Scaffolding Academic Language in the Classroom North Carolina Department of Education Web Conference February 25, 2010

1. Scaffolding Academic Language in the ClassroomNorth Carolina Department of EducationWeb ConferenceFebruary 25, 2010 © 2009 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, on behalf of the WIDA Consortium www.wida.us

2. Topics • Academic Language in the Classroom • Strategies for Promoting Academic Language • Academic Language Across the Curriculum

3. What is Academic Language? Academic language proficiency refers to the abilities to construct meaning from oral and written language, relate complex ideas and information, recognize features of different genres, and use various linguistic strategies to communicate Dutro & Moran (2003)

4. An Example of Academic Language in the Classroom

5. Analyzing Academic Language

6. Analyzing Academic Language • Use the table to analyze the language in the following passage from a 4th grade mathematics book

7. Comparing Lengths and Heights For each problem, write an equation, solve the problem, and show your solution. You may use cubes, number lines, or drawings if it will help you explain your thinking. • Ms. Martinez is 67 inches tall. Philip is 52 inches tall. How much taller is Ms. Martinez than Philip? • A basket ball player is 82 inches tall. How much taller is the basketball player than Ms. Martinez? • How much would Philip have to grow to be as tall as the basketball player? Investigations in Number, Data and Space. Grade 3. Session 4.1

8. Features of Language WIDA Consortium / CAL / Metritech

9. So… how do I teach it?

10. Five Steps according to Gibbons (2009) • Note what you already know about your students’ language strengths and their language learning needs • Identify the language that is central to the particular topic you plan to teach • Select the key language on which you will focus • Design or choose activities to present and use the focus language • Evaluate the unit of work

11. The research recommends that literacy skills and strategies be taught and used in the context of reading, writing, and learning, rather than solely or primarily in isolation. This is the direct opposite of “skill and drill” worksheets often used for remediation.”Meltzer & Hamann (2005)

12. Comparing Lengths and Heights Students need to identify the comparatives within the text, but not just “taller” or “as tall as,” but how it is used in context Students also need to identify syntactic structures and features, for example what a question looks like How much taller is Ms. Martinez than Philip? How much would Philip have to grow to be as tall as the basketball player?

13. Before students engage in the mathematics, an ESL specialist may spend some time helping students understand the use of comparatives

14. Another example of Academic Language VDOE Video on Standard #5: The Language of Social Studies WIDA Consortium / CAL / Metritech

16. Weaving Together Academic Language Instruction

17. The Role of Interactivity • Direct Teaching • Instructional Conversations • Critical Dialogue • Note taking

18. Word Walls • Bank of words displayed on the wall of a classroom • Specific to content • Instructional language (connectives, transition words) • Key words for reading WIDA Consortium / CAL / Metritech

19. Word Walls • Depending on the interactivity allowed, you can cover more or less language • You can have a genre or language function word wall (“what words are related to compare and contrast”- along with examples of usage) • Your use of specific syntactic structures can be modeled or used during the routines created around the word wall • You can choose how many and which domains to involve WIDA Consortium / CAL / Metritech

20. Readers Theatre • Students read the same text • Individually, each student chooses the dialogue of one character to read or the narrator • Students practice the reading and may perform it later

21. Readers Theatre • Students practice reading, but other domains can be involved depending on the interactivity level • If students have to develop scripts, they can explore genre and audience • Vocabulary is in context and includes appropriate usage • Typically works well with narrative genre, but can be experimented with other genres • Modeling and guided practice increase the success in acquisition of different linguistic features Plays Folk tales

22. The Last Word Different varieties, but all revolve around one group discussing different sections of one reading: • Student 1 reads his or her sentence but does not comment • Other students comment of sentence and may build on what others say, but not out of turn • Student 1 comments on his or her sentence and incorporates what others said

23. The Last Word • Involves different domains: reading, listening, speaking • Increases comprehensibility of text • Members of the group guide linguistic demand and may support the development of specific linguistic features

24. Graphic Organizers • Graphic Outlines, timelines, and graphic organizers help represent information from texts or lectures in a different manner at different levels of complexity

25. Graphic Organizers • Great for language for cause and effect; compare and contrast; summaries; etc. • Useful when introducing connectors and transition words however then

26. Jigsaw • In small groups of four or five, students read different parts of a passage; research a topic; or discuss a question and become “experts” • New groups are formed with members from each of the expert groups • Individuals share their reading, findings or perspectives with their new group

27. Other strategies • Modeling • Guided practice • Wallpapering • Dictogloss • Thinking sheets • Exit slips • Split dictation • Pictures/visuals • Cartoon strips

28. Regardless of the strategy, • Identify purpose of language (and communication) • Be intentional with language focus • Be mindful of audience • Amplify language learning • Maximize interactivity

29. Supporting Language Development Across the Curriculum

30. Remember the 5 Steps for Planning Language Instruction? • Note what you already know about your students’ language strengths and their language learning needs • Identify the language that is central to the particular topic you plan to teach • Select the key language on which you will focus • Design or choose activities to present and use the focus language • Evaluate the unit of work

31. Students’ language strengths and language learning needs To help teachers achieve the first step, we need to • Share with them the levels of language proficiency of the students they work with: both overall and by domain • Describe what the different levels of language proficiency mean (Can Do descriptors, performance definitions) • Provide professional development, support, consulting, and coaching to the extent possible on identifying language strengths and language learning needs in student work

32. Identify language of the content This will help ESL specialists and Content teacher • Identify language genres and functions in the content in • Readings and instructional materials • Assignments and resources • Expectations • Teacher talk • Build awareness of language features and structures required to engage in the language used and expected in the content • Collaborate in analyzing the language of educators, students, materials and resources

33. Select Key Language • Collaboration between ESL and content specialists is essential • Keeping the student language needs at the center is also essential • Collaboration between specialists will create the balance between content and language focus • Administrators need to be aware, value and provide structures (times and spaces) for this to happen

34. Activities to Promote Language Development • Record yourself and invite others to come and discuss your practice • Go into the classroom and model for one teacher, then observe and provide feedback • Start a newsletter highlighting different language foci each month • Have a weekly e-mail highlighting one strategy • Put articles or idea sheets in mailboxes • Take 15 minutes each month from school meetings • Visit instructional teams or grade level teams

35. Assessment • This will also take time: teachers need to be aware of the difference of assessing content and assessing language • Teachers also need to be aware of how these two are related • Teachers need to learn how to analyze results and use them to guide instructional decisions on curriculum, programming and instruction

36. Questions?

37. Questions or Comments? For more information, please contact the WIDA Help Desk:1-866-276-7735 or help@wida.us © 2009 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, on behalf of the WIDA Consortium www.wida.us