RETELL – Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners

$10 for the Interactive Strategies for ELLs document.

RETELL and Interactive Strategies

ELL Terms and Laws

• FLNE: First Language Not English ~ this label does not change, even when the child speaks fluent English
• ELL: English Language Learner ~ this label can change
• Title III: Districts that have many ELL students receive this funding
• SEI:  Sheltered English Instruction. Differentiated instruction includes approaches, strategies, and methodology that makes the content comprehensible and promotes academic English language development. WE ARE ALL SEI TEACHERS!
• SEI Characteristics: Language-rich environment with cooperative learning strategies, integrates the 4 language domains with language objectives aligning with content objectives and assessment.
• ESL: Explicit, direct instruction in English to promote English language development.
• Content Objective: Addresses concepts, grade level, subject area, curriculum and targeted standards, verbs related to content knowledge. Have 1-2 each lesson.
• Language Objective: Think about the language of all of the content areas. What language do you need to teach for a math word problem, for example. Think of the 4 domains. Listening/speaking: draw, tell, role play. . . Speaking: name, rephrase, debate. . .   Reading: preview, read aloud, identify. . . Writing: list, summarize, state
• BICS: Basic interpersonal communication skills. Problems arise when teachers and administrators think that a child is proficient in a language when they demonstrate good social English.
• CALP: Cognitive academic language proficiency.
• Federal Policy: This relates to the fact that ELL students cannot be isolated. They deserve equal opportunity and receive the same type of instruction. Information must be sent home in home languages, and the student needs time. Do not assume special education too quickly.
• Massachusetts State Policy: A result of 4 initiatives: Massachusetts Education Reform Act (1993), Ballot Question #2 English in Public Schools (2002), No Child Left Behind’s Title III Grant, and RETELL Initiative (2012).
• 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect ELLs was followed by the Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1974 and again by Titles I and III of the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965, better known as No Child Left Behind.
• Content Objectives identify what students should know and be able to do at the end of the lesson. These objectives are used to form assessments and are derived from the core standards. They focus on the “What.”
• Language Objectives are “how” the students will show what they are learning. They are focused on the four domains of Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing. The ELP (English Language Proficiency) standards and the WIDA standards are sources of language objectives.

WIDA

The WIDA English Language Development Standards Guiding Principles are teacher-friendly, positive can-do statements. First, become familiar with the WIDA website and identify your English learners by what they can do as defined by the WIDA standards. Be sure to get your ELL students’ ACCESS reports from last year. Next, navigate to the WIDA site, find the Can Do Name Charts, and download the Can Do Name Charts. Read the chart and type your students’ names in the appropriate boxes for each indicator.

• Can Do Descriptors, Key Uses Edition Kindergarten
• Can Do Descriptors, Key Uses Edition Grade 1
• Can Do Descriptors, Key Uses Edition Grades 2-3
• Can Do Descriptors, Key Uses Edition Grades 4-5
• Can Do Descriptors, Key Uses Edition Grades 6-8
• Can Do Descriptors, Key Uses Edition Grades 9-12

• Can Do Descriptors Name Charts, Grades K-12
• Can Do Descriptors Name Charts, Kindergarten
• Can Do Descriptors Name Charts, Grade 1
• Can Do Descriptors Name Charts, Grades 2-3
• Can Do Descriptors Name Charts, Grades 4-5
• Can Do Descriptors Name Charts, Grades 6-8
• Can Do Descriptors Name Charts, Grade 9-12

 

Websites

• Academic Language Functions ToolKit
• Guided Language Resource Book
• HCISD differentiated brochure 2
• Strategies Organizational Chart
• Differentiation 1
• Differentiation 2

• News in Levels This is an excellent site for older ELLs. It has daily news with short video clips at three different English proficiency levels with audio to help boost English skills.

