Preparing ELLs to meet the challenges of the CCLS in Writing...Meet the Challenges of the CCLS and the NYSESLAT Prepared and Presented by Aileen Colon and Sara Martinez NYC RBERN at

Preparing Middle- School ELLs to Meet the Challenges of the CCLS and

the NYSESLAT

Prepared and Presented by

Aileen Colon and Sara Martinez NYC RBERN at Fordham University

November 5, 2013

English Language Learners (ELLs) face double challenges:

Content and Language Learning

ELLs need to be given frequent, extended opportunities to

speak about content material and work through complex texts in English.

Teachers have traditionally treated language learning as a process of imparting words and structures or rules to students, separate from the process of teaching content knowledge.

2 NYC RBERN AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY

Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards

These standards call for all students, including ELLs, to master an array of academic language practices that are critical to achievement in content areas. For example: argument from evidence, analysis of complex texts, and developing and using models. http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2012/ELPD%20Framework%20Booklet-Final%20for%20web.pdf


http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2012/ELPD Framework Booklet-Final for web.pdf








RESEARCH At Stanford’s Understanding Language, they

have found that ELLs benefit from instructional approaches that treat language and content in an integrated way that is designed to help them build the language skills that they need to succeed in content classrooms, college and careers.


http://ell.stanford.edu/

Six Main Types of Instructional Scaffolding for ELLs

Aida Walqui, author of Scaffolding the Academic Success of Adolescent English Language Learners


modeling bridging

contextualizing building schema

re-presenting text developing meta-cognition



MODELING

Students need to be given clear examples of what is requested of them for imitation. When introducing a new task or working format, it is indispensable that the learners be able to see or hear what a developing product looks like. An ELL student’s comment: ‘In my chemistry class I can always do well because the teacher first demonstrates an experiment, and then we try a similar one. Then he asks us to write down the procedure and the conclusions in groups of two or four. I can do it. I can even use the new words because I know what they mean.’


BRIDGING Activate prior knowledge; Establish personal links to the subject matter; Use anticipatory guides, e.g., KWL structures;


CONTEXTUALIZING Embedding language in a sensory context by using manipulatives pictures a few minutes of a film (without sound) realia can make language accessible and engaging for students.


BUILDING SCHEMA Preview highlights; Activate prior knowledge; Field workers in

California now. Factory workers in Leeds 1835

What is a typical day for a worker?

Working conditions (who works, schedule, benefits, breaks, etc.)

What improvements in working conditions do the workers want?


PARAPHRASING THE TEXT Putting it in your own words. A progression may be employed (Moffet, 1983): Say what is happening; Say what has happened; Say what happens generally; Say what may happen.


DEVELOPING METACOGNITION By using the think-aloud model, a teacher can teach the students to:

consciously apply learned strategies while engaging in an

activity; develop knowledge and awareness of the strategic options

a learner has and the ability to choose the most effective one for the particular activity at hand;

monitor, evaluate and adjust their performance during an activity; and

plan for future performance based on evaluation of past performance.


Extended Discussion While teachers have generally attempted to teach ELLs

difficult vocabulary before having them read texts, in addition, ELLs learn new vocabulary best through extended discussion with their classmates after reading or between multiple readings..

Interactive read aloud of short texts allows the teacher to ask questions and engage students in turn and talk activities.


Purposeful Grouping ELLs learn best when they are in heterogeneous

classrooms. ELLs need to be given ample opportunities to have extended interaction (such as doing ‘jigsaw’-type activities) with peers of varying English proficiency levels, who can provide ELLs with a range of models for how to use English words or structures appropriately, as well as abundant, personalized feedback on ELLs’ own developing English use.

It is best for ELLs if, within their classrooms, teachers sometimes group students heterogeneously according to English proficiency, and sometimes homogeneously, depending on the purpose of the task at hand.


Valuing Linguistic Differences

Schools and teachers can help ELLs greatly by: • learning about ELLs’ home cultures and languages • treating cultural and linguistic differences as resources

rather than obstacles • and reaching out to students’ homes and communities to

build learning opportunities together.

Source: Principles of ELL Instruction http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Key%20Principles%20for%20ELL%20Instruction%20with%20references_0.pdf


http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/Key Principles for ELL Instruction with references_0.pdf



Key Practices and Disciplinary Core Ideas of the ELA CCSS

Speaking and Listening 1. Participate in purposeful collaborative conversations

with partners as well as in small and large groups. 2. Comprehend information presented orally or visually. 3. Share information in a variety of formats (including

those that employ the use of technology). 4. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks. Language 1. Use the English language to achieve rhetorical and aesthetic effects and

recognize and use language strategically. 2. Determine word meanings and word nuances.


