1. Writing With Scaffolds: Using Sentence and Paragraph Frames
Ronna Magy
Campbell Adult and Community Education
August 14, 2014
Part 1

2. Without a Scaffold

3. With a Scaffold
structure
outline
model

4. Writing Model: Ask Questions
Guided Paragraph Writing: Ask Specific Questions
What’s your name?
Where are you from?
How long have you lived in California?
How many people are in your family?
Who is in your family?
What are their names?
~ Magy, R Beginning Stories from the Heart.

5. Writing Model: Word Bank & Paragraph Frame
Terry 12 noon job she works thinks cashier
Blue Star Market job
______________works at _____________ _______________ __________.
She _____________there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. She is a _________.
Her _____________ begins at 8 am and ends at ____________. She likes her
___________ very much. She ________ Blue Star Market is a great place to work.

6. Guided Sentence/ Paragraph Writing Models
Copy a sentence or paragraph
Review a sentence /paragraph model
write a similar sentence/paragraph
Answer specific or open-ended questions
Use a word bank to fill in sentences/paragraphs
Use cloze fill–in sentences
Use pictures generate vocabulary
Use sentence starters or paragraph starters
Provide the body of a paragraph with options for best topic sentence or best concluding sentence
Use graphic organizers (clustering) in the prewriting stage

7. Free Write: Writing Scaffolds/Writing Models
Describe a writing model or/writing scaffold you’ve used with your students.
What issues/ challenges developed while you were using that model? 7

8. Writing Model: Sentence Frames

9. Writing Model: Paragraph Frames
It is helpful to place _______________, _____________, and __________ in the same group. They have important commonalities such as ______________. However, the _______________________ is different because it _________________.
In the ________________ (story, event, period of history), there are three important ____________ (events, steps, directions, etc.) First______________________________________ .
Second, ______________.
Third, ________________.
In conclusion, ___________________________________________________________.
My Best Friend
_________________ is my best friend for a number of reasons. First of all, __________is my best friend because __________________. Also, __________ is________________________________.
In addition, ____________________ is my best friend because ________________.
I am so lucky to have _______________ as a friend.

10. 21st Century, Common Core- College and Career Readiness Skills
Read/scan evidence-based material
Summarize information, take notes
Communicate, collaborate, evaluate
Use academic vocabulary, discuss informational text
Cite evidence

11. Jigsaw Reading Paragraph Frames
Common Core/CCR Skills:
Read informational text, summarize information, take notes, academic vocabulary, cite evidence
HOME GROUPS
Person 1-Read Section 1
Person 2-Read Section 2
Person 3-Read Section 3
Person 4-Read Section 4
Refer to handout

12. Jigsaw Reading Team Share
What are some important things you learned about
paragraph framing?
Refer to handout

13. Skills Assessment: Did You.......
Read informational text?
Use academic language?
Gather, analyze and summarize information?
Read academic
vocabulary?
Cite sources?
Take notes?

14. College and Career Readiness Standards (CCR)
CCR Focus on Literacy Instruction (ELA Literacy)
3 key areas of shift in emphasis:
Complexity: texts are more complex, use more academic language and academic vocabulary
Evidence:
Reading-cite evidence, analyze information
Writing-conduct research, analyze sources
Speaking/listening-academic talk based on readings
Knowledge: students read across disciplines (nonfictional texts); students read informational texts to develop content knowledge 14
~Pimental, S., 2013, College and Career
Readiness Standards for Adult Education

15. College and Career Readiness Writing Anchor Standards
CCR Writing Standards
Writing Anchor Standard 1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among claim(s), reasons, and evidence
e.g. furthermore, in addition to
Writing Anchor Standard 2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
~Pimental, S., 2013, College and Career
Readiness Standards for Adult Education 15

16. Integrating Workforce and Academic Readiness Skills
The skills learners need in order to transition successfully to higher levels of education or employment should be integrated at every level of instruction, including ESL classes that are focused primarily on language instruction.
~Promoting Learner Transitions to Postsecondary Education and Work: Developing Academic Readiness from the Beginning Betsy Parrish and Kimberly Johnson, CAELA Network Brief, April 2010. 16

17. Looking at a Paragraph Frame
______________ and _____________ are similar in several ways. They both
______________________________. They also_____________________________
_____________________. Furthermore, each ______________________________.
___________________________________. Because of these similarities, they can
help each other ___________________.
However, _____________ and ______________ differ in some key areas.
First,__________________________________. In addition, _________________.
In contrast, ____________________. These differences help us to see ____________
_____________________________________________________________________.
~Parrish, B. & Johnson, K., 2011; Zwiers, J. 2005

18. Using a Comparing Paragraph Frame Our Jobs and Activities
Our class
Men
Jobs
Home Activities
Women
Refer to handout

19. Using a Comparing Paragraph Frame: Instructions
Work in a team
Talk to the people around you
Find out about their jobs and home activities
Record the information in the chart
Discuss the information with teammates
Look for similarities and differences
Compare and contrast the information gathered
Fill in the paragraph frame together with teammates
Refer to handout

20. Using a Comparing Paragraph Frame: Survey and Record Information
What is your job?
What do you do on your job?
What do you do at home?