Academic Language Must Be Taught

• Reading Diverse Texts ~  Reading, thinking, and talking about different genres is essential for learning academic language. Please see Different Genres Defined and my nonfiction text features page:  Nonfiction Text Features/Mentor Texts.
• Introducing Summary Frames Based on the Language Function ~ Students read a section of text to themselves before verbally summarizing the passage to a partner. Then, they can complete sentence frames. See these found here: sentence-frame-sample-on-classroom-poster. This site will link you to hundreds of frames ~ for sequencing, problem-solution, cause/effect, etc.
• Helping Students Translate from Academic to Social Language (and Back) ~ Model how to say something more academically or paraphrase academic texts into more conversational language.
• Having Students Complete Scripts of Academic Routines ~ such as “The topic of my presentation is ______.” “In the first part, I give a few basic definitions. In the next section, I will explain ______. In part three, I am going to show ______.”
• Dynamically Introducing Academic Vocabulary ~ Repeated encounters with a word in various authentic contexts can help students internalize the definition. Use the word in a funny or personal story. Show a short video from VocabAhead (6) that features 300 SAT words and categorizes vocabulary by grade level.
• Teaching Key Words for Understanding Standardized Test Prompts ~ They are: infer, interpret, explain, describe, demonstrate, summarize, compare, contrast, persuade, analyze.

Writing Content and Language Objectives

Another Great Resource!

*** PDF of Content and Language Objective Verbs ***

Great examples and step-by-step directions!

Writing Content and Language Objectives

• Quick Writes: Have the students write or sketch what they know about a subject before or after it is taught. ELLs can work with a partner or even draw a picture to demonstrate knowledge. This is good to activate prior knowledge. Have them write for 3-5 minutes.
• Anticipation Guides: A true/false list before a unit is taught to assess knowledge. Again, ELLs can work with a partner. It is a survey to see what they think they know.
• Sentence Frames: There are many ways to do this, but if you want the student to observe:  I see ______. Infer:  I think this means _______. Ask questions:  I wonder about_______.
• Clock Buddies: Numbers are universal, so picking a “clock” buddy is less intimidating for a limited English proficient student.  Teachers can strategically suggest groupings for different purposes; this way, it appears “random,” but it is not.  🙂
• Think Pair Share: Give a question to think about. Pair with a partner and answer together. You can vary this with. . . 
• Think Write Pair Share: Students have 1 minute to think, 2 minutes to write, 2 minutes to share with a partner before they are invited to share back with the whole class. 
• Think Pair Square Share: Students think for 2 minutes, then share with a partner for 2 minutes, then each pair matches up with a second pair where they discuss their reasoning and justify their responses. Finally, students report out to the whole class.
• Small-Group work
• Jigsaw: Break students into “expert” groups. Then break students into unlike groups. There will be an “expert” from each group to teach the others.
• Word sort: Sort by category, sounds. . . 
• Find Your Corner: Different corners of the room represent different views. Students can share their like views.
• Visual scaffolding: Props and pictures to support the lesson.
• Exit ticket: This way, an ELL can respond to content without feeling intimidated. They write a response so the teacher can assess knowledge. It is an informal assessment to guide teaching.
• Reporting Back: Students work in small groups on a different section. They then report key points back to the class.
• Snowball: Line students up ~ an A line and a B line. The A line throws a crinkled question/comment at the B line. They then pair with a B person to discuss. Then visa versa. It makes for a fun, random pairing for talking. 
• College Talk: Use big words to give routine directions to help stretch vocabulary. Instead of “stop talking,” try “cease socializing.”
• Zipline: This is also known as “I Have. . . Who Has. . .” Start with one question written on a card. Then, students see if they have that answer on their card. The student who has it reads the answer PLUS the additional question on the card. So on and so forth. Every card has an answer and a new question.
• Turn and Talk: Students quickly turn to a partner and share their response to a teacher prompt. Encourages oral interaction. 
• Thinking Notes: The teacher provides students with a key and specific instructions for taking notes as they read. For ex.: ?? means confusing to me – ? means I have a question, ! means I like this part, * relates to the main idea or author’s purpose. Students later review their notes with a partner or small group. 
• Numbered Heads Together: Students divide into groups of 4. Each student is assigned a  number 1-4. The teacher provides a list of questions or prompts for the group to discuss.  When reporting back, the teacher calls students by number to report their group’s response.
• Graphic Organizers: Visual displays of information to help students see relationships among concepts or vocabulary. Examples are a word wheel, lexical array, word form chart.  Please Google these.
• Gallery Walk: Have students respond to a prompt on chart paper, then posted around the room. Students visit each poster and add comments or questions.
• Divide and Slide: Students assemble in 2 lines facing each other. They share an idea with the partner facing them then they slide to the right.
• Content Vocab. Round Table: The teacher gives a prompt, topic, or text. Students write one key vocab. word associated with it and pass it to the right. Next, they add a new word to THAT paper and pass it to the right. So on and so forth.  After one minute, stop. This gives the students a word bank to refer to when writing.
• Continuum: Line up students on a continuum to organize information in a visual/kinesthetic way. For ex., give students variations of the word “walk” ~ dawdle, stroll, walk, brisk walk, jog, dash, sprint, run. They line up with variations of intensity, or line up by abc order, or numerical order. . . .

