Reading and writing competences in the Norwegian curriculum Strasbourg June 8th 2009 Laila Aase

Two main problems: How can we maintain the complexity of reading competences in brief descriptors? How can we ensure progression of reading competences throughout the years of schooling? These two problems are interlinked because the complexity of reading is there from the beginning until the end of the 13 years

What do we mean by complexity? Reading is a skill ( decoding of signs) Reading is recognition of words Reading is understanding Reading is construction of meaning Reading is interpretation of text Reading is combining various cultural competences Reading is a social practice

Complexity in beginners’ reading competences: level 2 (age 7 ) Show awareness of the connection between language sound and letter and spoken and written language Combine sounds of letters in words Read simple texts coherently and with understanding Apply simple strategies to understand what he or she is reading Apply knowledge and personal experiences to understanding and commenting upon content in texts he or she is reading

Progression: level 4 ( age 9 )  Read children’s literature and factual prose fluently and with a coherent understanding of the content  Draw conclusions based on the understanding of connections between parts of texts and the whole  Apply reading strategies specifically for learning purposes  Find information in multimodal texts by combining words and illustration  Recognize and use literary terms like repetition, contrast and metaphor

Progression: level 7 (age 12) read long translated and Norwegian fictional texts, children's literature and factual texts in the first- choice and second-choice Norwegian languages and express understanding and personal response Present experiences and interpretations of literature and give reasons for personal ideas about the text use a number of reading strategies adapted to the purpose of the reading Understand, interpret and compare information from several sources of information in multimodal texts give accounts of and summarize texts

Progression: level 10 (age 15) Read and write texts of various genres, including fiction and factual texts in the first-choice and second-choice Norwegian languages, such as articles, argumentative texts, formal letters, short stories, narratives, poems, drama texts and causeries Use varied and flexible reading strategies for literature and factual prose Navigate large amounts of text to find information Interpret and evaluate a variety of multimodal texts Read critically and evaluate the credibility of texts Recognize various forms of argumentation in texts Give reasons for personal choices of literature and reading material based on reading preferences and purpose of the reading Read and reproduce the content of a selection of texts in Swedish and Danish

Another problem: How do we determine which challenges are appropriate at specific levels?

An example from writing:  structure texts chronologically and according to themes and create cohesion and coherence between sentences and paragraphs This means being able to master two different ways of structuring texts: narrative ( stories) and thematic structure (argumentation texts and most factual prose)

Conclusion Determining descriptors for reading and writing competences confront us with a number of challenges: The way we understand what these competences are The way we understand how progression functions Our knowledge of what children are able to master at a certain level.