PORTADA

ÍNDICE
1. INTRODUCTION

This English syllabus is a planning or reference for a specific group or class

about the teaching and learning process to be done along an academic year. It

aims to provide a broad learning experience, meeting the requirements

established by the curriculum for _ _ _.

First, it presents the general elements that must be considered when designing

a syllabus. Then, it outlines/sequences and times the objectives and contents

which are to be achieved, proposes the methodology to be used, and sets out

the evaluation criteria to be met.

The syllabus is designed to motivate young pupils through fun activities and a

supportive methodology, encouraging a rich variety of approaches that serve

the different needs of individual children.

2. THE CONTEXT: THE SCHOOL AND PUPILS

THE SCHOOL The school is located in a city of about 95000 inhabitants, in a

medium-class neighborhood. The park and green zones in the surroundings

bring a pleasant atmosphere. There is a secondary school nearby where many

of the pupils will study in the future.

INSTALLATIONS AND FACILITIES The school consists in two renovated and

light buildings, the main one destined to the Primary School level. There is one

year group for each level of Pre-School and Primary Education, within a total of

190 pupils.
The facilities that are useful for English learning include eleven classrooms, all

of them well-equipped with the usual furniture and materials needed, including a

whiteboard and a digital board; a computer room with 25 computers that use the

informative system Linex, and connected to the internet; and a small school

library, fitted with some story books and DVD’s in English.

The school stresses that state education must be a duty and a right, and it aims

to create a happy, safe and engaging learning community where everyone can

develop positive relationships and experience personal success.

Most parents at this school are very concerned with their children’s education

and are aware of the importance of modern languages, particularly English.

Since families have a significant educative weight along Primary Education

stage, the school fosters the collaboration between home and school. A good

example of it concerns a trip to United Kingdom for pupils in the 5 th and 6th

years, accompanied by their teachers and some parents.

The school’s timetable is complemented by voluntary extracurricular activities

(leisure, artistic and intellectual activities), included English, provided by the

parents’ association and the school.

THE ENGLISH TEACHER There are two English teachers, and an American

teaching assistant who helps teach conversation and culture.

PROJECTS

THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM

Children spend their school journey in the same classroom, except for outdoor

activities or computers room’s usage. It is the English teacher who moves from
class to class. There is an “English corner” in every classroom with didactic

resources such as dictionaries, graded readers and some authentic material. A

big board is also arranged in a wall for the pupils to display their work.

There are individual student desks in every classroom which the teacher will

arrange differently, looking for the most effective classroom layout to promote

learning depending on the learning objectives. Normally the preferred

arrangement in a language class is with the tables and chairs in a “U” shape, so

that everyone can see the teacher’s lips shaping new sounds.

NUMBER AND CHARACTERISTICS OF PUPILS IN THE 5 TH YEAR OF

PRIMARY EDUCATION

The group in the fifth year has 22 pupils (12 girls and 10 boys), aged 11-12.

They all have some previous experience of English since pre-school, and many

of them also attend extra-curricular English activities.

...

Typical developmental milestones at these ages often revolve around a child’s

changing body, the need for independence and a desire to be accepted by

peers.

According to Piaget, pupils at this age are progressing from a concrete

operations period to the age of formal operational thought. This means kids they

typically start being able to think more about abstract ideas and not just about

things they can observe. The ability to organize thoughts and to plan improves,

too. However, it is still hard for them to sort facts from opinions.
As regards affective and social aspects, fifth graders generally have a very

active social and emotional life. They are increasingly independent from family

and have a growing interest in their friends. Sometimes, they struggle with self-

esteem (this tends to be more pronounced in girls). Work in class with peers:

Physically, they start showing signs of puberty. They also show improvement in

handwriting and the ability to use tools. Work in class.

MEASURES TO ATTEND TO DIVERSITY

According to article 13 of the curriculum for Extremadura, the educational

response to pupil diversity is the basic principle which must be taken into

account in educational intervention.

Attention to diversity can be defined as the set of educational measures aimed

to develop pupils’ personal capacities to a maximum, as well as fulfilling the

general objectives for this stage.

These measures, either organizational and/or methodological, will be orientated

towards a response to pupils’ different learning styles and paces, motivations

and interests, as well as other social, cultural, or linguistic circumstances. They

can be situated on a continuum from prevention to intervention, distinguishing

between ordinary, extraordinary and exceptional measures.

ORDINARY MEASURES
This syllabus uses the following prevention and intervention strategies to attend

to the whole class:

- The initial section of each unit stimulates previous knowledge or deals

with subjects forgotten by the students or not appropriately learnt.

- Different work modalities are applied: individual, pairs, small groups and

whole class.

- The material is flexible and can be adapted to the needs of the class and

individuals.

- Different didactic materials are used: written, audio and audio-visual

materials.

- There are multi-level tasks, which deal with the same content with

different levels of difficulty

- There are supplementary activities for reinforcement or extension

- There are changes in space and/or time organization

- Positive support or praise to raise self-esteem will be provided

- The students will do open activities such as projects, debates, etc. where

they participate in a creative way and can express their thoughts and

interests.

- Techniques will be put into practice in order to learn how to learn and

how to use the different resources the students have at their disposal.

In order to attend to diversity, it is also important to take into account that pupils

learn in many different ways. They have what Howard Gardner called multiple

intelligences.