1. Building Academic Language for ALL Learners, Including English Language Learners EDC 448 – Dr. Coiro

2. Housekeeping - Syllabus Diverse Text Set: Due Today or By April 1 (I will explain how to put on wikispace in next few classes) ELL Interview Task : Come prepared with talking points on March 27; Paper due then too or by April 1 Schedule your lesson plan meeting between March 27-April 3 (schedule coming around; mark time on back of your revised syllabus too!) Bring your completed “Backwards Design” yellow planning sheet – if missed class, ask friends and check the wiki Lesson Plan Due April 10; Teach lesson April 22 or 24 Theory Into Practice Conference Proposal (4/15) and Presentation (4/30)

3. Objectives Describe strategies for choosing and teaching key concepts (BRICKS) and connector words (MORTAR) associated with your learning/reading objectives Build understanding of the functions and challenging features of Academic Language (in English) Apply these ideas to develop classroom activities Consider the issues during Thursday’s seminar

4. Social Language versus Academic Language Jeff Zwiers (2008)

5. What is Academic Language? Academic language proficiency : the abilities to construct meaning from oral and written language, related complex ideas and information, recognize features of different genres, and use various linguistic strategies to communicate Academic language: a set of words, grammar, and organizational strategies used to describe complex ideas, higher-order thinking processes, and abstract concepts “Brilliant students have been marginalized and unrecognized because of their diverse languages, learning styles, and ways of thinking” (p. 17). Jeff Zwiers (2008). Building Academic Language.

6. So what’s the big deal about ELLs in the United States? In the last 15 years, ELL populations have grown between 200% - 500% in states outside the top five states (CA, TX, FL, NY, IL) 96% of English-Language Learners (ELL’s) scored BELOW BASIC on NAEP Reading Exam (2005) 31% of ELL’s drop out of high school (compared to 10% native English speakers) Content area teachers MUST address their needs!

9. Explicitly Teaching Academic Language: Bricks and Mortar Bricks : technical words specific to a discipline (vary from concrete to abstract) = Tier 3 words Mortar : general-utility words that hold the content-specific technical words together (often abstract as well) = Tier 2 words or “connectors” Useful for explicitly teaching and linking academic language/text & thinking Can you think of examples in your discipline?

10. BRICKSMORTAR Language Arts: Imagery, alliteration, theme, metaphor, plot That is, implied, contains, leads us to believe, teaches a message History: revolution, emancipation, right, oligarchy Therefore, as a result, consequently, consist of Math: reciprocal, balance, proof, hypotenuse, obtuse, matrix If…then, end up with, derive, take care of, thus, suppose Science: mitosis, gravity, force, sublimation Hypothesis, variable, infer, results, dependent Explicitly Teaching Academic Language: Bricks and Mortar Teachers need to model, teach, and assess academic language to help all students understand and use language (“talk the talk”) in your discipline

11. Building your Essential Vocabulary Lists: Not ALL terms are critically important! How will you decide which words to select? How many words will you identify as “critical” or “essential” for each topic? for your discipline? for your grade level??

12. Deciding what words to put on your vocabulary list Divide your words into three categories: Tier 1 (or General words): Commonplace words students typically learn from interacting with others or reading Tier 2 (or Specialized words): Words that have different meanings depending on the discipline used. These are high-frequency and often used to connect ideas. How many meanings of “run” might you encounter in an academic day? Tier 3 (or Technical words): Words that are specific to a content area or discipline. Might occur infrequently but can be barriers to understanding content. Beck & McKeown; Buehl (p. 175)

13. Selected words from George Washington Text

14. Strategically selecting words for formal instruction 1. Representation: essential or root word (yes) 2. Repeatability: used often in text/discipline (yes) 3. Transportability: used in discussions, writing tasks, other subject areas/topics (yes) 4. Contextual Analysis: use context clues? (no) 5. Structural Analysis: use word parts? (no) 6. Cognitive Load: too many words? (no) Fisher & Fry (2008)

