Supporting English Language Learners in Literacy and Content

1. Supporting English Language Learners in Literacy and Content 810.629 Thursday, October 15, 2010 6:45-8:45 PM Teaching Writing

2. Outcomes By the end of today’s class, you will have: • Reviewed methods for teaching writing to second language learners • Learned about a Curriculum Cycle approach • Explored a poplar writing textbook and • Worked through a unit from a writing text • Made connections between the writing text and common methods for teaching writing.

3. Warm-up: On a piece of paper, describe your own classroom experiences in “how to write.”

4. Relating Proficiency to Writing

5. Second Language Writing Theories Theories about second language writing revolve around different focuses: • Language structures • Text functions • Themes or topics • Creative expressions • Composing process • Content • Genre and contexts of writing

6. Language structures – Writing is a product of a student’s command of grammar: • Familiarization • Controlled • Guided • Independent Communicative content is an afterthought.

7. Textfunctions Looks at the form and function of text Rhetorical Forms: • Descriptive • Narrative • Comparison/Contrast • Process Writing • Argument

8. Creative Expression • Writing is learned, not taught • Nondirective and personal • Prewriting & Journals • Interacting with the reader (instructor) Does not take second language learner's differing cultural backgrounds & purposes of writing in the real world

9. Composing Process • Recognizes cognitive processes associated with writing; helps students to develop students abilities to plan, define a rhetorical problem and purpose and evaluate solutions • Selection of topic • Prewriting/brainstorm • Revising • Response to revisions • Editing/ proofreading • Evaluation • Publishing

10. Content • Focus on what writers will write about • Teachers help student develop schema: brainstorms, content webs • Easy to adapt to students’ proficiency level • Include process writing and theme and topic

11. Curriculum Cycle Gibbons presents a curriculum cycle as a way to help students be able to write independently on a given topic in a given genre in their L2. The curriculum cycle is composed of four stages: • building up the field, • modeling the text type, • joint construction, and • independent writing. May take several weeks to complete one polished piece of genre-specific writing.

12. Building up the field Knowledge and vocabulary isdeveloped through speaking, listening, reading, & development of research skills. Activities include: a semantic web wallpapering creating a list of questions about what students would like to learn reading about the topic using pictures to reinforce/ teach vocabulary, developing a word wall/bank visiting a museum using cooperative activities (such as the jigsaw) using electronic resources interviewing an expert watching a video practicing grammatical structures that will be useful in writing about the topic.

13. Modeling the text type Students work with texts similar to the one they will write: • Analyze and discuss the text’s purpose, its organizational form, and linguistic features that are characteristic of the text. • Reconstruct texts by putting sentences or paragraphs in order, doing a dictogloss*, or completing a cloze-type activity. *A classroom dictation activity where learners are required to reconstruct a short text by listening and noting down key words, which are then used as a base for reconstruction; regarded as a multiple skills and systems activity. Learners practice listening, writing and speaking (by working in groups) and use vocabulary, grammar and discourse systems in order to complete the task.

14. Joint and Independent Writing In the final two stages, students write, both collectively and independently. • First, in “joint construction,” the teacher and students construct a text together, as the teacher models the writing process to the students. • Then in the final stage, “independent writing,” students, singly or in pairs,

15. Immersion classroom teachers and English language arts teachers need to work together to make sure that students are taught the entire curriculum, because there is not enough time to do it all twice in two languages… immersion teachers need to be acutely aware of their students’ abilities and limitations in their L2 and employ scaffolding... Even shorter pieces of writing need to be scaffolded if students are learning new language structures or vocabulary. To promote vocabulary development and knowledge of the grammatical structures of the L2, immersion teachers need to teach a wide variety of genres and infuse writing throughout the day every day. Meeting the Challenges of Second Language Writing Development in the Immersion Classroom Mary Livant, Third Grade Teacher, Normandale French Immersion, Edina, MN The Bridge • ACIE Newsletter • May 2006

16. Hands-On Learning • Chapter 8 :“Comparing the Sexes” • A Writers Notebook by Trudy Smoke • 1. Quickly skim the entire unit. • 2. Read pages 166 – 169 & 174 – 176 • 3. Complete Exercise #3 on page 176 (top of page) • As you read, note which of the second language theories of writing are represented. • As a second language teacher, what are some a additional scaffolds you could use with your students to make writing a comparison/contrast essay less complicated?