Vocabulary Strategies

Here are all of the words, by grade, that students should know in the various content areas: Marzano List.

Teaching Vocabulary

• 7 Steps: Please read about this below ~ it is a detailed procedure that I outlined in the Chapter 6 Teaching Vocabulary article summary.
• Tiered Vocabulary: Tier 1 words are the basic nouns we use in daily language. These are basic words that can be taught via a visual. Tier 3 are content-specific words that are used pretty much only in content area classes, words such as entomologist, endoplasmic. We want to teach the Tier 2 words; these are words/phrases with multiple meanings, specificity, words that students will encounter repeatedly.
• Cognate Awareness: Research the words you are teaching to see if they are the same in your students’ first language. Listen for cognates and false cognates at a listening center. English/Spanish Cognates
• Sentence Frames: You need to create frames based on the academic language function. Please also see:  Academic Language Functions ToolKit[1]   
• Label drawings/pictures
• Print rich environment
• Elaborate on students’ ideas as a starting point and clarify meaning.
• Incorporate role-playing activities.
• Visualize letters in a spelling word, or visualize an association of a word’s meaning.
• Act out a word.
• Think aloud as they problem-solve.
• During read alouds, emphasize new words, have students repeat them, and discuss them.
• Model think alouds to determine the meaning or give further examples of the word.
• Preview a selection, pointing out new words.
• Map after reading ~ this engages students in a mental activity that activates prior knowledge and provides contextual clues to the new vocabulary and concepts.
• Classify words after reading ~ by figure of speech, topics, linguistic function, practical function, synonyms/antonyms.
• Create foldables ~ 3-dimensional organizers are helpful for recording words, definitions, meaningful sentences, and representations of words.
• Highlight new words
• Word Wheel ~ put the new word in the center, the wheel’s hubcap. Then, all around, put synonyms.
• Lexical Array ~ start with a base word and give synonyms of gradual intensities. Pick a word and “stretch it out,” showing ELLs an array of precise word choices.   Research Wordsift.org for help! (meander/stroll/walk/jog/run) Use student-friendly terms to talk about the different meanings.

WordSift

• Word Families: Select a vocabulary word and design a generative word tree to extend the root, prefixes, suffixes, etc. For ex. care, careful, careless, caring, cared, carefulness, carelessness
• Word Form Chart:   See below.  This is a good way to discuss the various parts of speech.

