STANDARD COURSE OF STUDY

GRADE 3

Goal

The primary goal of the 3-5 program is the progressive development of proficiency -- the ability to communicate purposefully. A child says, " I am cold" "I want some water," or "where is my coat?" with a purpose in mind. He/she writes a birthday card or a brief letter for a reason. Each of these tasks requires a certain amount of communicative ability involving the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

However, one must not forget that language acquisition begins with listening. For this reason, listening comprehension will take precedence over speaking at the beginning stages.

Content

Learners at grades 3-5 begin with content topics which represent the self and family and become acquainted with community and other parts of the world. At their age, they are "at a maximum of openness to people and situations different from their own experience. For these students a global emphasis is extremely important..."(Curtain and Pesola, p. 67). Content is drawn from the 3-5 curriculum and is delivered through first-hand, concrete experiences which are deeply embedded in context.

Reading and Writing

Reading and writing are introduced as natural extensions of oral language. Much time is devoted to pre-writing and pre-reading activities in order to elicit prior knowledge. These activities help students generate ideas, vocabulary, and structures needed to accomplish a task. In addition, they show students that listening, speaking, reading, and writing are interrelated and are mutually supportive.

Materials selected are age-appropriate and have a high interest level. They may include big books, class books, individual books, use of the Internet, CD-ROMs, folktales, legends, songs, rhymes, and games of the target culture(s).

The amount of time devoted to reading and writing will vary depending on the students' level of language and on the amount of time available for the language class.

Grammar

Grammar provides the essential framework for supporting meaning. The language functions which are selected dictate the kind of grammatical structures to be introduced. At this level, grammar is learned indirectly and it is a part of a bigger context.

Instructional Strategies

Most of the communication is in face-to-face interactions with teachers. However, in the upper elementary grades, students can begin to work in pairs or groups as long as they are working on concrete tasks. Some students in the upper elementary grades may resist pair work with a member of the opposite sex.

Through the elementary years, children learn best when they are involved in concrete situations accompanied by manipulatives and realia and when they have the opportunity to move.

Technology is integrated with the program and is focused on developing communicative skills and cultural awareness.

Immersion Programs

In these programs, the regular school curriculum is taught through the second language. In a full immersion program the curriculum is taught in the target language for the entire day, whereas in a partial immersion program only a part of the curriculum is delivered in the target language.

The goals and objectives which follow will have to be adapted for immersion programs. Because students use the language for longer and more frequent periods of time, they will develop higher levels of proficiency than their counterparts in a FLES program. In addition, the objectives of immersion also include those of the Standard Course of Study in all content areas at the appropriate grade level.

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