1. Nancy Frey, Ph.D. PPT at www.fisherandfrey.com Click “Resources”
Getting to Academic English: Instructional Practices for Secondary English Learners
Nancy Frey, Ph.D.
PPT at Click “Resources”

2. From Education Week (Oct. 21, 2009)
“[Researcher Catherine Snow] observed that ‘deep reading’ requires being able to follow a complex line of argument. ‘If you haven’t had a chance to try that out in debate, you don’t have the skills to do it easily when you are reading.”

3. From Education Week (Oct. 21, 2009)
“[ELL Learning coach] Katherine Nelson said she’s urging teachers to support structured academic conversations by using ‘sentence starters’ and having students talk to each other in pairs.”

4. From Education Week (Oct. 21, 2009)
“[Researcher David Francis] said ‘this is not just an ELL issue. It’s for all students who are academically at risk. Many will benefit from building academic language and background knowledge’ through oral language.”

5. Instructional Routines from Previous Sessions (pp.147-159)
Anticipation Guides
Collaborative Posters
Explorers and Settlers
Walking Review
Four Corners
Jigsaw
Novel Ideas Only
Numbered Heads Together
Reciprocal Teaching
Think-Write-Pair-Share

6. Why Can’t the English Teachers Teach This Stuff?
Reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing
Literacy is utilized in all content areas
Language is specialized in each area
All learning occurs through language
Literacy = Language and Language = Learning

7. Increasing Specialization of Literacy
This pyramid illustrates the development of literacy. The pyramid base represents highly generalizable basic skills entailed in all reading tasks, (decoding skills, print and literacy conventions, recognition of high-frequency words, basic punctuation, etc). Most kids master these in the primary grades, and even those who struggle tend to master them before high school entry. As students progress, more sophisticated skills develop. These skills are not as widely applicable to different texts and reading situations, but neither are they linked to particular disciplinary specializations. They include decoding multisyllabic words, less common punctuation (such as split quotes), knowing more vocabulary including words not common in oral language, developing the cognitive endurance to maintain attention to extended discourse, monitoring comprehension, and using fix-up procedures such as rereading. They gain access to more complex forms of text organization, and begin to use author purpose as a tool for critical response. Most students learn these by the end of middle school, but many schoolers struggle with them. In high school, some students even begin to master more specialized reading routines/language uses, but these new routines, though powerful, tend to be constrained in their applicability to most reading tasks. The constraints on the generalizability of literacy skills for more advanced readers — symbolized here by the narrowing of the pyramid — are imposed by the increasingly disciplinary and technical turn in the nature of literacy tasks. Although most students manage to master basic and even intermediate literacy skills, many never gain proficiency with these more advanced skills.
Progressing higher in the pyramid means learning more sophisticated, but less generalizable, skills and routines.
Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008 7

8. Disciplinary Literacy
Academic Language

9. What makes literacy hard in the disciplines?
The goals of reading and writing and the approaches to reading and writing are different depending on the content area.
The texts are written differently.
Mathematics
Science
History/Social Studies 9

10. Math Reading Goal: arrive at “truth”
Importance of “close reading” an intensive consideration of every word in the text
Rereading a major strategy
Heavy emphasis on error detection
Precision of understanding essential
Conclusions subject to public argument
For example, during think-alouds, the mathematicians emphasized rereading and close reading as two of their most important strategies. One of the mathematicians explained that, unlike other fields, even “function” words were important. “‘The’ has a very different meaning than ‘a,’” he explained. Students often attempt to read mathematics texts for the gist, or general idea, but this kind of text cannot be appropriately understood without close reading. Math reading requires a precision of meaning, and each word must be understood specifically in service to that particular meaning. In fact, the other mathematician noted that it sometimes took years of rereading for him to completely understand a particular proof.
The mathematicians we studied were theoretical rather than applied mathematicians. In their field, errorless proofs are by their very nature true, and the purpose of their work is to create these proofs; hence, to create truth. Because proofs must be error free, they are read carefully in order to discover any possible error. Every word matters. Rereading is essential. One mathematician said, “I try to determine whether it’s [the solution to the problem] correct. That’s the important criteria, and it’s by no means assumed. It would be unusual to read a paper like this and not find something incorrect.” This mathematician is illustrating the belief that truth (correctness within the confines of a particular problem) is attainable if one can determine an error-free solution. However, errors are easy to make, so vigilance is required. 10

11. Mathematics Text 1.1 Introduction to Linear Equations
A linear equation in n unknowns x1, xx…, xn is an equation of the form
a1x1 + a2x2 +…+ anxn = b,
where a1, a2,…,an, b are given real numbers
For example, with x and y instead of x1 and x2, the linear equation 2x + 3y = 6 describes the line passing through the points (3, 0) and (0, 2).
Similarly, with x, y and z instead of x1, x2 and x3 the linear equation 2x + 3y + 4z = 12 describes the plan passing through the points (6, 0, 0),
(0, 4, 0), (0, 0, 3).
A system of m linear equations in n unknowns x1, x2, …, xn is a family of linear equations 11