Reading Strategies

• Partner Reading/Partner Reading Sentence by Sentence: This strategy helps build confidence as the ELL student only reads in small chunks. Do this for 10 minutes/day in each of the content areas. Both partners alternate reading a sentence, and each summarizing what the sentence means. Follow this up with silent rereading ~ the ELL student will reinforce the concepts and make the reading more accessible as it is familiar.
• Sponge Activities: Have generic discussion questions prepared for partners to answer if they’ve finished ahead of the class. For ex.:  Discuss what you’ve learned. Map out ideas. Write in a journal. . . 
• Choral Reading: Set up any way you want, but limit to 3-5 min/content area class per day (whole class with teacher or half the class by paragraphs or pages, etc.).
• Reciprocal Teaching: Each child in a small group has a role after a reading assignment. For example, one could be the summarizer; one could be the word wizard (picks out interesting new words), one could be the connector (what the passage reminded them of), one could be the predictor or the questioner. . .   Similar to the Literature Circle.   
• Think Alouds: Teacher talks aloud her thought process as she does something: taking notes, finding the main idea, making connections. . . 
• Explicitly Teach Nonfiction Text Features: Please see on this page: Nonfiction Text Features/Mentor Texts. Teach captions, illustrations, maps, etc., and their purposes.
• Numbered Heads Together: Put students in groups of 4, with some questions they must answer together. They come up with common answers. Now, each student in each group picks a number 1-4. Next, the teacher calls the students with said number to answer one of the questions.
• Double Entry Journals: The left side is teacher prepared, and you break this down by WIDA level. You might ask the child to define a word on the right side, illustrate a quote on the right side that you’ve written on the left side, ask a question, have the students make a connection. . . Generally, the right side is not “right or wrong” but a comment or a reaction.
• Close Reading with Text Dependent Questions:  This strategy has students engage in a text of sufficient complexity, examining the meaning of the text thoroughly and methodically, reflecting on words, sentences, and central ideas and details. Questions are leveled from:

• Teach Genre Characteristics and Text Organization! This will help comprehension.  Please see my page:  Different Genres Defined

• Identifying and Analyzing Text Features:  Have a nonfiction scavenger hunt where students must find examples of captions, diagrams, illustrations, maps, etc.
• Think, Pair, Square, Share: Teacher gives the students 30 seconds to think of a response to a prompt. Then, for another 30 seconds, share with a partner. For another 30 seconds, share with another set of partners (4 people/group).  Then share out/summarize points to the class.

Writing Strategies

• Language Experience Approach: Ask the students what they just learned after reading a text, watching a video, after a field trip. . . Write down exactly what the student says. Then, read back what you wrote. Have students read it back. Decide what changes to make. Then, read and reread it together. This is also a good strategy to teach beginning readers to read.
• RAFT: This is a creative way to assign writing. RAFT stands for role, audience, format, and topic. The role could be a gardener, audience could be wedding planners, format could be a brochure, and the topic could be to persuade wedding planners to use particular flowers in the bouquets and why.  The possibilities are endless!
• Content Vocab. Roundtable: This is a good way to get the content vocab. down that the students can use in their writing ~ it creates a word bank. After reading, each person takes a scrap of paper and writes one word from the text. Then, pass the paper to the left, and repeat, repeat, repeat. 
• Information Gap: Have students read a story or article. Prepare 2 grids. Each grid has opposite information. The object is for 2 students with opposite grids to ask each other questions, and then a whole grid is created.  The completed grid is then used as a graphic organizer for writing. The grid holds the ANSWERS. For ex., student A has the following grid. He will say to student B, “Name the character who blew down the houses.”  Student B will write Big Bad Wolf on his grid.

• Write Around:  Have students in a group.  Each student writes a topic sentence. Then, they move papers to the right. They read what is there and add one sentence. At the signal, they pass papers to the right, add another sentence, continue. . . Finally, the team selects one paper to revise.
• Cut and Grow: Cut your writing into sentences. This way, it can be reorganized, and expanded upon with adjectives, evidence. . . Then, tape your sentences on construction paper.
• Sentence Combining: Explicitly teach how to combine sentences using conjunctions, to rearrange sentences, having sentences answer who, what, where, when, why, how. You can start with a base sentence and add a modifying sentence.  (The dog barked.  The barking was loud. Combine with and.) When combining 2 sentences, clue the students into the keywords to include. Teach students how to add conjunctions such as because. “The teacher was angry” could be turned to “The angry teacher. . . .”
• Ratiocination: This is an editing strategy. Teach a focus correction area, and have the students look out for it by coding their papers. For ex., circle all verbs. This way, students can see if they have noun/verb agreement and/or change verbs to more interesting verbs! Perhaps have them underline all first words in sentences to be sure they’ve used upper case. . . 
• Paragraph Frames: Please see Structured Writing for Content Areas.