15. The Six Finalists and Why We Chose Them Tier 2 : Held/hold ; occupied ; and possession (conceptually related and would help transfer into knowledge base) Tier 3: Colony and continent (essential to early U.S. history – roles of leaders could be learned later in a more specific unit)

16. So, how do we TEACH these words? Develop student friendly explanations Look up definitions and translate into ideas from a student’s point of view Root words or affixes : What other words have the same root word? Examine Concept Characteristics – what is it? what is it like (characteristics)? Examples and non-examples (Concept/Definition Map, Schwartz & Raphael, 1985)

17. Concept of Definition Turn and Talk: According to Schwartz & Raphael (1985), how can we help students learn how to figure out word meanings by themselves? 1. Practice looking deeply at the concepts’ characteristics examples & non-examples, and explaining in own words (this is the information that makes a good definition) 2. Using context clues (when they are helpful) 3. Building background knowledge

18. Concept/Definition Mapping

20. So, how do we TEACH these words? Actively engage students in dealing with word meanings and using as part of daily language in your classroom Concept/Definition Map (Schwartz & Raphael, 1985) Word Associations (Which word goes with…?) Have You Ever? (associate in context) Idea Completion (use to explain a situation) When might you? How might you? Why might you?

21. Try It Out Work with 1-2 partners to skim one of the “challenging content area texts” in your handout. List Tier 1, 2, and 3 words from the selection on the handout organizer Highlight a Tier 2 word and discuss ways to teach and engage students with the CONCEPT (not just the word) – work through the categories of activities in your handout

22. So we’ve got the “Bricks” down - What about the “Mortar” in Academic Language?

23. Functions of Academic Language 1. To Describe Complex Ideas and Relationships Example : human body systems, chemical reactions, geological forces; good and bad historical figures; complex word problems People struggle to use tools of language to make ideas clear and accessible 2. To Describe Higher-Order Thinking Example : metacognitive reading/thinking strategies – describe, classify, interpret, justify, compare, sequence, analyze, apply [in science, history, math, lang. arts] How to bridge language from “outside” school walls to classroom language 3. To Describe Abstraction “On the other hand, the two scientists had differing views on the topic of evolution.” (language cues are not automatic for everyone; no “average” student) Create situations and tasks that train students to notice this language, and engage in thinking that reflects these abstractions (e.g., use graphic organizers - the long- term effects of war; evidence that supports opposing position; similarities between two cultures, interpretations of characters words/actions)

24. Challenging Features of Academic Language Figurative expressions (e.g., it boils down to; read between the lines; that answer doesn’t hold water) builds on knowledge of metaphors/cliches Multiple meaning words (e.g., register; block; note) require mental flexibility and experiences in different contexts Explicit language for “distant audiences” requires different language than that of oral language around the dinner table (note differences) Supportive evidence to back up claims (what evidence is good?) Long sentences with complex shades of verb meaning (The people could look for shelter elsewhere … would, can, will, shall, might, may, must, should, ought to..) and if/then qualifiers

25. Challenging If/Then Qualifiers in Academic Language Scientific method: If I were to add this to the mixture, what would happen? Alternative possibilities in History: What would have happened if the Germans had repelled the invasion? Narrative interpretations: How would you feel if you were in her shoes? If the character had been a woman, would the people have respected her less? Math problem solving: If we put a zero in the denominator, what would happen? Could we solve this if gravity were not a constant?

26. Other Challenging Academic Expressions Academic Expressions In Your Discipline….(SEE YOUR HANDOUT FOR EXAMPLES) Language Arts : metaphor; persuasion; cause/effect Science : Scientific Inquiry; cause/effect History : Interpretation; Perspective Taking; Cause/Effect Math : expressions, questions, and specialized meanings

27. Homework Due Tuesday, March 26: Diverse Text Assignment (hard copy and upload to the wiki) Schwartz & Raphael: Concept of Definition: A key to improving students’ vocabulary (and one page reading guide) Buehl Activities for Teaching Vocabulary Depth and Breadth (see syllabus and chart at bottom)