12. Look inside the science text…
Value on linking findings to other scientific principles
Transformation of text information to another visual representation
Marshaling background knowledge
The chemists were most interested in the transformation of information from one form to another. That is, when reading prose, they were visualizing, writing down formulas, or if a diagram or a chart were on the page, going back and forth between the graph and the chart. One chemist explained, “They give you the structure, the structure of the sensor is given, so I was looking at the picture as I was reading, and I tried to relate what was in the picture to what they were saying about how mercury binds to one part of the molecule.” This explanation, corroborated by the chemists’ other comments, helped us to understand that in chemistry, different or alternative representations (e.g., pictures, graphs or charts, text, or diagrams) of an idea are essential for a full understanding of the concepts. These various representations are processed recursively as reading progresses.
Unlike historians, chemists create knowledge through experimentation. The findings of experiments are somewhat dependent upon the quality of the instrumentation, the design, and the statistical analysis. However, these variables are all decided upon prior to the actual experiment. The findings are generalizable to other experiments under the same conditions. Although chemists are not uncritical readers, we found that the chemists we studied did have more confidence than historians in the utility of the knowledge that had been created; they believed they could use that knowledge to predict what would happen under similar conditions. What is important to them in reading, consequently, was a full understanding of the way in which an experiment took place and the processes the experiment uncovered. Gaining that full understanding required them to think about the phenomenon being presented in prose, to visualize it, and to manipulate it in formulas and equations.

13. Science Text
The Antarctic krill is (Euphausia superba) is a species of krill found in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean. Antarctic krill are shrimp-like invertebrates that live in large schools, called swarms, sometimes reaching densities of 10,000-30,000 individual animals per cubic meter. They feed directly on minute phytoplankton, thereby using the primary production energy that the phytoplankton originally derived from the sun in order to sustain their pelagic (open ocean) life cycle. They grow to a length of 6 cm, weigh up to 2 grams, and can live for up to six years. They are a key species in the Antarctic ecosystem and are, in terms of biomass, likely the most successful animal species on the planet. 13

14. Chart 14

15. History Reading History is interpretative
Importance of authors and sourcing in interpretation
Consideration of bias and perspective (including one’s own) are essential
Helpful to recognize history as an argument based on partial evidence (narratives are more than facts)
Historians emphasized paying attention to the author/source during reading. Before reading, they would consider who the authors were and what their biases might be. Their reading purpose seemed to be to figure out which story that particular author wanted to tell; they were keenly aware that they were reading an interpretation and not “Truth.” One historian said when reading a text about Lincoln: “I saw, oh I don’t know him very well, but he [the author] is part of a right-wing group of southern conservatives who is a secessionist. I’m not sure that the best model for thinking about Lincoln as a president is one that comes from a racist. So I have my critical eyes up a little bit, so it’s a bit of a stretch to be friendly to, so I wanted to make sure to read it fairly.” In this nuanced example, the historian reveals that he does not read the text as truth, but rather as an interpretation that has to be judged based upon its credibility. He attempts to evaluate its credibility through an examination of the author’s biases. However, he also knows that he, as a reader, has his own biases, and that his disregard for right-wing secessionist groups might color his reading and he could miss important insights. He reads with a view that both author and reader are fallible and positioned. The varied emphases shown in these examples are related to the intellectual values of a discipline and the methods by which scholarship is created. History relies on document analysis (document being widely defined to include films, interview protocol, etc.). These are collected after an event occurs, and their selection/analysis take place somewhat simultaneously. Thus, it is possible for a historian to choose and analyze evidence, unwittingly perhaps, that corroborates a previously held perspective. The historians we studied read with that caution in mind. Unfortunately, the nature of historiography (how history is written/presented) is not often the subject of discussion in adolescent history classes. Students believe they are reading to learn “the facts,” and fail to consider potential bias. 15

16. Looking inside the history text…
Using corroboration with other sources of knowledge (requiring comparison/contrast)
Noting the credibility of the arguments (Are they reasonable? Is there a factual basis?
Looking for the subtext in the author’s message (what does this author mean by these words?) 16

17. Multiple Gist Text Set Chart of slaves owned by Jackson
Text of Jackson’s inauguration
Bank Veto Speech 17

18. The teacher’s role in developing academic language in the PACT
Analyze what makes the language demanding for individuals or groups.
Develop scaffolds and supports to help students understand and apply academic language.
Use strategies to develop their proficiency in academic language and provide a rationale for those strategies.

