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Unlocking English Learners’ Potential: Academic Language Workshop

Diane Staehr Fenner, Ph.D. TNTESOL

February 7, 2020

www.GetSupportEd.net 2

Before We Begin…

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Objectives

Describe 3 levels

of AL

Select academic

vocab

Discussstrategies

Applystrategies

3


Signal to Come Together

4


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

5


bit.ly/AcLangTN(Case Sensitive)

6

Importance of Academic Language for ELs

www.GetSupportEd.net 8Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017, p. 127. Adapted from NY State Testing Program, 2016.

Academic Language Discussion

Discuss what language in this math problem might be difficult for your ELs.

Problem:Addison wants to ride her scooter more than 100 miles this month. She has already ridden her scooter 12 miles. Which inequality could be used to determine the mean number of miles, m, she would need to ride her scooter each day for 20 more days to achieve her goal?

a. 20m + 12 < 100b. 20m – 12 < 100c. 20m + 12 > 100d. 20m + 12 = 100


• In contrast to everyday informal speech

• More abstract, more complex, less contextualized

• Language of power

9Bailey, 2007, 2010, 2012; Scarcella, 2008

Academic Language: Definition

www.GetSupportEd.netStaehr Fenner, 2014; Adapted from: WIDA, 2012

Representation of Academic Language

Selecting Academic Vocabulary For Instruction

www.GetSupportEd.net 12Reading Rockets, http://www.readingrockets.org/article/classroom-vocabulary-assessment-content-areas

Self- Assessment Example


Select a small group of words for in-depth focus. Words...

Baker, et. al, 2014

Selecting Academic Vocabulary for Instruction

• 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


“The scientists put caterpillars on leaves and used another machineto 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.”

Haynes, E. 2017; Text: Hanging By a Thread, by Pochron, S.[Engage NY Grade 4 ELA Module 2B]

Vocabulary Selection

Circle an example of a key word

Underline an example of a frequently used word

Put a star next to a general academic word


The party leaders distributed a draft

of the bill and asked their colleagues

to review it carefully.

Haynes, E. 2017; Text: Hanging By a Thread, by Pochron, S.[Engage NY Grade 4 ELA Module 2B]

Vocabulary Selection (cont.)

Put a squarearound a word with multiple meanings

Draw an arrow to a word with an affix


1. Read the text excerpt: Amazing Whales!

2. Decide on 5 words from the text you would choose for in-depth focus using the criteria provided.

16

Vocabulary Selection (pp. 1-2)

Teaching Academic Language at the Word Level


• Read the strategies for vocabulary instruction.

• Sort them into 3 categories. Write the category names.

18

Supporting ELs’ Acquisition of Academic Language at Word Level (p. 3)


Multifaceted Approach to Vocabulary Instruction

Introducenew vocabulary

Practicenew vocabulary

Teachindependent wordlearning strategies

Adapted from Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017


• Visuals• Gestures• Student-friendly definitions

(wordsmyth.net)• Student-created definitions• Examples and non-

examples• Seven-Step vocabulary• Synonyms and antonyms• Home language

Visual source: August, Golden, Pook, 2015

Introduce New Vocabulary


Speaking/Listening Reading/Writing Games• Academic

discussions

• Information gap

• Interactive word wall

• Word sort

• Word experts

• Sentences or paragraphs related to content using bank of vocabulary

• Glossaries

• Responding to text-dependent questions

• Memory

• Vocab Jeopardy!

• Vocab jigsaw

• Vocab bingo

• Heads Up

Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017

Practice New Vocabulary


1. Use a set of cards with vocabulary related to a particular content area. Don’t peek!

2. Select one person to be the “Guesser” and the others to be the “Clue Givers.”

3. The Guesser places a card on his/her forehead (without looking), and the ClueGivers give clues about the academic meaning of the word.

Example: Heads Up Game


Topics:

• Math• Ancient Egypt• Water cycle• Classroom objects*

• Possible scaffolds: partner to help, word bank, sentence stems

23*Good topic for newcomers

Heads Up Topics


• This word means…• An example of this word is…• A synonym for this word is ...• An antonym of this word is...• We use this word to talk about...

Heads Up Sentence Stems


• Context clues

• Word parts

• Cognates and false cognates

• Words with multiple meanings

25Baker, et al., 2014

Teach Independent Word Learning Strategies

www.GetSupportEd.netAdapted from August, Staehr Fenner, & Snyder, 2014

Example: Context Clues

Unfamiliar Word Location Clues

litter Line 2 Lines 1, 7

Clues: picking up, junk, trashDefinition: pieces of waste paper and other objects scattered around a place

1. Not many people would spend their free time picking up other 2. people’s litter. But Chad Pregracke has spent most of the past five 3. years doing just that along the Mississippi, Ohio, and Illinois Rivers. 4. Why? 5. Chad grew up in a house alongside the Mississippi. He loved to fish 6. and camp on the river’s wooded islands. That’s when he first noticed 7. the junk dotting its shoreline.