Summaries of RETELL Course Required Reading

Who Are Gifted/Talented English Language Learners?  This article defines ELLs as not born in the US and whose heritage language is not English; American Indian or Alaskan heritage, and dominant language is not English; a migratory person whose heritage language is not English; a person who has difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding English, which denies them the opportunity to learn effectively in classes where instruction is in English.  It takes 4-10 years to become proficient in English. Stage 1 ~ Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills takes 1-3 years. This is when students develop conversational skills for basic survival. Stage 2 ~ Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency takes 3-7 years. This is when students achieve academic success. This varies with students’ background, first language proficiency, and family, school, and community support. This article cautions not to overlook talented students who don’t “fit the mold” because they do not demonstrate stereotypical behaviors of native English-speaking students. Typically, students get accepted into gifted/talented programs based on biased standardized tests.

Articles on Vocabulary

Chapter 6 Teaching Vocabulary  Vocabulary needs to be an integral part of teaching and learning, and it must be taught correctly and thoroughly. Knowing a word means the student: knows its meaning when reading it in a variety of texts; can pronounce it and spell it; recognizes characteristics of the word, such as multiple meanings; can explain its meaning within the context of reading; can use it naturally when writing. Vocabulary should be taught explicitly: teach the formal definition, plus give a student-friendly definition, offer multiple exposures to a word in multiple forms; ensure understanding of meaning; provide examples of the word’s use in phrases, idioms, unusual contexts; highlight characteristics or word parts; ensure proper pronunciation and spelling; teach the word’s cognate or false cognate in student’s native language. Students need explicit and varied instruction. (Cognate is a word related to another word, such as English brother and German bruder. False cognates are two words in different languages that appear to be cognates but actually are not (for example, the English advertisement and the French avertissement–“warning” or “caution”). Integrating rich vocabulary and reading into math, science, and social studies will help ALL students. Pre-teaching vocabulary is important in any lesson. There is a 7 step process for teaching tier 2 and 3 words: 

1. Teacher says/shows word, and students repeat 3x.  
2. Teacher reads and shows word in a sentence.
3. Teacher gives dictionary definition.  
4. Teacher gives a student-friendly definition ~ use pictures, props, gestures.  
5. Teacher highlights aspects of the word:  spelling, multiple meanings, false cognates, prefixes, etc. 
6. Think-pair-share activity with the word to orally use the word ~ ELLs need to produce the word 10-12x at this time  (for ex. If the word is “manage,” ~ a question to discuss might be ~ What have you managed well lately? Students use the word manage during their brief discussion.
7. Teacher assigns peer reading with oral and written summarization activities and explains how the new words will need to be used/word accountability. 

Have these 7 steps written on chart paper. This should be a fast-paced activity ~ 2 minutes/word and 3-5 words/lesson.

The WIDA Consortium provides strategies for teaching tier 1 words quickly and efficiently. The goal is to have ELLs constantly orally produce the words. When teaching tier 2 words, teach polysemous words, or words that have multiple meanings, but focus on the word meaning that is used in the text. Teach idioms, noun phrases, and prepositional phrases as whole chunks.  Teach connectors and transition words to help with speaking and writing. Have these posted by function and sample sentence starters. The article states that long terms ELLs are long-term because they have been allowed to use simple vocabulary, and we need to break that cycle.  It is good to teach cognates as it is helpful for comprehension, and it helps ELLs become better spellers. 

Tier 1 Words: These are words most children know in their primary language. They are frequently used in oral discourse. They are often easily demonstrated through visuals, motions, and gestures, not requiring an extended explanation.

Tier 2 Words: “The most bang for your buck” when teaching because these words will come up again. Tier 2 words can include complex words and longer phrases (all of a sudden), multiple-meaning words, idioms, noun phrases (long time), prepositional phrases. These words are specific and sophisticated that cross multiple content areas.

Tier 3:  Low frequency of use, limited to specific domains. Best learned when the need arises, such as scientific words ~ isotope, lathe.

