1. “Improving the Academic Writing of Long-Term English Learners” Margaret Tomita, Associate Director San Jose Area Writing Project, SJSU March 5, 2011

2. What challenges do you face when asked to improve the academic writing of your ELLs ?

3. “What % of an EL’s day is spent discussing lesson content, using complete sentences, or using relevant academic language?” __2 % __5% __8%

4. Learning Outcomes: You will learn five strategies that improve Academic Writing 1) Use of sentence and paragraph frames (“mortar words”) 4) Set a clear reading purpose and academic writing outcome for students before the read a text. 5) Establish Writing Instructional Routines: Example: “ TIMED WRITING” 3) Link extended academic oral language practice with specific writing purposes 2) Use of color-coding to visually separate information

5. “What is academic language?”

6. “What language do students need to USE to understand language arts, science, social science, or math content?” “bricks”: content specific “mortar”: words/phrases that connect and hold the content specific words together

7. “Bricks” science: volcano, mitosis, gravity, force, photosynthesis history: democracy revolution, right, oligarchy language arts: plot metaphor, character “Mortar” hypothesis, variable, if....then therefore, as a result consists of, represents, analyze, compare, describe ELL: in, among, although (verb)-leave, let, (pronoun)-they, she

8. What might be “mortar words” you would use to compare and contrast two different people?

9. 60 1. Both___and __are similar (different) because______ 2. On the other hand,_____ 3. ____and ____ have the same (similar)_________. __ both similar have in common compared to are different but COMPARE and CONTRAST

12. Text Because of________, __________________ Immediately before this event,_________. As a result of this event, _________________ A significant effect of this event was_____________ Cause and Effect Why did it happen? What happened as a result?

13. Explain how the basic units of DNA fit together and what the DNA structure looks like. Word bank: nucleotide double helix deoxyribose phosphate groups nitrogen bases chromosomes PARAGRAPH The basic units of DNA are_______ ______________________________.T hey work together by_____________. ______________________________ The structure can be described as_____________________________ _____________________________.

14. “What were three major events that led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence? PARAGRAPH FRAME There were several major events that led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. First,__________. This resulted in_____. Next,_____ “Name one of the Romans’ greatest achievements. What were important effects of this achievement?” LANGUAGE FRAME: The greatest achievement of the Romans was____. One major result of this achievement was_____. To explain,____________

15. Because_____, As a result of_______,

18. “Why is it important for you (teacher) to set a clear purpose for reading a text?” “Why is it important for students to write after they read?”

19. Write a summary of the article “The Abominable Snowman”. 1. A first sentence that states the main idea of the article. The article “The Abominable Snowman” (tells, explains, describes)... 2. Three to five major points/ideas 3. Organized in a logical, easy-to-follow order. “Do you believe that Yeti exist?” Write a persuasive paragraph to support your position. 1. A first sentence that states your position.2. Two or more reasons for your position.3. Specific details, examples or explanations that support your reasons “My Plan to Capture a Yeti” Write a story on your plan to capture a live Yeti. 1. A beginning, middle and end to your story. 2. Description of how your plan worked (or did not work)

20. “Why establish consistent writing instructional routines?” “10,000 hours of practice to become an expert” The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

21. Ray Allen, Boston Celtics RECORD: All Time -3-Point Shot Leader POINTS: 2,562 Ray Allen practices his 3 point jump shot for one or two hours before every game. The importance of practice for CONSISTENCY and to improve performance.

22. “Routines help to establish students’ expectations for what they do, how they do things, and why they are doing it.” (Instructional routine VS. non-instructional routine) “They provide consistent and multiple opportunities for students to practice academic writing (and get better at it!)”

25. TIMED WRITING: “Should teachers’ names be published in the newspaper to show they are effective based on their students’ test scores?”

26. INSTRUCTIONAL ROUTINES SELF CHECKLIST __1. I can explain the routine and why I am doing it. __2. I know what to do for each step of the routine. __3. I know how to check my own progress.

27. Examples: Instructional Routines Anticipation Guide Quick Writes Timed Writing Think-Write-Pair-Share Think-Pair-Share Fishbowl Previewing a Text Notetaking Vocabulary Concept Map Double Entry Journals

29. REFLECTION: Five ways to improve ELL Academic Writing 1) Use sentence and paragraph frames (“mortar”) for different types of academic writing. 2) Use color-coding to visually separate information. 3) Extend oral language practice that supports specific writing purposes: (cause/effect, explain, compare/contrast) 4) Set a clear reading purpose for students and ask them to write about their reading. 5) Establish consistent Writing Instructional Routines.

30. REFLECTION Based on what I learned to day, I plan to ______. For example,____________. In order to improve my students’ academic writing, I will_______. This means that _____________ The most important idea today was _________. In other words,_________.