Italy

Language/Reading Curriculum in the Fourth Grade

Reading Policy

In 2012, the Ministry of Education (Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca) published new national curricular guidelines for preprimary school and the first cycle of education (Indicazioni nazionali per il curricolo della scuoladell’infanzia e del primo ciclo di istruzione).¹⁰ This document represents a framework for schools for the definition and implementation of local primary and lower secondary curricula. Schools are free to determine content and methods of instruction autonomously, provided they are consistent with the learning objectives established by the Indicazioni.

Summary of National Curriculum

Learning objectives at the primary level define what students are expected to achieve by the end of their third and fifth years of primary education.¹¹ Exhibits 1 and 2 summarize the content areas and learning objectives in the language curriculum at the primary level.

Exhibit 1: Learning Objectives at the End of Grade 3¹²

Content Area	Objectives and Expectations
Listening and Speaking	Being able to participate in communication exchanges (e.g., dialogues, conversations, discussions) while choosing the right time to speak Understanding the main information from class lessons Listening to narrative and expository texts while showing understanding of the overall meaning of a text; being able to re-expose the content of a text in a clear way for the listeners Understanding and giving simple instructions for a game or a well-known activity Reporting personal facts or fictional stories, respecting the chronological order, and explaining the essential information for the listener to foster comprehension Using spoken language to explain the different phases of an experience from school or other contexts
Reading	Mastering word reading (at the decryption level); techniques for reading aloud, and silent reading Predicting the content of a simple text according to its title and illustrations; understanding the meaning of unknown words through their context Understanding different kinds of text (narrative, descriptive, informative); understanding the general topic, identifying the main information and its connections Understanding different types of continuous and noncontinuous texts for practical, entertainment, or leisure purposes Reading simple and short literary poetic and narrative texts with an understanding of the overall meaning Reading simple texts and collecting useful information to widen knowledge on a well‑known issue
Writing	Acquiring manual, perceptual, and cognitive skills that are essential to learning handwritinging Writing by dictation while paying attention to spelling Producing simple texts (e.g., functional, narrative, and descriptive texts) connected with specific purposes (e.g., for personal use, to communicate with others, to remember something) and linked with everyday contexts (e.g., school or family environments) Communicating by using simple and compound sentences structured in short texts with respect for spelling and punctuation rules
Vocabulary	Reading short texts and understanding the meaning of unknown words using the context and the intuitive knowledge of words’ families Developing vocabulary through school activities, extracurricular activities, reading, and verbal communication Using newly learned words appropriately Performing simple searches of words and phrases found in texts to develop the vocabulary
Grammar	Understanding elements of explanatory grammar and reflecting on the uses of language Comparing texts to identify specific characteristics (e.g., higher or lower effectiveness and differences between oral and written text) Recognizing whether a sentence is complete by understanding whether it is composed by all its essential elements (i.e., subject, verb, necessary complements) Recognizing words’ spelling in texts and applying spelling knowledge in personal writing

Exhibit 2: Learning Objectives at the End of Grade 5¹³

Content Area	Objectives and Expectations
Listening and Speaking	Interacting collaboratively during a conversation, discussion, or dialogue about a subject related to personal experience, asking questions, giving answers, and providing explanations and examples Understanding the theme and essential information of a presentation and the different purposes and topics of media communication (e.g., announcements or newsletters) During or after an explanation, formulating focused and relevant requests for clarification or in-depth discussion During a debate, understanding the points of view expressed by schoolmates and being able to refer to their opinion on the topic in a clear and relevant way Speaking about personal experiences or telling invented stories, organizing the narrative distinctly with respect for chronological and logical order; and using suitable descriptive and informative elements Presenting a simple speech about a theme addressed in class using a prepared presentation; being able to and making an exposition on a study subject using a speech outline
Reading	Mastering silent reading and expressive techniques of reading aloud Using appropriate strategies for analyzing the content of different kinds of texts, asking oneself questions to foster understanding at the beginning of and during reading, and finding clues to solve the most difficult text passages Using the title, pictures, and captions in a text to get a preliminary idea of the text Reading and comparing information from different texts in order to identify a topic that could be a starting point for oral and written production Searching for information in different types of texts from various sources (e.g., modules, schedules, charts, maps) for practical or learning purposes while applying different techniques to foster understanding (e.g. underlining, annotating information, creating maps and diagrams) Following written instructions related to creating a product, regulating behaviors, performing a task, and realizing a process Reading narrative and descriptive texts (fictional or real), distinguishing literary fiction from reality Reading narrative texts in contemporary Italian and simple poems with an understanding of the meaning of the most obvious formal features and the author’s communicative intention, expressing a supported personal opinion of the text
Writing	Gathering ideas and organizing them in sections to plan the draft of a story or a report of an experience Producing written reports of personal experiences or those of others, including essential information about people, place, time, situation, and actions Writing letters to known recipients, open letters, or short news articles for the school newspaper or website, adapting the text to the subject and the situation Expressing through writing emotions and states of mind in the form of a diary Editing texts (e.g., by paraphrasing, summarizing, transforming, or completing them) and compiling new texts by using a word processor Processing texts (e.g., by paraphrasing, summarizing, transforming, or completing them) and creating new texts by using a word processor Writing simple texts or regulatory schemes for the execution of tasks (e.g., recipes or game rules) Realizing collective texts for reporting on school experiences and study topics Producing creative texts based on example models (e.g., nursery rhymes, short stories, poems) Freely experimenting (with and without the use of computers) with various forms of writing, adapting vocabulary, structure, layout, and graphic solutions to the chosen textual form and integrating the text with multimedia materials Producing texts with proper spelling, syntactic structure, lexical form, and punctuation
Vocabulary	Acquiring and expanding a receptive and productive vocabulary Understanding and appropriately using a basic vocabulary of fundamental and frequently used words Enriching the vocabulary through speaking, reading, and writing while activating knowledge of the main meaningful relationships among words (e.g., their similarities, differences, and semantic fields) Understanding that words have different meanings and identifying the specific meaning of a word in a text Understanding the figurative meaning of words and their use in simple and frequent cases Understanding and using specific terms related to different study subjects Using the dictionary as a reference tool
Grammar	Understanding elements of explanatory grammar and reflecting on the use of language Understanding the changes of language in time and in geographical, social, and communicative space Knowing how words are created (e.g., simple, derivative, and compound words) Understanding the main relationships of meaning among words (e.g., their similarities, differences, and semantic fields) Recognizing the core structure of a simple sentence (i.e., subject, verb, and other terms required by the verb) Recognizing the main grammatical features of a sentence and the most frequently used conjunctions (i.e., “and,” “how,” “but,” “in fact,” “why,” and “when”) Knowing basic spelling rules and being able to review one’s written work and correct mistakes

Reading practice is considered central throughout the first cycle of education and has a dual learning function as a fundamental means of socialization and the exchange of ideas and as a way to foster autonomy and individual study. Reading practice is a key ability in the perspective of fostering students’ learning progress and maturation. Reading also contributes to the development of attention skills and an attitude of critical reflection. Being able to read is considered a fundamental ability to search for information, develop new knowledge, and find relevant answers. Spontaneous and individual forms of reading linked to aesthetics or emotion are promoted in the national curriculum.