CHOOSE 3-5 WORDS TO TEACH/LESSON USING THE 7 STEP PROCESS!  Work backward by listing all NECESSARY’s words to master the core concept under Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3. Cross out until you have 3-5 keywords. Choose based on importance and utility, instructional potential (does it have multiple meanings?), and conceptual understanding.

Recommended: Britannica Dictionary

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Chapter 6 continued ~ Teaching Vocabulary During Reading 

• One way to teach new words is to read aloud and model how to figure out the word’s meaning via context clues.
• When listening to a child struggle with a word, tell the meaning on the spot, and have the child use the word in a sentence.
• Provide sticky notes for confusing words.  Encourage the ELLs to figure out the meaning with a partner and look the word up in a dictionary. Then, post these words in a “parking lot” to review later.
• Have students record new words on a table:  New Word/Maybe It Means/It Means. After reading, they discuss their new words to determine the meaning and look the word up in the dictionary. Keep these words on a binder ring as personal dictionaries!
• Use context clues. Keep this list handy: What word doesn’t make sense? Reread the sentence before and the sentence after. Change the unknown word to a word you know. Does it make sense? Write it down to look it up.

Develop students’ metalinguistic and metacognitive skills by teaching them to become semantically aware.

• What helped you remember the word?
• What will help you remember the meaning?
• How did you and your partner help each other to figure out the word?
• Share a semantic strategy.

Try having children go to 4 corners of the room and talk about the words introduced ~ one word for each corner. Then, in a go-to-the-wall activity, students stand along the wall in 3’s, and each has 30 seconds to tell the other how many words they remembered from the reading and vocabulary pre-teaching.

Remember, always use the new words in conversation and writing during the class period, and use the vocabulary as a “ticket to leave.” Require students to use the new vocabulary in writing summaries. It is fine for a peer to translate for an ELL. Point out lexical items (tense, roots, affixes, etc.) and use these as strategic learning tools.

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More on Teaching Reading and Vocabulary

Language and literacy knowledge involves the process of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, all 4 supporting each other. Reading can be an important way of developing oral vocabulary, which is important for speaking and can also impact writing. Therefore, it is key to create a classroom environment that integrates all aspects of learning a language.

Vocabulary knowledge is one of the best predictors of oral ability as it contributes to young children’s phonological awareness, which in turn contributes to their word recognition abilities. In kindergarten and 1^st grade, vocabulary level and ability are significant predictors of reading comprehension in the middle and secondary grades. We also know that the difficulty of a text strongly influences the readability of the text.   Therefore, explicit and targeted teaching can improve reading comprehension.

How do we know if a student KNOWS a word?

• He knows a word’s meaning when reading it in a variety of texts.
• He can pronounce and spell the word correctly.
• He recognizes characteristics of the word, such as multiple meanings.
• He can explain its meaning within the context of reading.
• He can use it as a natural part of their writing repertoire.

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Word Consciousness strategies help students to recognize, understand, and use new words. Teachers should foster Word Consciousness in their classes and vocabulary to create effective, engaging, and efficient vocabulary instruction. Foster Word Consciousness includes teaching cognate awareness, prefixes, suffixes, synonyms. . .various strategies so students can figure out new words on their own. Try:

• Student-generated glossaries ~ maybe keep these on index cards on rings
• Track and post tiered vocabulary
• Vocabulary language objectives
• Content word walls
• Sticky note vocabulary

Oracy is the listening comprehension and oral production of language. The Common Core has highlighted the importance of students being able to speak and listen and read and write. There is a direct connection between reading and writing and listening and speaking.   Oracy lays the groundwork for reading and writing. Students that have strong oracy levels in English are more likely to develop those strong literacy levels.

