TEACHING PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE IN THE FINAL GRADES OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

Abstract

The teaching of Portuguese in the final years of elementary school in Brazil faces historical and contemporary challenges. Unsatisfactory results in national and international assessments, such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), reveal significant difficulties in reading, interpretation and text production. These deficiencies reflect pedagogical practices still marked by traditional approaches that are disconnected from the real demands of students. Despite the guidelines contained in the BNCC (National Common Curricular Base) and similar documents, the excessive focus on normative grammar, to the detriment of other dimensions of language, limits the learning potential. The school, as a space for comprehensive education, should promote a critical and reflective understanding of the language, valuing both formal norms and the linguistic varieties present in students' daily lives. This article analyzes the teaching of grammar, writing and reading, culminating in a look at pedagogical practices and their implications in the educational process. The research is based on a bibliographic review and a field study carried out in public schools, proposing strategies for more inclusive and efficient teaching.