Page 8 - Ace TB1 Cubierta.indd

Ace! is a high level English course and therefore incorporates a greater amount of vocabulary and a wider range of grammatical structures than would be expected in a mainstream English language course. The language syllabus for Ace! 1 to Ace! 6, has been specifically designed in line with the syllabi of the Trinity examinations, as well as the Cambridge English: Young Learners and the Cambridge English: Key (KET for schools) examinations. The path towards the goal of entering these external examinations has therefore been taken into consideration in the design and coverage of the Ace! 1 syllabus. At the same time, equal emphasis has been placed on the importance of teaching a practical, well-balanced, high frequency language syllabus, which is appropriate for all children learning English at this level. In Ace! 1 ten new core items of vocabulary are presented in Lesson 1 of each unit, with a further five to six core words taught in Lesson 4. All the new core vocabulary is grouped in semantic sets which relate to the unit topic. The vocabulary is presented through listening activities, including memorable songs and chants, and then practised through the retelling of the unit story, motivating communicative games and activities. Flashcards and wordcards are provided in the Teachers Resource Pack for ease of vocabulary presentation, practice and reinforcement.

In addition to the new core vocabulary in each unit, three to four words are also presented in order to facilitate understanding and practice in the cross-curricular lesson and the culture lesson of each unit.

Each unit of Ace! 1 also presents and practises two new core structures. The first of these grammatical structures is presented through the story in Lesson 2, with Lesson 3 providing a clear focus on how the grammar works. There is thorough listening, speaking, reading and writing practice of the structure in the Class Book and Activity Book. A second grammatical structure is presented through a song in Lesson 4. This structure is then practised through an engaging, communicative pair work activity in Lesson 5, using the unit cut-out, and followed up with reading and writing practice in the Activity Book.

Ace! 1 has an integrated approach to language and skills development. The Class Book and Activity Book work closely together to develop the four skills. Through a variety of enjoyable tasks with a very systematic approach, the children progress from listening practice to speaking practice, from speaking practice to reading practice and from reading practice to writing practice.

Over the Ace! series as a whole, care has also been taken to ensure that children preparing for Trinity and Cambridge English examinations develop the required level of skills competency, as well as familiarity with examination task types.

Listening: Ace! 1 recognises the particular importance of listening in the early years of language learning. All new

language is presented with clear models on the Audio CD for aural recognition. Listening to songs, chants, stories, and cross-curricular and cultural texts also helps the children internalize the language and expose them to native speaker pronunciation. In addition, listen and do activities in the Activity Book help to prepare pupils for practical, everyday tasks in English.

Speaking: In Ace! 1 speaking practice builds carefully and effectively from simple word-level production to sentence-level production and above.

Attention is also paid to the development of both accuracy and fluency. Spoken accuracy is developed through activities which encourage repetition following a model provided on the Audio CDs, as well as through songs and chants, the retelling of stories and controlled practice games. The controlled practice games afford children plenty of opportunity for repetition of core language within a clearly defined framework.

Contexts which children can easily relate to, as well as suggestions for teacher-led discussions provided in the Teacher’s Notes, allow frequent opportunities for the children to draw on the whole of their productive repertoire, thereby promoting fluency and confidence in speaking. The development of communicative competence is of paramount importance in Ace! 1. With this aim, Lesson 5 of each unit includes a communicative game using a cut-out from the back of the Activity Book. This enables the children to practise new vocabulary and grammar in a meaningful way.

Further optional communication games are detailed in the Ideas Bank section.

Reading and writing: Pupils learning English at a higher level need to be able to make good progress quickly with regard to reading and writing. This is particularly true for those studying in bilingual projects or with the intention of sitting external examinations.

Ace! 1 takes a very systematic approach to reading and writing to allow this to happen. New language is always practised aurally and orally before the children are asked to read and write. Pupils begin by reading at word level. Only once they have practised reading new words, do they progress to writing them. They then read these new words within sentences, and gradually progress from reading at sentence level to writing at sentence level. This process occurs twice in each unit, firstly with the new vocabulary presented in Lesson 1 and the grammar presented and practised in Lesson 3, and then again with the vocabulary and grammar presented and practised in Lessons 4 and 5. As the unit progresses, the amount of guidance and scaffolding for writing steadily decreases, for example from gap fill completion exercises to whole sentence writing. In this way the children grow in confidence and independence with regard to their writing.

The reading and writing activities are varied, motivating and engaging. The writing practice in Activity Book Lesson 1 includes the use of picture stickers.

In Lessons 8 and 9 of each unit of Ace! 1, the reading practice builds to more extended texts. The short paragraphs about English culture all use known, recycled language and are supported with photographs and audio. Using these texts, as well as the Activity Book follow up activities, as clear