Language & Content Objectives Jill Kerper Mora San Diego State University

Questions About Instructional Objectives 1.Why do we need to write instructional objectives? What are IO good for? 2.How do instructional objectives relate to the curriculum standards in my content area? 3.Why are the verbs we use in instructional objectives so important? Why does the verb need to be precise? 4.Why do we need to create both language and content objectives? 5.What is the difference between a language objective and a content objective?

Language Literacy Content Academic Needs of All Learners

From Curriculum Standard to Instructional Objectives 8.6 Students analyze the divergent paths of the American people from 1800 to the mid-1800s and the challenges they faced, with emphasis on the Northeast. 1.Discuss the influence of industrialization and technological developments on the region, including human modification of the landscape and how physical geography shaped human actions (e.g., growth of cities, deforestation, farming, mineral extraction). 2.Outline the physical obstacles to and the economic and political factors involved in building a network of roads, canals, and railroads (e.g., Henry Clay's American System). 3.List the reasons for the wave of immigration from Northern Europe to the United States and describe the growth in the number, size, and spatial arrangements of cities (e.g., Irish immigrants and the Great Irish Famine).

State Content Standards & ELD Standards Instructional objectives & learning outcomes Specify language & content objectives Conduct task/text analysis & design learning activities Design assessments Curriculum Development Process for English Language Learners

The Lesson Cycle for ELD/SDAIE Instruction Curriculum Standards Anticipatory Set Presentation Check for Understanding Presentation Check for Understanding Closure Monitor and Adjust Independent Practice Assess Mastery Correction (Reteach) Extension Task Analysis Plan Lesson Yes No Guided Practice Check Mastery Next Objective Assess

Language & Concept Development  Language provides labels and categories for familiar concepts.  Language provides a means of describing or expressing already learned concepts.  ELL need much more explicit language instruction & support.

The Language-Concept Connection Instructional Model Use known language to teach an unknown concept. Use known concepts to teach unknown language.

Characteristics of Effective Instructional Objectives Student-oriented: telling what students will do rather than what the teacher will do. Descriptive of learning outcomes: It is the learning outcome, not the learning activity that are described in IO. Clear & understandable: IO are explicit, using a clearly stated action/process verb Observable: IO indicate what behavior(s) demonstrate that students have mastered the objective.

SWBAT Verbs are Essential Vague & unobservable To know To understand To learn To appreciate To study To realize To value To review Observable actions/products To analyze To predict To locate To explain To summarize To select To list To choose To classify

Is it Language or is it Content? Language Key vocabulary Language functions Language skills Grammar or language structures Lesson tasks Language learning strategies Academic language Content Factual knowledge & information about a topic Simple or complex concepts Concrete or abstract concepts Processes, dynamics & systems Critical thinking about content

Task Analysis What conversational language vs. academic language do students need to be able to discuss the Water Cycle?

Verbs for Instructional Objectives Language Objectives Listen for Describe Edit Retell Define Find the main idea Compare Summarize Paraphrase Content Objectives Generalize Identify Solve Investigate Distinguish Hypothesize Create Select Draw conclusions about cause & effect

Key Vocabulary Objectives State what technical terms, concept words or labels, and other words or expressions students need to discuss, read, or write about the topic of the lesson. Are based on a determination of whether the vocabulary for the concept or the concept itself is unknown. Must include “ordinary language” about the topic for ELL with lower levels of language proficiency.

Common vs. Academic Words Science energy mass matter force kingdom Math table round root power product

Language Functions Objectives Define how students will use language in the lesson or demonstrate knowledge of the content. Must be made explicit for ELL since they may not have mastered the “meta-language” to talk about their thinking about the content. Often contain a critical thinking or analytical skill (categorize, compare & contrast, etc.) May refer to sentence frames, use of “signal words” or academic language students need to talk, read & write about a thought process or patterns among facts, concepts & information about the topic.

Language Skills Instructional Objectives for Listening Determine listening objectives to increase discrimination & comprehension of sounds, words & sentences Use listening action words: Identify, names, match, select, list, define, sort, display, label...

Language Skills Instructional Objectives for Speaking Determine speaking objectives to elicit authentic oral language use by purpose & function Use speaking action words: retell, describe, recite, summarize, explain, narrate, role play, report

Language Skills Reading & Writing Objectives Link objectives to the Reading/Language Arts Standards Include critical thinking skills as well as mechanical and decoding skills Use action words: summarize, compare & contrast, explain cause & effect, distinguish fact & opinion, paraphrase, outline

Grammar or Language Structures Describe spoken & written discourse patterns such as questioning patterns, verb tenses, paragraph writing, pronoun usage. May define specific word study processes and outcomes, such as prefixes & suffixes for descriptive words or for making comparisons. Require the use of language structures in context as well as explicit instruction in pre- teaching or analyzing authentic text. Avoid artificial or de-contextualized grammar & word study.

Lesson Task Objectives Require analysis of the linguistic demands of a task in relationship to ELL students’ level of English language proficiency. Ex: Do students know the format for writing a report or does this require explicit teaching? Require analysis of the text students’ will read. Ex: Does the text have features that support students’ reading comprehension such as definitions of key vocabulary, graphs & charts to display data, maps, etc.?

Language Learning Strategies Define self-monitoring & self-correcting strategies such as making & confirming predictions. Support students in using strategies to locate information within a text: Ex. Students will find “embedded definitions” within a text. Often involve translation or transformation of language or text into another form, such as outlining, paraphrasing, retelling in students’ own words, or representing information graphically. Address skills students need to help them when they don’t understand or “get stuck” with unfamiliar language or content.

References Cooper, J.M. (Ed.) (1994).Classroom Teaching Skills, 5 th Edition. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath & Co. Echevarría, J., Vogt, M. & Short, D.J. (2010). Making Content Comprehensible for Secondary English Learners: The SIOP Model. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.