21. Using a Comparing Paragraph Frame: Teams: Evaluate & Summarize Information
Who are we comparing?
What do men do at work? at home?
What do women do at work? at home?
How are men and women similar
in their jobs and home activities?
How are men and women different in their jobs and home activities?
What do these differences help us to understand about men and women?
How can men and women help
each other?

22. Using a Comparing Paragraph Frame Report Back
Skills
Collaborate
Gather Information
Summarize
Compare
Write
Academic Vocabulary Building

23. Filling in a Paragraph Frame: Using a Think Aloud
Men and women are similar in several ways. They both __________________
______________________________. They also_____________________________
_____________________. Furthermore, each ______________________________.
___________________________________. Because of these similarities, they can
help each other ___________________.
However, _____________ and ______________ differ in some key areas.
First,__________________________________. In addition, _________________.
In contrast, ____________________. These differences help us to see ____________
_____________________________________________________________________.
~Parrish, B. & Johnson, K., 2011, Zwiers, J., 2005

24. Types of Sentence/Paragraph Frames
DEFINITION/DESCRIPTION
A _______________ is a kind of _____________ that ____________.
SEQUENCE
First, __________, then ____________, and finally ____________.
CAUSE/EFFECT
____________________ happens because _______________________.
COMPARE /CONTRAST
(a) ___________ and (b) ___________ are alike in that they
both ________________; however, (a) _________, while (b) _____________. 24
~Corley, M., 2013, Helping Your Students Increase Their Writing Fluency.

25. Using Paragraph Frames at Beginning Levels
My Favorite Dinner
If I could have my favorite dinner, these are the foods I would pick. First, I would pick _________________________ because ___________________. Next, I would also pick _________________________________. I also like _____________ because _____________. I would be very happy to have this dinner.
My Best Friend
_________________ is my best friend for a number of reasons. First of all, _________is my best friend because _____________________. Also __________________________ is _______________________. In addition, ____________________ is my best friend because __________________________________.
I am so lucky to have _______________________ as my friend. 25

26. Jim’s Problem The lock on Jim’s front door never worked well.
Now the lock is broken. Jim calls the building
manager.
The building manager says it isn’t his responsibility
to fix the lock. He says, “You break it. You fix it.”
Jim knows it is the building manager’s responsibility
to fix the lock.
What can Jim do?
Pay a locksmith to fix the lock.
Pay a locksmith and take the money out of the rent.
Talk to other renters in the building.
d. Call the city housing office and ask for help. 26
~ Future, Book 2., Pearson, 2010.

27. Using Sentence Frames for Problem Solving
1. The problem is _____________________.
2. He can _____________, ___________, or ________________________________.
3. I/We think the best way to resolve this problem is___________________________.
4. If he_______________________________, then_________________________________. 27

28. Paragraph and Sentence Frames.......
Provide a writing scaffold, a direct, guided paragraph model
Strengthen students’ thinking skills, academic language, and academic vocabulary
Guide students as they analyze, categorize, describe, contrast, etc.
Help students express ideas that are more complex than their English proficiency level
Reduce student anxiety about using correct English
Can be taught using a Think-Aloud strategy 28

29. Two-Minute Pair Share
Select one paragraph/sentence frame model that you plan to use with your class next week.
Talk with a partner who teaches at the same level.
Explain why you selected that paragraph frame model to teach to your students.
How would you adapt it for your class?
Refer to handout

30. Paragraph Frame Writing Skills
Collaborate and communicate
Gather information
Use critical thinking to categorize, summarize, evaluate, & analyze
Write to convey information
Write arguments to support claims
Write informative/explanatory text to convey complex ideas
Use words to create cohesion
Build academic vocabulary and academic language
Cite evidence

31. Explicit Teaching and Transferable Skills
How can we help students identify the skills they are using in paragraph framing?
How can we help students transfer the skills they are learning from the adult classroom to home, school, workplace and community settings?

32. Instruction needs to be.......
EXPLICT DIRECT SYSTEMATIC 32
~ Adelson-Goldstein, J., The ESL Writing Process, 2013.

33. Transferable Skills: Ask Specific Guiding Questions
Did you work in a team?
Did you communicate and collaborate with others?
Did you gather information?
Did you summarize the information?
Did you write a sentence?
Did you write a paragraph?

34. Transferable 21st Century Skills Teach “I” Statements
I can work in a team.
I can gather information.
I can analyze and evaluate information.
I can collaborate with others to write a sentence/paragraph.
I can write a sentence.
I can write a paragraph.

35. Did We ....... Learn about the writing process?
Consider different sentence/paragraph frame models?
Learn ways to teach students the skills involved in using writing frames?
Identify the skills developed in the writing frames process?
Discuss the transferable skills that can be taken from the classroom to the workplace and other academic settings?

36. Make a Commitment
I will implement the following two new instructional strategies into my classroom during the next month.
______________________

37. Writing with Scaffolds: Using Paragraph Frames
Ronna Magy