions, false premises, tautology, and flawed reasoning, and distinguishing argument from disagreement, coincidence from correlation, and explicit from implicit arguments. In addition, students will learn to evaluate source material and to apply critical reflection in their writing and to other aspects of their lives. During the second semester students choose a topic for independent study and they research, write, and present their findings in a structured way using the critical thinking skills that they learned in the first semester.
One class per week was added in the third year of high school in order to provide time for university placement counseling. Students have the opportunity to seek guidance and support in their university application endeavors, whether it is for interview/test preparation, writing personal statements, or receiving letters of recommendation.
4. Academic English 3 (Three times a week)
The third year of Academic English focuses on IELTS and TOEFL test taking and academic presentation skills. Each class period covers the four skills of listening, reading, writing, and speaking with a special focus on vocabulary that is commonly found on the IELTS and TOEFL exams.
Junior High School Year 1
1. Listening and Speaking 1 (Once a week)
This class encourages students to have fun getting used to hearing and using simple English. Students learn basic vocabulary and become familiar asking and answering high frequency questions. Students also improve their writing by maintaining a notebook with sentences they have learned and creating their own sentences with teacher guidance.
2. Advanced Listening and Speaking 1 (Once a week)
This class explores popular discussion topics in order to help students acquire new vocabulary, practice reading, writing, discussion, and formal presentation skills. The focus is on teaching students to explain Japan’s culture and issues in an international environment. Topics explored in this class include Society, Health, Education, Science, Technology, Art, and Culture.
3. Returnee 21st Century Issues 1 (Twice a week)
This is a content-based course for Returnee students that allows them to use their English skills to explore topics and issues that are important to society today and in the future. Students watch a TED TALK presentation in each unit as a starting point for discussions so students can build critical-thinking skills as well as confidence in expressing opinions and using new topic vocabulary. At the end of each unit, students give presentations on a related topic, focusing on specific presentation skills.
In Year 1, topics include conservation, storm-chasing, transportation, music, gratitude, and curiosity.
4. Returnee Discovery through Fiction 1 (3 times a week)
This is a reading and writing based course for Returnee students that requires students to examine short stories of various authors and analyze their writing styles. Authors’ works that are studied include Isaac Asimov, Shirley Jackson, O. Henry, Mark Twain, and Kate Chopin. Students share their opinions and also practice different kinds of academic writing in class to help them maintain their high level of English.
Junior High School Year 2
1. Listening and Speaking 2 (Once a week)
Class description coming soon!
2. Advanced Listening and Speaking 2 (Once a week)
This class explores popular discussion topics in order to help students acquire new vocabulary, practice reading, writing, discussion, and formal presentation skills. The focus is on teaching students to explain Japan’s culture and issues in an international environment. Topics explored in this class include Society, Health, Education, Science, Technology, Art, and Culture.
3. Returnee 21st Century Issues 2 (3 times a week)
This is a content-based course for Returnee students that allows them to use their English skills to explore topics and issues that are important to society today and in the future. Students watch a TED TALK presentation in each unit as a starting point for discussions so students can build critical-thinking skills as well as confidence in expressing opinions and using new topic vocabulary. At the end of each unit, students give presentations on a related topic, focusing on specific presentation skills. As year two has an extra class each week compared with year one, students are able to dive deeper into each topic.
In Year 2, topics include secrets, climate change, unexpected discoveries, design & innovation, biomimicry, robotics, and philanthropy.
4. Returnee Discovery through Fiction 2 (Twice a week)
This is a reading and writing based course for Returnee students that requires students to examine short stories of various authors and analyze their writing styles. Authors’ works that are studied include Isaac Asimov, Shirley Jackson, O. Henry, Mark Twain, and Kate Chopin. Students share their opinions and also practice different kinds of academic writing in class to help them maintain their high level of English.
5. Literature Appreciation 1 (Once a week)
This class aims to expose students to a wide range of literary types and genres, while encouraging group learning in a conversational, free-flowing classroom environment.
Throughout the year, students work through various literary texts - both famous works from the literary 'canon' as well as less well-known materials. In discussions, students are encouraged to identify prevailing themes, how these themes are constructed, and how these topics connect to present day issues. Class time is typically divided equally between reading and conversation activities. In every grade, at least half of assigned texts are written by a female author.
An important tenet of the class is that a literature shouldn't simply be treated as something to be analysed or dissected. While literary analysis and close reading skills are given air time in Literature Appreciation, the class also aims to help students discover for themselves the joy of reading for pleasure.
This year, JHS second year students are reading 'Pashmina' by Nidhi Chanani, 'Flora and Ulysses' by Kate DiCamillo, and 'Coraline' by Neil Gaiman.
Junior High School Year 3
1. Listening and Speaking 3 (Once a week)
Class description coming soon!
2. Advanced Listening and Speaking 3 (Once a week)
This class explores popular discussion topics in order to help students acquire new vocabulary, practice reading, writing, discussion, and formal presentation skills. The focus is on teaching students to explain Japan’s culture and issues in an international environment. Topics explored in this class include Society, Health, Education, Science, Technology, Art, and Culture.
3. Returnee 21st Century Issues 3 (3 times a week)
This is a content-based course for Returnee students that allows them to use their English skills to explore topics and issues that are important to society today and in the future. Students watch a TED TALK presentation in each unit as a starting point for discussions so students can build critical-thinking skills as well as confidence in expressing opinions and using new topic vocabulary. At the end of each unit, students give presentations on a related topic, focusing on specific presentation skills.
In Year 3, topics include entrepreneurship, linguistics, innovation & engineering, limitations, stress, and art & conservation.
4. Returnee Written Expression Seminar (Twice a week)
In their third year in the program, students take Written Expression Seminar to help them master the skills that they have learned in their first two years and to prepare them for the senior high English Honors Program.
5. Extensive Reading (Once a week)
This course was developed to help students to strengthen their vocabulary while developing their reading and grammar skills. Students choose books to read from a wide range of graded readers* provided for them. There is a wide range of levels and students choose books that are slightly below their current English level. Each student works independently to read books and take simple reading tests online to accumulate pages that translate into their course grade at the end of the year. Students are encouraged to choose easy and entertaining books to increase their appreciation and enjoyment for reading in English without dictionaries or translation. The continued repetition of meeting known words and reading perfect grammatical sentences benefits students comprehension skills in their regular English classes. As students' English comprehension level grows naturally from the reading, they are also able to read increasingly sophisticated stories. One of the main goals of extensive reading is to make reading an enjoyable activity that students can do outside of class and on into the future.
Please see the Extensive Reading page on this website for pictures and more information!
*Returnee students are required to read regular novels rather than graded readers. Rather than taking tests on the books they have read, they complete book reports.
6. Literature Appreciation 2 (Once a week)
This class aims to expose students to a wide range of literary types and genres, while encouraging group learning in a conversational, free-flowing classroom environment.
Throughout the year, students work through various literary texts - both famous works from the literary 'canon' as well as less well-known materials. In discussions, students are encouraged to identify prevailing themes, how these themes are constructed, and how these topics connect to present day issues. Class time is typically divided equally between reading and conversation activities. In every grade, at least half of assigned texts are written by a female author.
An important tenet of the class is that a literature shouldn't simply be treated as something to be analysed or dissected. While literary analysis and close reading skills are given air time in Literature Appreciation, the class also aims to help students discover for themselves the joy of reading for pleasure.
Third year students read Noelle Stevenson's 'Nimona' and Mark Haddon's 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime', as well as a wide range of ancient myths and legends.