Language/Reading Curriculum in the Fourth Grade
Reading Policy
Although there is no specific reading policy, reading is an important part of Québec’s national curriculum. The Action Plan on Reading in School reflects the Ministère desire to implement a variety of initiatives to support student success in reading.
Summary of National Curriculum
The Québec Education Program (QEP) in preschool, elementary, and secondary education is based on the development of cross-curricular competencies on which students draw in broad areas of learning and subject-specific competencies. The QEP defines a competency as “a set of behaviors based on the effective mobilization and use of a range of resources.”3 One of the aims of a competency-based program is to ensure that knowledge serves as a tool for acting and thinking. Because competencies are complex and develop over time, they involve more than simply adding or juxtaposing certain elements; students can improve their mastery of a competency throughout their academic career and beyond. The QEP also produces complementary documents that provide additional information about the knowledge that students must acquire and be capable of using in each year of elementary and secondary school. The current preschool and elementary school programs came into effect in Québec schools in September 2000.4 The Secondary Cycle One program came into effect in September 2005, while the Secondary Cycle Two program was implemented gradually between September 2007 and September 2009.5,6
Reading is at the heart of the QEP because it is seen as a tool for communication and the development of thinking, and it enables students to acquire cultural knowledge in order to construct their identity and worldview. A special connection exists between reading and the cross-curricular competencies Uses Information, Exercises Critical Judgment, and Uses Information and Communications Technologies. Because reading is essential to the development of competencies in other subject areas, teaching reading concerns all teachers. In French and English language programs, reading a variety of texts, writing, and communicating orally are among the competencies to be developed. In English Language Arts, reading texts from a variety of media sources has been added to the curriculum. As a complement to the programs of study, the Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur has produced a series of documents called Progression of Learning that detail what students are expected to learn in each year of elementary school and secondary school.7,8 The Basic School Regulation provides for nine hours of instruction per week of either language in Elementary Cycle One and seven hours per week in Cycles Two and Three. In secondary school, the Basic School Regulation provides for 200 hours of instruction in French or English per year during the first three years and 150 hours per year during the fourth and fifth years.
When children are introduced to reading and writing in kindergarten, they discover the forms and functions of language and learn to use them in different communication situations. In elementary and secondary school, students read different types of texts in formats such as books, magazines, newspapers, and the Internet. From the beginning of elementary school until the end of their secondary studies, students gradually become critical readers by learning how to understand different types of texts and respond to them. Using various reading strategies and personal experiences, students can gather information on different subjects, justify critical assessments, discover literature, and construct cultural references.
To develop an interest in reading and become good readers, students need to read regularly during a daily reading period and be exposed to a variety of books in the classroom and in the school library. These books must correspond to the preferences and interests of all students, regardless of their gender or their reading level. The Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur (Ministry of Education and Higher Education) has created two websites to help teachers and librarians choose literary and informational resources: , which contains a database of more than 7,000 French titles from Québec, Canada, and Europe; and , which contains a database of more than 2,000 English titles from Québec and around the world. Using different search keys, teachers can find books that meet their own needs and those of the students in French and English language and second language classes.