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v @DStaehrFenner www.GetSupportEd.net @GetSupportEd.net Strategies For Teaching Academic Language and Content to English Learners Diane Staehr Fenner, Ph.D. March 15, 2018
v
@DStaehrFenner www.GetSupportEd.net @GetSupportEd.net
Strategies For Teaching Academic Language and Content to English Learners
Diane Staehr Fenner, Ph.D.March 15, 2018
www.GetSupportEd.net
• You will:
– Describe the three levels of academic language – Learn and apply research-based strategies for selecting
academic vocabulary – Learn and apply strategies for supporting ELs’ academic
language development at the word, sentence, and discourse levels
2
Session Objectives
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1. What language might be difficult for your ELs? 2. How could an ESOL and content teacher
collaborate to support ELs in this problem?
3Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017. Adapted from NY State Testing Program, 2016.
Walking Think-Pair-Share
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1. Why you need this book to support ELs
2. Using a culturally responsive framework
3. Scaffolding instruction for ELs4. Fostering ELs’ oral language
development5. Teaching academic language
to ELs6. Vocabulary instruction and
ELs7. Teaching ELs background
knowledge8. Scaffolded text-dependent
questions9. Formative assessment for
ELs
Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017
Unlocking ELs’ Potential
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• Stands in contrast to the everyday informal speech
• Tends to be more abstract, more complex, less contextualized
• Serves as the language of power
5Bailey, 2007, 2010, 2012; Scarcella, 2008
Academic Language: Definition
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Distinguished from English in other settings on at least three key levels: • The lexical or academic vocabulary level • The grammatical or syntactic level• The discourse or organizational level
6Bailey, 2007, 2010, 2012; Scarcella, 2008
Academic Language: Definition (cont.)
www.GetSupportEd.netStaehr Fenner, 2014; Adapted from: WIDA, 2012
Representation of Academic Language
www.GetSupportEd.net 8Adapted from Staehr Fenner, 2014; Originally adapted from WIDA, 2012
Academic Language: Considerations for ELs
Word Level:• General academic words• Content or technical words• Multiple meaning words• Words with affixes• Idiomatic phrases
Sentence Level:• Grammar • Syntax – sequence in which
words are put together to form sentences
• Language structures, conventions, mechanics
Discourse Level:• Quantity and variety of oral
and written text• Organization and cohesion of
ideas• Type/purpose of text
Sociocultural Context: • Background knowledge• Expectations for ELs• First language use• Impact of ELs’ culture on
understanding
www.GetSupportEd.net 9Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017. p. 123
Levels & Features of Academic Language
Word Level: Selecting Academic Vocabulary For Instruction
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1. When working with a new text, how do you decide which vocabulary to provide in-depth instruction on?
2. How do you decide which words to quickly pre-teach or frontload?
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Pair Discussion
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Select a small group of words for in-depth focus. Words...• Key to understanding the
text likely unfamiliar to students
• Frequently used in the text
• Students will see across disciplines (general academic vocabulary)
• With multiple meanings• With affixes
Baker, et. al, 2014
Selecting Academic Vocabulary for Instruction
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Tier Definition Example from your context
Tier 1 Words usually acquired through everyday speech
walk?
Tier 2 Academic words that appear across all types of texts (general academic vocab)
analyze ?
Tier 3 Domain-specific words that are tied to content
evolution?
Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002
Vocabulary Tiers
vv
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Example: Selecting Academic Vocabulary “The scientists put caterpillars on leaves and used another machine to make the leaves vibrate. When the leaves shook the way a predator would shake them, caterpillars behave as if a real predator were on the leaf. They spun threads and hung. When the leaves shook as if the wind were blowing or rain were falling, caterpillars did nothing.”
14Haynes, E. 2017; Text: Hanging By a Thread, by Pochron, S.[Engage NY Grade 4 ELA Module 2B]
Key Words
Frequent Words
General Academic
vv
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Example: Selecting Academic Vocabulary
The party leaders distributed
a draft of the bill and asked their
colleagues to review it carefully.
15Haynes, E. 2017; Text: Hanging By a Thread, by Pochron, S.[Engage NY Grade 4 ELA Module 2B]
Multiple Meanings
Affixes
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1. Select from one of two text excerpts.2. Decide on 5-8 words from the text you would choose for
in-depth focus using the criteria provided.STOP!
