Transcript An Introduction

Improving Content Literacy
Leveling the Playing Field for your
English Learners
Session 2
Who are we? How many of us…
teach middle school?
teach high school?
support teachers?
teach Social Studies?
teach English/Language Arts?
teach Science?
teach another discipline?
serve English Language Learners?
© E.L. Achieve/2010
An Introduction
Our purpose, our students, our
approach
Target student population
Long-term English learners
• In the U.S. a minimum of five years
• May have attended American schools
since early elementary
• Proficient in conversational English
• May be struggling readers
• Lack proficiency in academic English to
accomplish academic tasks
© E.L. Achieve/2010
Our goals for the series
Session 4
September 15
October 20
January 25
March 16
Instructional Strategy
Outcomes
 Learn
10-2/2
strategy
Backward Design &
Functional Language
GRR & PLCÕs
Outcomes
 Draft learninggoals for both
language and content
 Understandand plan for ŅBrick
&Functional MortarÓ
Oral Language Practice & Student
Interaction
GRR & PLCÕs
Outcomes
 UnderstandPurposeful TalkÕs
influence on academic discourse
 Apply the concept of ŅBrick &
Mortar to collaborative interactions
On-site Coaching Strand
Session 3
On-site Coaching Strand
Session Two
On-site Coaching Strand
Session One
Written P roduction & Formative
Assessment
GRR & PLCÕs
Outcomes
 Include writing templates and
structured note-taking aspart of
explicit language instruction
Institute Norms
• Be respectful of one another
 Cell phones off or on vibrate
 Avoid side conversations (jot notes instead?)
 Ask “we” questions; save “me” questions
• Be a learner
 Actively participate in readings, discussions and
activities
 Keep the focus on teaching and learning; that which
is within our sphere of influence
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Parking Lot
• Questions that are not addressed during
session will be discussed briefly after
lunch.
• For “me” questions, please e-mail
[email protected] or
[email protected]
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Session 2 agenda
• Participate in a Learning Community
• Learn the Features of Explicit Language
Instruction
• Write a clear learning goal
• Apply knowledge to 10-2/2 strategy
• Participate in work session
Day One Goals
• Become familiar with the relationship
between language function and language
tools (“brick” and “mortar”) needed to
support production and comprehension
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Our Learning Community
A chance to reflect on the use of
10-2/2 since we last met.
Define steps in protocol
• Share with your team what worked well in
this lesson. Provide evidence that using this
strategy supported student learning.
• Share with your team some of the challenges
you faced while teaching this lesson. In what
ways did this lesson differ from what you
planned?
• Share with your team what learning you will
take away from this lesson that you will
apply to a future lesson?
• Each group will select one success and one
challenge to share out with the entire group.
Setting the Context
One teacher’s stated goal:
To equip students with the language
they need to express the sophistication
of their thinking for academic and real
life purposes.
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The Challenge
Experience tells us that a student’s ability to
understand language (receptive) may
exceed his or her ability to produce it
(expressive).
A student’s level of receptive and
expressive language competence may
differ.
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Why is this the Case?
• Many English learners at the intermediate level
appear to be fluent. They may be automatic and
skilled in conversational English.
• Teachers may not realize there is a gap between
the language a student knows and what is
required to succeed academically.
• Explicit instruction in how to use language to
express thinking is rarely provided.
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Academic Success …
… depends on learning to
read well.
Learning to read well
depends on rich language
knowledge - which
presents unique challenges
for English learners and
others who have not
acquired academic
English.
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Staying Focused
On Language Demands
Adolescent English
learners require
specific guidance
with regard to
language learning,
including kinds and
uses of text.
- Mary Schleppegrell
Features of
Explicit Language
Instruction
Language Functions, Language Tools,
Instruction & Application
Access to the Core
After adolescent English Learners acquire
basic skills, they need to become active
readers and writers who use reading and
writing processes (to) examine a text,
make conclusions about it, articulate and
incorporate those conclusions.
Double the Work
page 34
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Access to the Core (cont.)
The process creates awareness about the
functions of language, and the reflection
inherent in the process helps students practice
the kind of highly abstract thinking that is
essential to succeeding in high school and
beyond into college or the world of work.
Double the Work
page 34
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Accuracy and Fluency
Goal:
Accurate and fluent
use of language
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21
A Focused Approach
Features of Explicit Language
Instruction
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22
A Focused Approach
Features of Explicit Language
Instruction
Language Functions
What are language uses E.L.’s must be able to navigate? What language
functions do cognitive tasks require? What text structures must students
comprehend?
• Participate in
discussions
• Express action and
time relationships
• Classify and
compare/contrast
• Express social
courtesies
• Express need, likes
and feelings
• Describe, explain
and elaborate
• Give/follow
directions
• Draw conclusions
• Make generalizations
• Predict
Language Tools
Accurate and fluent use
of language
• Express
cause/effect
• Proposition/
support
• Summarize
• Clarify
Goal:
• Sequence
Instruction & Application
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Dominant Language Functions
• Language functions common to secondary academic
texts, include:





Cause and effect
Compare and contrast
Elaboration/Description
Proposition & Support (problem/solution)
Sequencing
• Please read page 1.11
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Language Function
Analyzing Student Text:
“Considering Cobras”
page 1.12
Analyzing the
Passage
• What is the dominant
function?
 description/elaboration
• What is the supporting
function?
 compare & contrast
page 1.12
• What is required to
comprehend the dominant
& supporting functions?
 transitions
 phrases that indicate
relationships among ideas
 verb phrases
 figures of speech
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Determining the Dominant
Function
• With an elbow partner, read each of the
passages and determine the dominant
function of each
Think-Pair-share
Language Functions in your Text
• THINK
 Look at a passage from your text
 What is the dominant language function?
 supporting language function?