TIPS:

• Read this article:  Stephen Krashen’s Theory of Second Language Acquisition. Teachers should  be talking to ELLs at “i + 1.” This means talking to ELLs at their interest level, but just one up to teach them more English, but NOT to frustrate them.
• Keep low anxiety levels in the classroom. Don’t force the ELL to speak on the spot. Instead, give them forewarning of what to prepare for.
• When an ELL is speaking, be respectful of the message. Pick and choose appropriate times to correct grammar and vocabulary.
• Understand the affective filter. The affective filter is a theoretical construct in second language acquisition that attempts to explain the emotional variables associated with the success or failure of acquiring a second language. Lower the filter by having more social time, using gestures, teaching cognates, encouraging partnerships, use of sentence frames, humor. . . 
• ELLs should be given ample opportunities to communicate with proficient English speakers.  This is predominantly the way 2nd languages are acquired.

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Using Sentence Frames to Develop Academic Vocabulary for English Learners This article stressed the importance of backward lesson planning to determine the concepts that students are expected to learn based on state standards. Determine the essential vocabulary words that students need to know to understand the concept, and teach that vocabulary with the 7-step method. Then, think of the LANGUAGE function that the students will need to use, think, talk and write about the core concept. Does it involve description, compare/contrast, inferring, etc.? Create sentence frames based on the students’ levels, AND provide a word bank, pictures, and props. A compare/contrast frame can be as basic as:  ____are____ .  ______ are ______ to as complex as The main difference between ____ and ____ is ____ are ____ while _____ are _____. When giving a frame to use, always have the students practice familiar words, such as Lemons are sour. Oranges are sweet.  The students need to know the academic vocabulary of comparison, questioning, description, inference, making judgments.

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Teaching Vocabulary with a 4-Prong Approach

• Provide rich and varied experiences through reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
• Teach word-learning strategies: word parts, using context to infer word meanings, using a dictionary, using cognate knowledge.
• Teach individual words: multiple exposures, rich, deep, extended teaching, definitional and contextual information.
• Foster word consciousness: polysemous words (multiple-meaning words). Think of the many definitions of “solution” ~ math, science, language arts ~ all define it differently.  Word consciousness integrates metacognition, motivation, and word interest.

Article on Reading

Chapter 7 Teaching Reading The primary language helps develop language and literacy in English, and content reading helps accelerate language and literacy. When a student has an academic vocabulary in their native language at grade level, and their reading in their native language has automaticity with all of the comprehension strategies, they can write on grade level ~ that is a good time to switch over to English. Prepare well to teach a text ~ pre-teach vocabulary, activate background knowledge, use props, select a comprehension strategy to focus on, select a writing strategy as a follow-up, and differentiate scaffolding levels. The more they read and write ~ the more they will want to because they will be learning so many more words.  Reading comprises oral language proficiency, phonological processing, working memory, word-level skills, and text-level skills. Comprehension calls for knowing 85-90% of the words in a sentence, question, paragraph, or text. Have ELLs read smaller chunks and respond in writing. Do not have them reread the same text over and over ~ they need to be exposed to new words constantly. For comprehension strategies, start with asking/answering questions, determine important information, summarizing, making connections, and monitoring comprehension. Model these strategies first.  Use sentence starters that fit each strategy. Teaching literature is the most difficult due to idioms, metaphors, etc. It is best to teach with content area books. Model thinking aloud (checking for understanding by talking back to books ~ summarizing after each sentence/paragraph); it is a good strategy to model and have the students do so with a partner. Model cause/effect conversation, sequencing conversation, main idea conversation. . . Partner reading is a wonderful idea ~ with alternating taking turns after each sentence and doing think alouds. Reading one sentence at a time helps build confidence, and it keeps both partners alert and on task. Choral reading can be done for 3-5 minutes/subject area per day.

Think about active and passive voice. The active voice needs a subject ~ “She bored us.” The subject is she.  The passive voice doesn’t specify who. “Teachers will be introduced. . .”  It doesn’t specify who. Be mindful of this when dealing with lower WIDA levels ~ use the ACTIVE voice. The example, “Teachers will be introduced…” introduced appears to be past tense ~ it has an “ed” ending. History and science texts use a passive voice ~ you don’t put “I” in lab reports.

Articles on Writing

Better Evidence-Based Education, Volume 3, Issue 2  Vocabulary teaching is equally as important for comprehending a text as word recognition skills.  Teach root words! These sections (in red) were all part of the Better Evidence-Based issue. . .

