Boulder Valley School District

Develop a deeper understanding of academic language Identify strategies for extending and teaching academic language Discuss how to connect academic language, language functions and forms, with content

 Academic language is the language of the content. Students need to know how to listen, speak, read and write like: ◦ A scientist ◦ A historian ◦ A mathematician ◦ An author ◦ A musician ◦ An expert in any content field that is being taught  Every content area has its own way of using language that is specific to its area

“Only 2% of an ELL’s day is spent engaging in L2 ‘academic talk’.” (Kinsella, 2006)

“The goal is to give students ample opportunities to hear what model English sounds like, to practice speaking in English, and to engage in authentic oral discourse with diverse peers.” (Mora--‐Flores, 2011)

“So for children learning in a second language, it is important that we are aware of the language we use and that we deliberately create opportunities for children to hear and use it.” (Gibbons, 1993)

Write a legend explaining shooting stars. Do not underestimate language challenges for students. Courtesy: Dr. Sue Hopewell

 There is no egg in eggplant & no ham in hamburger.  A slim chance & a fat chance are the same, but a wise man and a wise guy are opposites.  If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?  We get in a car, but on a bus.  And, don’t get me started on all the ways we use “up!” (wake up, bring up, call up, stay up, dress up, warm up, write up, fix up, stir up, lock up, clean up, cloud up, dry up, shut up, speak up, wrap up, up to it, etc, etc, etc...) Courtesy: Dr. Sue Hopewell

 If the student speaks too little, ◦ Restate and expand ◦ Ask language-eliciting questions ◦ Say “Tell me more”  If the student uses limited vocabulary, ◦ Restate and provide the needed vocabulary ◦ Sometimes have the student repeat  If the student speaks “incorrectly” ◦ Restate correctly ◦ Sometimes have the student repeat Language, Literacy & Culture TM

Talk moves: Restate and expand Ask language eliciting questions T: Who is the main character in the story? S: Goldilocks T: That’s right, Goldilocks is the main character. Tell me about Goldilocks S: She is a girl. T: Goldilocks is a girl. Tell me more.

Talk moves: Restate and provide needed vocabulary Sometimes have the student repeat T: Who is the main character in the story? S: The girl. T: That’s right, Goldilocks is the main character. Tell me, “Goldilocks is the main character.” S: Goldilocks is the main character. T: Tell me about Goldilocks. S: She has yellow hair. T: That’s right, Goldilocks is blond.

Talk moves: Restate correctly Sometimes have the student repeat T: Who is the main character in the story? S: Goldilocks. He is a girl. T: Goldilocks is a girl. Tell me, “She is a girl.”

 In groups of three, number yourselves off numbers 1-3  1: Teacher  2: Student  3: Observer of talk moves. Take notes of teacher prompts

 #1’s: Engage the student in a conversation about the story Goldilocks and The Three Bears  #2’s: Pretend you are a student who talks too little.  #3’s: Script the conversation as best as you can

 #3’s: Teacher- Engage the student in a conversation about the story Goldilocks and The Three Bears  #1’s: Student- Pretend you are a student who uses limited vocabulary.  #2’s: Script the conversation as best as you can

 #2’s: Teacher- Engage the student in a conversation about the story Goldilocks and The Three Bears  #3’s: Student- Pretend you are a student who speaks “incorrectly”.  #1’s: Script the conversation as best as you can

Language Functions Language Forms Vocabulary

Language Functions give a purpose for using language:  ClassifyExplain  CompareIdentify  CriticizeInfer  DescribeSequence  QuestionSuggest  EvaluatePredict  And more…

The structures needed to string words together to accomplish the language function.  Present/ Past/ Future Tense  Adverbial Clauses  Adjectives  Subject/ Noun Agreement

The key words needed to accomplish the language function  High utility words or words that can be used in multiple contexts  Content specific words

 Research suggests that there are tasks that students are asked to do again and again in standardized testing and throughout their years in schools.  What do you think they are?

1. Describe and explain 2. Compare and contrast 3. Sequence 4. Cause and Effect 5. Defend/ Propose/ Justify

 Number yourselves off 1-6  Your number is now your language proficiency level  Study the Can Do Descriptors and determine what “you can do..” based on your number/language level

 As a group, create a bubble map to describe Academic Language Academic Language

 Using the sentence structures, add the connecting words appropriate for your language level. Write the connecting words on the lines of the bubble map.  As a group, write 2-3 complete sentences to describe Academic Language.

 Create a Venn diagram to compare Academic Language and Social Language

 Using the sentence structures, add the connecting words appropriate for your language level. Write the connecting words in the circles of the Venn diagram.  As a group, write 2-3 complete sentences to compare and contrast the two kinds of language.

 Create a Flow Map to sequence the steps in writing a CLO.

 Using the sentence structures, add the connecting words appropriate for your language level. Write the connecting words above the boxes in your Flow Map.  As a group, write 2-3 complete sentences to sequence the steps in writing a CLO.

 How might you include one of these graphic organizers into one or more of your lessons?  How will you scaffold the academic language learning?

 Teachers of all grade levels and of all subjects want their students to comprehend and to apply what they have been taught.  Typically, teachers make new material understandable by connecting it to and building upon students’ prior knowledge. In the case of ELLs, a different set of life experiences may make it harder for the teacher to know how to connect and what to build upon. Adapted from: NCLR n Educating English Language Learners: Implementing Instructional Practices

 Depending upon the subject, there are specialized words and concepts that must be made understandable. In the case of ELL students, there may also be general vocabulary and complicated sentences that they do not understand.  It is important for teachers to use a variety of basic instructional practices to foster students’ understanding of the English language and academic content.  ELLs need a variety of different exposures and experiences with content to understand and apply information. Furthermore ELLs, like all learners, are individuals with diverse learning modalities and styles. Adapted from: NCLR n Educating English Language Learners: Implementing Instructional Practices

 Pre-teach the language  Provide a meaningful experience  Record the experience  Model the expectations  Group students with other learners  Put students together in pairs  Consider cultural differences in content  Monitor and support comprehension  Elaborate on short answers

 Jigsaw Chapter 4 pages from “Educating English Language Learners  Summarize what you read using the graphic organizer  Share your summary with the group  Small Group Activity: ◦ Using the Can Do Descriptors compare and contrast the levels of language provided in the activities to the Can Do Descriptors. What did you find?

 Vocabulary and Language Development  Guided Interaction  Metacognitive and Authentic Assessment  Explicit Instruction  Meaning Based Context and Universal Themes  Modeling, Graphic Organizers and Visuals

 Independently Read Article  Then conduct a table discussion using: Save the Last Word Protocol  Whole group discussion

 What are some of the basic instructional approaches?  What are the six key strategies?  Why is important to lower the affective filter?  What are some ways to activate background knowledge?  What are some ways to provide contextualization for students?

 List 3 Things you learned  List 2 Questions you still are pondering  List 1 Thing you will do differently when the students arrive because of the work we have done today