• PAIR
 Share your findings with an elbow partner
• SHARE
 Whole group share out
Language Tools
Sentence complexity &
vocabulary
A Focused Approach
Features of Explicit Language
Instruction
page 1.10
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Language Tools
• Read 1.13 and 1.14 for an explanation of
the metaphor for language tools: bricks
and mortar
• Then we will practice identifying them in a
few sentences.
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Topic Specific Vocabulary:
“Bricks”
•
In order to generate language about what
they are studying, students need topic
specific vocabulary
•
To use a construction metaphor bricks are
specific to the topic we are thinking, talking,
reading and writing about
It is what we are talking about.
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Topic specific brick vocabulary
page 1.13
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Teaching the “Mortar”
• Not the language we are drawn to teach
• Yet it is essential…
• Because it connects topic-specific
vocabulary in a way that conveys the
conceptual understanding; the purpose for
communication
It is how we are talking about it.
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page 1.14
Identifying brick and mortar
• Snakes are believed to have evolved
from reptiles with legs and to have been
on earth for 95 million years.
• ______ are believed to have ______
_________________ and to have been
_______ for ___________.
page 1.15
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Identifying
Function, bricks, and mortar
• Both cobras and rattlesnakes are
extremely dangerous.
• Both ______ and ______ are extremely
__________.
• Zoologists argue against poisonous
snakes being kept as pets.
• _________ argue against _________.
page 1.15
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It takes both…
topic-specific brick and
functional mortar
to generate language.
What we are talking about.
How we are talking about it.
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Building Language with
Brick & Mortar
• Review the sample sentences
for each of the dominant
functions through the lens of
your content area.
• Notice how the functions can be applied to
different content topics.
page 1.16
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Think, Write, Pair Share
Building Language with Brick &
Mortar
• Think of an essential topic from your
content area.
• Use the sample sentences on pages
1.16-1.17 as a guide to develop five
sentences, one for each of the dominant
functions.
• When ready, write your sentences on the
chart paper labeled for each function.
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Instruction &
Application
Developing fluency
A Focused Approach
Features of Explicit Language
Instruction
page 1.10
July 15
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Trying it Out
Opportunities to Develop Fluency
• Fluency is our goal: accuracy, ease, and
flexibility using language
• Please read page 1.18
• What are some ways to support
students in using the academic language
they’re learning?
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Thumbnail Sketch
How can we use the
information in this
thumbnail sketch to
better:
1. Teach the functional
language of our
content areas?
2. Move students along
a continuum of
specific and precise
language use?
page 1.19
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A Student Tool
Strategic Lesson
Design:
Backward Planning
Learning occurs through interactions with
others,
and when these interactions are intentional,
specific learning occurs.
- Fisher and Frey
Explicit Language Lesson Design
The Characteristics of an Explicit Language Lesson
Designs backwards from a learning goal
“Chunks” learning for the gradual release of responsibility
Makes transparent the cognitive function
Explicitly teaches “brick and mortar”
Provides frequent opportunities to practice language
page 2.30
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Clarity of Purpose
• Establishing purpose goes
beyond posting standards.
• Students need to understand
the goal of instruction and
what they are expected to
produce.
• Transparency of purpose
includes explicit modeling of
the thinking and language
required to achieve
outcome.
© E.L. Achieve/2010
page 2.30
Learning goal
Examples
page 2.31
• Students will understand the process of meiosis and mitosis and
be able to explain how they differ.
• Students will understand how the author uses imagery and will
be able to discuss the impact it has on the reader.
• Students will understand and be able to summarize the events
that led to the Vietnam War.
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Your turn
page 2.31
Starting at the end
Draft a learning goal for a lesson
or unit you’ll be teaching soon.
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Learning Goal
Trading Cards
1. On the index card provided, write your
student goal statement.
2. Add your name to the card.
3. Read your goal statement to a partner; ask
her to identify the content goal and the
language goal.
4. Repeat step 3, having your partner read to
you.
5. Swap cards and find a new partner.
6. Repeat the process of sharing and swapping
goals.
© E.L. Achieve/2010
The Connection
Tying Explicit Language
Instruction & Learning Goals to
the
10-2/2 Strategy
The question prompt
• Ask yourself the following:
 “What language function do I want
students to focus on?” Make sure your
question will lead students to utilize the
language function stated in the learning goal.
10 - Grouping Elements
2 - What are the characteristics of each
OR
of the groups? (Elaboration/Description)
2 - How are the groups similar? (Compare &
Contrast)
Question leads to Explicit
Language Instruction
10 - Igneous rock characteristics
2 - What are the characteristics of igneous
rocks? (Elaboration/Description)
 Igneous rocks consist of hardened lava and magma. They
often appear shiny and sharp.
 Volcanoes are often associated with igneous rocks.
Work Session
Applying your learning
Your turn…
Planning for 10-2/2
• Consider an upcoming direct instruction
lesson
 Determine your Learning Goal
 Utilize Text Analysis Tool for Production
 Chunk the learning into 10-2/2 segments
 What do I want students to walk away with?
 How will I ask the question for 2/2 to get at the essence of
my instruction?
 What mortar (functional words and phrases) and brick
(vocabulary) do I need to teach? Provide as scaffolds?
Walk Around Review
Reflecting…
• Given our day together, please note a
couple:
 Recollections
 Insights
 Applications
• Be prepared to share
out
Academic Language
For Life-deep Learning
Academic language is not just academic. It
is life giving when it extends through the
length, width and depth of all we can learn.
Such language allows us to question,
deliberate, negotiate, ponder, and imagine.
Fluency and ease in this kind of talk helps
us to find our way in the world and to make
the world a better place.
- Shirley Brice Heath
© E.L. Achieve/2010