Verbs(Action)

Nouns(Person, Place, Thing, or Idea)

Adjectives(Words to

Describe Nouns)

Adverbs(Words to Describe Actions)

act action ? actively

collect ? collective collectively

consider consideration considerable ?

Adapted from Baker, et al., 2014

Example: Teaching Word Parts


Cognates: sound and look similar in both languages and mean the same thing

28Adapted from August, Staehr Fenner, & Snyder, 2014

False Cognates: sound and look similar in both languages but mean different things

Cognates False Cognates

planet = planeta billion ≠ un billón

Example: Teaching Cognates

1,000,000,000

1,000,000,000,000

www.GetSupportEd.net 29Adapted from Steinhardt, New York University, 2009

Example: Vocabulary With Multiple Meanings

Vocabulary Meaning in Everyday Use

Meaning in Math and/or Science

mean to be unkind (adj.)to intend (v.)

an average

volume ? amount of space inside an object

gross ? total income from sales

mass having to do with a lot of people

?

30

Teaching Academic Language at the Sentence and Discourse Level


Strategies for Supporting ELs at the Sentence and Discourse Level

Strategy SentenceLevel

DiscourseLevel

1. Unpacking juicy sentences

2. Embedding grammar and specific aspects of language into instruction

3. Analyzing sequencing in a text


• 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.

• Then summarize each chunk in your own words.

32Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017, p. 132; adapted from Wong Fillmore & Fillmore, 2012 and California Department of Education, 2014Text Source: Government of Alberta, 2009

1. Unpacking Juicy Sentences


“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.”

33Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017, p. 132; adapted from Wong Fillmore & Fillmore, 2012 and California Department of Education, 2014Text Source: Government of Alberta, 2009

Unpacking Juicy Sentences Activity (p. 4 – top half)

Chunk of Text Summary in My Own Words

Since most owls feed upon Because most owls eata variety of animals,owl abundanceis not limited bythe rise and fall in numbersof any one prey species.


• Select one sentence to “unpack” the meaning with your colleagues.

• Break the sentence into chunks under the sentence.

• Summarize the chunk of text in your own words.

• Discuss how you might use this activity to support ELs’ comprehension of complex text.

34Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017, p. 132; adapted from Wong Fillmore & Fillmore, 2012 and California Department of Education, 2014

Unpacking Juicy Sentences Activity (p. 4 – bottom half)

Directions:


2. Embedding Grammar and Specific Aspects of Language


• Read the sentence below.Beginning in the 17th century, the Mississippi River Valley was settled by French explorers who established scattered settlements throughout the region.

• Discuss the challenges that ELs might have with the grammar in the sentence.

• How might you support their understanding?

Mini-Lessons

Directions:


Thumbs up = active, Thumbs down = passive• During the Boston Tea Party, the Sons of Liberty threw

342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor.(active)

• During the Boston Tea Party, 342 chests of tea were thrown into Boston Harbor. (passive)

Challenges• Not always clear who or what completed the action• Unfamiliar and more complex verb construction

37

Mini-Lesson:Passive Voice for ELs


Original Sentence

Who did the action?

What was the action?

Sentence Rewrite

The Mississippi River Valley was settled by French explorers.

French explorers Settled the Mississippi River Valley

French explorers settled the Mississippi RiverValley.

In 1762 French Louisiana was ceded to Spain by the French.In 1801 a secret treaty was signed by Spain to return the Louisiana Territory to France.

Mini-Lesson: Passive Voice


• Charades• What would you say

when…• Mad Libs• Bingo • Adverb game

Scaffolds to support ELs: work in pairs, word banks, sentence stems/framesLarson, 2015

Grammar Games and Activities


3. Analyzing 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).

• Help students identify clues.


• Determine the correct order of the six sentences.

• Note the clues that helped you figure out the correct order.

Text source: The Great Fire, Murphy, 2010

Analyzing Sequencing (p. 5)


1. Chicago in 1871 was a city ready to burn. 2. The city boasted having 59,500 buildings, many of them—such as the

Courthouse and the Tribune Building—large and ornately decorated. 3. The trouble was that about two-thirds of all these structures were

made entirely of wood. 4. Many of the remaining buildings (even the ones proclaimed to be

“fireproof”) looked solid, but were actually jerrybuilt affairs; the stone or brick exteriors hid wooden frames and floors, all topped with highly flammable tar or shingle roofs.

5. It was also a common practice to disguise wood as another kind of building material.

6. The fancy exterior decorations on just about every building were carved from wood, then painted to look like stone or marble.

42

Possible Answers

Wrap Up


Objectives

Describe 3 levels

of AL

Select academic

vocab

Discussstrategies

Applystrategies

44

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@[email protected]


Diane Staehr Fenner

[email protected]

Thank you!

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