Key Practices and Disciplinary Core Ideas of the ELA CCSS

Reading 1. Read complex literature closely and support analyses

with evidence. 2. Read complex informational texts closely and

support analyses with evidence. 3. Use context to determine the meaning of words and

phrases. 4. Engage in the comparison and synthesis of ideas

within and/or across texts.


Key Practices and Disciplinary Core Ideas of the ELA CCSS Writing 1. Support analyses of a range of grade level anchor papers with evidence. 2. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 3. Construct valid arguments from evidence and critique the reasoning of others. 4. Build and present knowledge through research by integrating, comparing, and synthesizing ideas from texts. 5. Build upon the ideas of others and articulate their own when working collaboratively. 6. Use English structures to communicate context specific messages. 7. Write analytically (e.g., write to inform/explain and to make an argument) in response to sources. 8. Write narratives to develop craft of writing. 9. Develop and strengthen writing through revision and editing. 10. Gather, synthesize, and report on research. 11. Write routinely over various timeframes.


Academic language Basic, everyday words that express relationships in time, space, quantity, direction, order, size, and age For example: hardly, scarcely, rarely, next, last, most, many, less, longer, older, younger, least, higher Words that link sentences and express logical relationships For example: if, because, unless, same, alike, different from, opposite of, whether, since, unless, almost, probably, exactly, not quite, always, never Content specific words taught and practiced across content instruction For example: Photosynthesis, Estimation, Industrialism Word phrases or Groups of words that often go together For example: As discussed above, in contrast, in comparison with, awareness of, grasp of, fearful of Grammar For example: Passive structures, conditional clauses, comparative constructions


Additional Scaffolds for Writing Outlining and writing frames:

• exercises providing 'skeleton' outlines, perhaps with sentence prompts, key vocabulary or pre-arranged paragraphs, to give writers a structure to write in.

Joint Construction: • an exercise where a group of learners construct a text

together, for example on an overhead projector or a flipchart, with the teacher as the 'scribe' and 'mentor', suggesting possible words and phrases but also writing down what the learners say to build up a text (this approach can also be used effectively for revising a first draft)

• Cloze procedures: exercises in which texts with missing elements - words, phrases, sentences - have to be completed by the student.


Language of Math task templates Source: Understanding Language

Appendix D

Language of Mathematics

Task Templates

ell.stanford.edu

http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/math_learnmore_files/4.Language%20of%20Math%20Task%20Templates%2010-4-13.pdf 20 NYC RBERN AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY

http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/math_learnmore_files/4.Language of Math Task Templates 10-4-13.pdf







Let’s Look at a Sample of a Writing task on the NYSESLAT?

Descriptive Paragraph Write a paragraph that

describes what is happening in the picture.

Include as many details as you can. Someone who reads your paragraph should be able to imagine the entire scene.

Before you start writing, look at the picture carefully and think about the following:

• What is the setting? • Who is the person, and what

is she doing? • What might the person be

thinking or feeling?


Let’s Look at Another Sample of a Writing Task on the NYSESLAT?

A Fact-Based Essay

Look at the information about Cheyenne and Chicago in the chart and map.

If this were the year 1877, where would you rather live—in Cheyenne, a frontier town in the western part of the United States, or in Chicago, a large mid-western city?

In your own words, write a well-organized essay about in which place you would rather live in 1877.

In your essay, remember to:

• Include an introduction, body, and conclusion.

• Use information from both the chart and the map.

• Include details, examples, or reasons.

• Use your own words.

You may also include other information that you know about this topic.


What are some ELA Writing Tasks?

Explain how crows and ravens use their intelligence to help them find, capture, and eat food in the article “Brain Birds: Amazing Crows and Ravens.” Use two details from the article to support your answer.

According to the author of “a Soft Spot for Crows.” the fact that crows live

in cities or towns is an example of their intelligence .Explain the author’s reasoning and tell whether or not it is sound. Use two details from the article to support your answer.

In “Brain Birds” and “A Soft Spot for Crows,” are the authors’ attitudes toward crows and ravens positive or negative? How do the authors convey their views? Use examples from both articles to support your response.

In your response, be sure to identify the authors’ attitudes toward crows and ravens explain how each author supports his views use examples from both articles to support your response


Think-Turn and Talk and Write How would you use the information that you learned

today, within the content of your discipline, to prepare your students for the challenges presented on the New York State Assessments?

Please hand


CONTACT INFORMATION:

Aileen Colon [email protected]

Office # 718-817-0606

Sara Martinez [email protected]

Office # 347-242-2088

NYC RBERN at Fordham Office # 718-817-0606


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]