K-8 English
The K-8 English department consists of 32 teachers from eight different nationalities providing a wealth of diversity and experience and exposing our students to English as a global language. The programme in K-5 introduces English as a foreign language in kindergarten and develops the students English through to grade 5. One of our objectives in the early years is to instil a love of English in our students. The approach is communicative and topic-based. All the skills; listening, speaking, viewing, reading and writing, as well as structural and lexical knowledge of the language are developed systematically over the years. ELT materials, a reading and phonics programme and a variety of web and teacher-designed materials and activities are used at these levels.
Our programme in K-5 is supported by a split class programme in levels 2, 3, 4 and 5 where the classes are split into two groups twice a week, each group working with a different teacher. Co-teaching begins at level 2 enabling the teachers to organize learning centres and skills-based pull-out groups where necessary, and continues until the end of grade 5. This support programme gives students the opportunity to work in smaller groups on a regular basis, thus enhancing their learning environment. At all levels students are encouraged to review their class work regularly and read as much as possible, and to this end time is allocated to silent reading in class as well as regular library periods, English magazine and book club subscriptions.
The Grade 6-8 programme at The Koç School builds the students English language proficiency while at the same time extending and developing their exposure to literature. The programme at these levels is designed to extend the grammatical skills and vocabulary repertoire that have been part of language lessons throughout the elementary years, enhancing students’ abilities to express themselves more fluently. The curriculum is spiraling and recursive at each level with skills revisited in overlapping and increasingly more sophisticated ways. Language course books as well as the designated novels are used at each level to help students internalize the linguistic elements embedded in the reading, writing, listening, and speaking in which they engage.
Due to the benefits of working with smaller groups in the early years, we have divided the six classes at each level into eight groups for English classes.
Assessment is continuous and in levels 4-8 takes the form of weekly progress quizzes, written exams, project work and performance homework. Progress portfolios are being developed at all levels. At the end of each term our students receive report cards which give detailed information about their progress in all the language functions and skills at each level.