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Evidence-based Practices for Teaching Writing:  Students must be given ample time to write.  Individualized support is needed for weaker writers.  Teach self-regulation skills and goal setting!

• Teach strategies for planning, writing, and editing.
• Have students write summaries of texts.
• Permit students to write collaboratively with peers.
• Set goals for student writing.
• Allow students to use a word processor.
• Teach sentence-combining skills.
• Use the process writing approach.
• Have students participate in inquiry activities for writing.
• Involve students in prewriting activities.
• Provide models of good writing.

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Teaching 50,000 Words

• Vocabulary knowledge in kindergarten and 1st grade is a significant predictor of reading comprehension in the upper grades.
• Vocabulary difficulty strongly influences the readability of a text.
• Teaching vocabulary can improve reading comprehension for both native English speakers and ELLs.
• Growing up in poverty can seriously restrict the children’s vocabulary before beginning school, making attaining adequate vocabulary challenging.
• Learning English vocabulary is one of the most crucial tasks for ELLs because of the relationship between vocabulary and comprehension and ELLs’ difficulty comprehending text in a second language.
• Provide students with a rich array of language experiences in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
• Teachers need powerful vocabulary programs ~ multifaceted program that provides ELLs with rich and varied language experiences teaches individual words, teaches word-learning strategies, and fosters word consciousness.

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Vocabulary: What Words Should We Teach? 

• Word meanings are acquired in a predictable sequence.
• Children with the lowest vocabularies know 2,000 fewer root words than their average peers by the end of grade 2.
• Vocabulary teaching programs can stimulate general vocabulary – not just those words that are taught.
• Words Worth Teaching is a book you can buy on Amazon. It’s a good program that teaches root words.

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Harnessing Grammar: Weaving Words and Shaping Texts:

• Embed grammar in writing lessons.
• Encourage discussion, experimentation, choice, and decision-making rather than correct writing methods.
• Be explicit about how texts work, drawing on grammar, where appropriate, to explain effects.
• Focus on grammar as a creative tool.
• Teaching contextualized grammar can improve children’s writing when: grammar is linked to aspects of the writing task; there is the explicit teaching of grammatical features of texts that focus on how texts work; there is a classroom climate that fosters discussion, experimentation, choice, and decision-making; the teaching goal is to create a repertoire of possibilities, not adherence to norms.

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Learning to Write and Writing to Learn:

• Writing is not just a way of communicating or displaying what has been learned. It can be a tool for acquiring content knowledge, developing understanding, and improving thinking skills.
• Shorter writing assignments are more effective.
• Young writers vary in the way they use writing strategies and adapt strategies to new tasks.
• Students can learn to write by observing and evaluating other students’ writing processes.

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Teaching Argument Writing to 7-14-Year-Olds:

• Oral argument can help to inform written argument.
• Successful modeling includes demonstrating and peer modeling of dialogue.

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Reclaiming Recess: Learning the Language of Persuasion 

• Attend to the students’ interests, and develop a purposeful project around that.
• Identify an audience.
• Identify an academic genre suited to students achieving their purposes in writing about this topic for this audience.
• Analyze the features of the genre, paying special attention to the vocabulary, grammatical structures, and rhetorical conventions.
• Design materials to support students in the above, such as graphic organizers, guidelines for revision, assessment tools.
• Provide students with multiple models and explicit instruction analyzing the genre’s features. You want the students to control targeted vocabulary, syntactic structures, rhetorical conventions, and genre-specific practices.
• Provide time to collaborate with teachers and peers.
• Track students’ use of targeted, genre-specific practices.

Academic language uses greater content-specific vocabulary. It uses various grammatical structures to pack more information into sentences, and it uses more conjunctions. Academic language is less interactive than everyday language. There is less use of gestures and intonation to convey meaning. There are also greater formatting conventions and graphics to construct meaning, such as headings, paragraphs, charts, and images.

Students need to learn how to present their ideas in an impersonal, detached, authoritative manner in the content areas.

Copyright 02/07/2014

Edited on 03/07/2024

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