Building Academic Language Across All Disciplines

Armida Colón, Lissa Jones, Gillian Wegener - Fall 2014

Agenda for Today• Module 1 Building Academic Language 9:00-9:15 Break• Module 2 ELD Standards’ Structure and Components 11:00-12:00 Lunch• Module 3 Tools and Supports – IS4, differentiation, and more • Module 4 Application – lesson design

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Module 1: Building Academic LanguageObjectives • Define academic language & discuss its importance• Examine the CCSS academic language demands • Identify features of academic language used across disciplines

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Academic Language: A Definition• the language of the discipline that students need to learn

and use to participate and engage in meaningful ways in the content area

• the oral and written language used for academic purposes

• the means by which students develop and express content understandings

Academic Language, edTPA,Hundley

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All teachers in every discipline, have reasons to emphasize certain kinds of reading and writing over others, depending on the nature of the specific content and skills they want their students to learn. If students are to succeed in the content areas, teachers will need to demystify the reading and writing that go on there.

Heller and Greenleaf, 2007

All teachers in every discipline, have reasons to emphasize certain kinds of reading and writing over others, depending on the nature of the specific content and skills they want their students to learn. If students are to succeed in the content areas, teachers will need to demystify the reading and writing that go on there.

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How are students in your content area expected to read, speak and write?

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What do you need to demystify for

students?

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Why is AL important?It is the language of:• curriculum, textbooks and assessments• Literacy and higher order thinking• explicit direct instruction• college and professional careers• CCSS

Johnson, 2012

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What are some language challenges for secondary students?• Most content is new to them• May become frustrated with content-specific terms and

phrases• New words, new meanings• Fast-paced• Conceptually difficult content• Dense text• Challenging demands of CCSS

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Language Demands of CCSS

“Students can, without significant scaffolding, comprehend and evaluate complex texts across a range of types and disciplines…can construct effective arguments and convey intricate or multifaceted information. Likewise, students are able independently to discern a speaker’s key points, request clarification, and ask relevant questions. They build on others’ ideas, articulate their own ideas, and confirm they have been understood.”

CCSS for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects, pg. 7

“Students can, without significant scaffolding, comprehend and evaluate complex texts across a range of types and disciplines…can construct effective arguments and convey intricate or multifaceted information. Likewise, students are able independently to discern a speaker’s key points, request clarification, and ask relevant questions. They build on others’ ideas, articulate their own ideas, and confirm they have been understood.”

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What are the biggest language challenges

your students face today?

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How will they be supported to meet

the language demands of the

CCSS?

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What do we want in Academic Language?• Vocabulary

words students must know to comprehend the lesson• Function

purposes for using the language • Demand

ways language will be used to participate in the task and demonstrate understanding

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Vocabulary: Bricks & Mortar “Brick” words are the vocabulary specific to the content and the concepts being taught.

Explicitly taught Technical words such as: democracy, molecule, coefficient, metaphor, algorithm, etc. Important for understanding the lesson Frequently in bold and defined in a textbook

“Mortar” words and phrases are the basic and general utility vocabulary required for constructing sentences.

Words that define and hold the bricks together General academic verbiage, such as: interpret, analyze, describe, exhibit, compare Words teachers most often believe students know

Dutro, S. & Moran, C. (2003).

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What are examples of BRICK WORDS that are

necessary for your students to know today?

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What strategies do you use to promote the

understanding and use of the BRICK WORDS?

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Functions• The tasks or purposes AND uses of language• Represented by the verb included in the learning objective

Elem Literacy

Interpret, Predict, Categorize, Compare/contrast, Retell, Summarize, Explain

Math Compare/contrast, Conjecture, Describe, Explain, Prove

SS Analyze, compare/contrast, construct, describe, etc.ELA Analyze, Argue, Describe, Explain, Evaluate, Interpret,

etc.Art Analyze, Compare/Contrast, Critique, Question, etc.Science Analyze, Explain, Interpret, Justify with evidenceSped Communication skills Sample Language Functions

edTPA

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Identify one major LANGUAGE FUNCTION and share how students may further develop that

in class.

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Demands• Vary by discipline and language function

• Specific ways that academic language is used by students to demonstrate their disciplinary understanding.

• Include receptive and productive language skills needed by the student to engage in and complete the task successfully

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Tips, Tools and Opportunities for Promoting AL• Use academic language yourself• Expect/hold students accountable for using academic

language• Be intentional about the brick words (content-specific) • Model use of the mortar words (general academic terms)• Provide opportunities for language functions (e.g. analyze,

sequence)• Teach the writing related to the content area• Technology, graphic organizers, sentence frames,

write/discuss activities, word walls, structured discussions, exit slips, etc.

A Quick Toolkit for Enhancing Academic Language in Physical Education

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Overarching Themes

Learning Environment

Ultimate Goals

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/cf/documents/chapter3sbeadopted.pdf

ELA/ELD Framework Overview

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Key ideas from ELD Standards

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CA ELD Standards: The Big Picture

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References• A Primer on Academic Language for Art Teachers by Jennifer Childress, Assoc. Professor Art Education,

the College of Saint Rose, 2013• A Quick Toolkit for Enhancing Academic Language in Physical Education, powerpoint by Phoebe

Constantinou & Deborah A. Wuest, Ithaca College• Academic Language, edTPA, powerpoint by Melanie Hundley• Academic Language: Definition and Examples, handout• Academic Language: Understanding the Role of Academic Language within Literacy Development and its

Implications for the edTPA, powerpoint by JoAnn Cosentino, Emily Kang, May 2014• Common Core State Standards: Academic Language in the Classroom, Eli R. Johnson, 2012• Complex Academic Language, http://aldnetwork.org/academic-language• Introduction to Academic Language, powerpoint by Susan Ranney, 2011 • Language for Achievement—A Framework for Academic English Language, WestEd, 2010• Leveraging Academic Uses of Language to Foster EL Students’ Success with New Standards, powerpoint

by Robert Linquanti, 2013• Literacy Instruction in the Content Area, Getting to the Core of Middle and High School Improvement,

Rafael Heller and Cynthia L. Greenleaf, 2007• Preparing to teach academic language: edTPA frameworks and resources, Susan Ranney, 2013• Rethinking English Language Instruction: An Architectural Approach, Susana Dutro and Carrol Moran,

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