Language/Reading Curriculum in the Fourth Grade
Reading Policy
In primary education there are seven models for the subject of literary reading and nine models for the subject of Russian language, each with its own set of textbooks and supplementary materials. Although these models are based on the education standards, each model has its own conceptual framework.
The contemporary approach to reading instruction may be characterized as “literary reading” and is implemented through the philology course, which includes learning to read and write Russian. The literary reading course became possible with an increase in the use of different kinds of texts (e.g., official or scientific) in the main subject areas of the surrounding world, mathematics, Russian, and history. Literary reading is part of the continuous literary education from Grades 1 to 11. A broad goal of literary reading in primary school is to introduce students to literature as the art of writing and expose them to the world of human relations and moral values. Literary reading aims to develop students’ skills of conscious reading and understanding texts, as well as skills in oral and written speech. Reading also aims to foster students’ creative abilities and personal development.
The method widely used now to teach reading was developed by the famous psychologist Daniil Elkonin in the 1960s. The method is based on the premise that before studying the letters of the Russian alphabet, preparatory work is necessary whereby children are taught to orient themselves in the phonetic system of the Russian language. Students learn to define the sequence of sounds in a word and characterize each sound, such as vowel/consonant or hardness/softness of consonants. By acquiring the knowledge of the phonetic system at an early stage, it is believed that children become better familiarized with the skills of reading.
Summary of National Curriculum
PIRLS 2016 students learned literary reading according to the Federal State Education Standard (FSES) of primary education issued in 2009 and entered into practice in 2011. The program of literary reading taught in all primary schools includes the following components:
- The techniques of reading and understanding texts, including reading of literary and scientific texts silently and aloud, understanding the content and main idea of texts, answering questions regarding the content of texts, and making a simple outline from which to retell texts
- A reader’s view and orientation to the world of books, including folklore, fairy tales, myths, and legends of the people of Russia and the world; Russian classics (from the list of children’s books recommended for reading) and modern Russian literature; foreign literature; children’s newspapers and magazines; bibliographic information (e.g., author, title, annotation, contents); and dictionaries and reference books
- Special literature knowledge, such genres of works (e.g., story or fairy tale, fable, poem or rhyme, novel, play), the specific forms of folklore (e.g., riddles, patterns, songs, proverbs), the topic of texts (e.g., main idea, subject, the character and behavior of the hero), and means of expression in texts (e.g., epithets, comparisons, sound and rhyme in poetry)
- Language development, including activities in listening, speaking, reading, and writing; knowledge of text purposes (e.g., narration, description, reasoning); etymology of the Russian language; emotional and stylistic coloring of speech (e.g., expressive reading and storytelling, speech etiquette); and demonstrating understanding by retelling, creating a connected story about the main characters, and summarizing students’ impressions of texts
Within the area of literary reading, the new FSES have four sections of objectives: types of speech and reading activities, terminology of children’s literature, introduction to literary texts (literary propaedeutics), and creative activity (for literary texts). The new standards pay more attention to reading to acquire information.
According to the FSES, school subject achievement after the completion of the reading curriculum for primary general education should reflect:
- Understanding literature as a phenomenon of national and world culture and as a means of preservation and transmission of moral values and traditions
- Recognizing the importance of reading for personal development, for the formation of ideas about the world of Russian history and culture, original ethical ideas, concepts of good and evil, morality, successful learning in all academic subjects, and the need for systematic reading
- Understanding the role of the reader and the use of different types of reading (e.g., introduction, studying, sampling, searching) to be able to perceive consciously and evaluate the content and specificity of various texts, to participate in discussions, and to give and justify moral assessment of characters
- Achieving required continuing education for the reader’s level of competence in common speech development (i.e., to master the reading analysis and transformation of artistic, scientific, and popular and academic texts using basic concepts of literary criticism)
- Being able to choose interesting books and use reference sources to understand and obtain more information
The FSES also specifies the requirements for intersubject results, which should reflect the acquisition of skills to read for meaning in texts of different styles and genres in accordance with goals and objectives; to build verbal expression consciously in accordance with the objectives of the communication; and to prepare texts in oral and written forms.
In the course of primary education, the FSES allows for learning the intersubject program Development of Universal Learning Skills, including through the program “Reading. Working with a Text.”
When working with a text, the following areas are emphasized: searching for information and reading comprehension, transformation and interpretation of information, and evaluation and application of information.