19. Tools for Transforming Texts
In the mind and on paper
Language frames
Visual displays
Notetaking guides

20. Multiple Text Discussion Web in History
YES NO
Text 1 Evidence
Text 1 Evidence
Text 2 Evidence
Should explorers
risk lives to
achieve goals?
Text 2 Evidence
Our View
Text 3 Evidence
Text 3 Evidence 20

21. Guided Notetaking in Science
Elements:
Arctic Krill
Properties:
invertebrate
Lays eggs
4 Stages to development
larvae, juveniles, gravid females, and other adults
Eat phytoplankton
Lay eggs
Processes
Eggs are laid at surface of water and drop
Hatched eggs rise to surface
Larvae are at surface
Krill reach adulthood (2-3 years)
Key Details
6,000-10,000 eggs laid
Eggs hatch at about 2,000-3,000 meters
Larvae develop, nourished by yolk
Develop more legs, eyes, grow by molting, Eat algae under ice
Juveniles move inland of adults
Different stages kept separate!
Analogies
Like a snake sheds its skin as it grows, so does the krill.
Krill eat algae the same way a lawnmower takes in grass
Illustrations:
(Chart of different seasons and changes in the krill as it goes through the life cycle.) 21

22. Novel Ideas Only
What tools or techniques do you use to embed discipline-specific literacy routines?

23. Writing to Explain One’s Thinking

26. Writing to Summarize

27. Generative Sentences
What are Comon Grammar Errors English Learners Make?
Given a word and conditions about the placement of the word, write a sentence
Forces attention to grammar and word meaning
Use student examples for editing

28. “Volcanoes” in the 4th Position

29. “Volcanoes” in the 4th Position

30. Try these . . . Word Position Length cell 3rd > 6
Have participants complete each of these.

31. Try these . . . Word Position Length cell 3rd > 6 Because 1st
< 10
Have participants complete each of these.

32. Try these . . . Word Position Length cell 3rd > 6 Because 1st
< 10
Constitution
last
= 10
Have participants complete each of these.

33. Expanding a Generative Sentence

34. Basic Writing Frame
Although I already knew that ________, I have learned some new facts about _____. For example, I learned that _______. I also learned that ______. Another fact I learned _______. However the most interesting thing I learned was______ .

35. Making a claim
I think that_________, because ________________.
Although I agree that ______________, I still think that _________.
She says ______, and I agree, because _________.
Supporting/critiquing a claim
Her idea that __________ is supported by _______________, ___________, and _______.
For example, ________________ shows that ________________.
They say that ___________ , but _______, _____, and ____ say differently.
Introducing and addressing a counterargument
Of course, you might disagree and say that _________________.
Some might say _________, but I would say that _____________.
While it is true that __________, that does not always mean that _________.
Stating a conclusion or summing up an argument
In conclusion, I believe ____________________.
In sum: _____________ is shown by _____________ and ______________.
For these reasons, _______________ should be ________________.
Source: Glencoe Literature, Used with permission of Glencoe/McGraw-Hill.

36. To create using content knowledge

37. RAFT Writing Role Audience Format Topic Perspective taking
is the focus

38. RAFT in Writing - “Said” is Dead
R - Writer
A - “said,” “nice,” “thing,” & “like”
F - Eulogy
T - Burying overused
words

39. RAFT in Science R - Your digestive system A - Chocolate
F - Love letter
T - Why I need you

40. RAFT in History R - Marco Polo A - Potential recruits
F - Recruiting poster
T - See the Silk Road!

41. RAFT in Geometry
R - Isosceles triangle
A - your three angles
F - instant messages
T - our unequal relationship

42. R - lab mouse
A - scientist
F - protest letter
T - set me free!
RAFT in Science

43. RAFT in English R - Brutus A - Caesar F - Letter of advice
T - Please step down as emperor

45. The Gettysburg Address
R: person attending Gettysburg dedication
A: family member
F: Letter
T: Lincoln’s message

47. RAFT in Social Studies R - Colonists R - King George
A - King George A - Colonists
F - protest letter F - rebuttal
T - Taxation without T - You are
representation is British citizens!
tyranny!

49. RAFT Writing in American History
Role: Benjamin Banneker
Audience: Thomas Jefferson
Format: Formal letter of protest
Topic: If “all men are created equal,” why do you own slaves?

50. Jefferson’s reply to Banneker

51. Silent Write and Share
Write down one way you could use writing to learn in your classroom.
Exchange it with another person.
Read their idea and extend their idea.
Return papers to one another.

52. Students assess themselves to see their own progress.52

53. Alphabet Vocabulary Chart
C-D
E-F
G-H
I-J
K-L
M-N
O-P
Q-R
S-T
U-V-W
X-Y-Z

54. Alphabet Vocabulary Chart
C-D
crater
E-F
G-H
I-J
K-L
lava
M-N
magma
O-P
Q-R
S-T
U-V-W
volcano
X-Y-Z

55. Alphabet Vocabulary Chart
ash
C-D
crater
cinder cone
E-F
flow
G-H
I-J
K-L
lava
M-N
magma
magnitude
O-P
Q-R
Rim of Fire
S-T
shield volcano
tremor
U-V-W
volcano
vent
volcanologist
X-Y-Z

56. Alphabet Vocabulary Chart
ash
active
balsat
C-D
crater
cinder cone
caldera
E-F
flow
eruption
extrusion
G-H
geothermal
harmonic tremor
I-J
intrusion
K-L
lava
lahar
M-N
magma
magnitude
mantle
O-P
obsidian
pahoehoe
pillow lava
Q-R
Rim of Fire
S-T
shield volcano
tremor
U-V-W
volcano
vent
volcanologist
X-Y-Z
xenoliths