Turkey 4th Grade Curriculum - Turkish Language

This curriculum is based on the Turkish Ministry of National Education's Turkish Language and Turkish Culture Course Curriculum (2018), designed for Turkish children living abroad. It focuses on developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, while also fostering an understanding of Turkish culture.

Learning Outcomes

The curriculum emphasizes a spiral progression, with learning outcomes increasing in number and complexity across grades. For 4th grade, the following learning outcomes are defined:

Listening/Monitoring

• Summarize a text passage they have read/monitored.
• Identify the main ideas of what they have listened to/monitored.
• Predict meanings of the words in what they have listened to/monitored.
• Recognize basic vocabulary used in daily life.
• Follow verbal instructions that explain the steps of an activity or a job.
• Express thoughts about what they have listened to/monitored.
• Detect non-verbal messages.

Speaking

• Use grade-appropriate vocabulary correctly.
• Engage in dialogue about a particular topic.
• Speak in public on a particular topic.
• Use intonation and stress while speaking.
• Use non-verbal communication skills (making eye contact).
• Express opinions during class discussions.

Reading

• Read punctuation.
• Pay attention to stress, intonation, and pronunciation while reading.
• Find the meaning of unknown words encountered while reading.
• Find synonyms and antonyms of words.
• Outline text passages.
• Identify the topic of a text.
• Distinguish between real and imaginary elements in a text.
• Follow written instructions.

Writing

• Use vocabulary elements properly and correctly.
• Talk about events in their order of occurrence.
• Write instructions for the steps of a job.
• Write short texts on a particular subject (simple, narrative, and informative).
• Adhere to spelling and punctuation rules (capitalization, period, comma, hyphen, question mark).
• Choose an appropriate title based on content.

Themes and Sub-themes

The curriculum incorporates eight themes, explored through various sub-themes. While the official document lists them alphabetically, a suggested ranking for textbook preparation is provided:

1. Me and My Family: Relatives, solidarity, choice of profession, family tree, Turkish language.

2. Surrounding Society, Differences and Living Together: Agreement, different languages and cultures, equality, intercultural communication, human rights.

3. Games and Entertainment: Riddles, digital games, folk dances by regions, playgrounds, hobbies, songs, folk songs.

4. Holidays and Celebrations: Soldier send-off, religious and national holidays, customs and traditions, blessed nights, liberation days, seasonal holidays.

5. Let's Travel and See: World countries and Turkey, cities, Turkish cuisine, Turkey's natural beauties, journey, regional flavors.

6. A Door to the Past: Folk stories, heroes of history, establishment of the Republic of Turkey.

7. Arts and Literature: Examples of Turkish architecture in the world, the common heritage of mankind, Turkish literature, poets, and writers.

8. Human and Nature: Disasters, weather conditions, weather forecast, natural events, environment-dependent food cultures, animal species.

Learning and Teaching Process

The curriculum emphasizes learner-centered approaches, recognizing the diverse age groups and language proficiency levels in multi-grade classrooms. Active participation is encouraged through cooperative learning, group work, individualized teaching, and interest/level groups. Activities should connect classroom learning to real-life situations, making learning more meaningful. Home assignments are considered important for reinforcing learning, particularly given the limited course time. Teachers are encouraged to create a positive and comfortable learning environment, minimizing grade anxiety and fostering a love for learning Turkish language and culture. Assessment focuses on individual and cooperative learning, utilizing checklists, grading keys, self-assessment, peer review, class logs, and structured observation forms.