PREL’s Language & Content (L&C) Learning Across the Curriculum project is a multi-year effort in Chuuk funded by the Chuuk Department of Education (CDOE). The project focuses on how language plays an important role in learning across content areas to support academic success. PREL work closely with a core group of CDOE staff to build their capacity in addressing academic language and literacy learning in both the local language and English, at both classroom and systems levels, in support of the Chuuk Education Reform initiative. There are three components to the L&C work: Professional Learning for Pre-service and In-service Teachers, Contextualized Curriculum, and Community Engagement.

One key task from the Contextualized Curriculum component is the development of locally-relevant bilingual texts for kindergarten (K5) to gr. 8. The texts build language and literacy skills in the local language and English, through topics important to students, their communities, and Chuuk. There are four texts in each grade, and each text focuses on a topic from one of the following themes: traditional stories/legends; environment/climate change; plants and animals; and daily island life.

The bilingual text development is truly a collaborative effort. Each text is conceptualized and written by CDOE staff, with technical assistance from PREL on brainstorming, writing, and reviewing; local knowledge from community members to enhance the content; and technical assistance from Island Research & Education Initiative on reviewing, layout/illustration, and printing.

In 2014-2015, the L&C project produced a set of bilingual texts for K5 and gr. 1. With CDOE’s approval, all K5 and gr. 1 bilingual texts are included below, so children in and out of Chuuk can enjoy the texts and build their language and literacy skills in the local language and English.