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Vocabulary Selection Activity
Teaching Academic Language at the Word Level
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• Context clues
• Word parts
• Cognates and false cognates
• Words with multiple meanings
18Baker, et al., 2014
Practice Independent Word Learning Strategies
www.GetSupportEd.netAdapted from August, Staehr Fenner, & Snyder, 2014
Example: Context Clues
Unfamiliar word Location Clues
1. litter Line 2 Lines 1, 5
Clues: picking up, junkDefinition: pieces of waste paper and other objects scattered around a place
Not many people would spend their free time picking up other people’s litter. But Chad Pregracke has spent most of the past five years doing just that along the Mississippi, Ohio, and Illinois Rivers. Why?
Chad grew up in a house alongside the Mississippi. He loved to fish and camp on the river’s wooded islands. That’s when he first noticed the junkdotting its shoreline.
www.GetSupportEd.net 20
Verbs(Action)
Nouns(Person, Place, Thing, or Idea)
Adjectives(Words to
Describe Nouns)
Adverbs(Words to Describe Actions)
act action active actively
collect collection collective collectively
consider consideration considerable considerably
Adapted from Baker, et al., 2014
Example: Teaching Word Parts
www.GetSupportEd.net 21Adapted from August, Staehr Fenner, & Snyder, 2014
Cognates False Cognates
planet = planeta carpet ≠ carpeta
Example: Teaching Cognates
www.GetSupportEd.net 22Adapted from Steinhardt, New York University, 2009
Example: Vocabulary With Multiple Meanings
Vocabulary Meaning in Everyday Use
Meaning in Social Studies
party A social gathering Group of people with common political interests
lobby ? Political unit; pressure group
house A building where people live
?
front The most forward part of something
?
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3. Discuss how you would collaborate with an ESOL or content teacher and teach those words.
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Vocabulary Selection Activity
Teaching Academic Language at the Sentence Level
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• What patterns or structures have you noticed your ELs struggling with?
• How do you help your students make sense of grammar?
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Discussion
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Activity Level of Academic Language Support
1. Identifying and breaking down challenging sentences
Sentence
2. Analyzing and supporting sequencing
Discourse
Supporting ELs at the Sentence and Discourse Level
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Unpacking “Juicy Sentences”Consider this sentence: “Since most owls feed upon a variety of animals, owl abundance is not limited by the rise and fall in numbers of any one prey species.”
• Divide the sentence into chunks. • Summarize each chunk in your own words.
27Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017; adapted from Wong Fillmore & Fillmore, 2012 and California Department of Education, 2014Text Source: Government of Alberta, 2009
1. Identifying and Breaking Down Challenging Sentences
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“Since most owls feed upon a variety of animals, owl abundance is not limited by the rise and fall in numbers of any one prey species.”
28Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017; adapted from Wong Fillmore & Fillmore, 2012 and California Department of Education, 2014Text Source: Government of Alberta, 2009
1. Unpacking “Juicy Sentences” Activity
Chunk of Text Summary in My Own Words
Since most owls feed upon Because most owls eata variety of animals,owl abundanceis not limited by the rise and fall in numbersof any one prey species.
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Directions:
1. Select one sentence on a poster paper to “unpack” the meaning with your colleagues.
2. Under the sentence, break the sentence into chunks.
3. Then, summarize the chunk of text in your own words.
4. Discuss how you might use this activity to support ELs’ comprehension of complex text.
29Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017; adapted from Wong Fillmore & Fillmore, 2012 and California Department of Education, 2014
1. Unpacking “Juicy Sentences” Activity (cont.)
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Teaching Academic Language at the Discourse Level
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2. Analyzing & Supporting Sequencing in a Text
• Students put sentence strips in order to determine proper order of a text
• Provide first and last sentence as scaffold (if needed)
• Students circle clues & discuss
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2. Analyzing & Supporting Sequencing in a Text (cont.)
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• You will:
– Describe the three levels of academic language – Learn and apply research-based strategies for selecting
academic vocabulary – Learn and apply strategies for supporting ELs’ academic
language development at the word, sentence, and discourse levels
33
Session Objectives
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• English glossary or bilingual glossary
• Word parts activity
• Context clues activity
• Unpacking juicy sentences
• Sentence strips
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EL Student Handouts
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