Academic Language Acquisition in the Classroom

How do we actually use these ideas with academic language learners????

Objectives• In this module you will ….

▪ Develop an understanding of the terms “designated instruction” and “integrated instruction”

▪ View a lesson and observe how engagement strategies within IS4 support learners of academic English

▪ Discuss strategies that can be implemented in your content classes to support learners of academic English

▪ Discuss lesson design supporting learners of academic English

Golden Circle

  What?How?

Why?

Golden Circle of Education

Why?

How?

What?

  Flipped  Teaching Professional

Development

Scaffolding

Feedback

FormativeAssessment

InformationalResources

    Curriculum

College& CareerPathways

SchoolCulture & Climate

Access to Technology

Standards

To provide students with equal access to 21st century skills

Thoughtful lesson design

PLCs  tocollaborate

Designated vs. Integrated• What does designated mean? What does

integrated mean?

• In elementary school structures, do we have a designated or integrated model?▪ Both. Designated ELD instruction should occur daily for

our EL students, as well as integrated instruction through content delivery.

Designated vs. Integrated

Activity• What does this look like?

▪ In groups of 2-3, place the statements in the appropriate area.

Designated

Integrated

BOTH

Designated vs. Integrated

Using IS4 to Support Acquisition of Academic English• IS4 and Common Core will support our

Academic Language Learners, not cut them out of the learning process

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/prep-students-for-new-text

Strategies to support Academic Language

• When students feel they are being taught “a ‘watered-down’ version of the curriculum”, they often do not value the tasks (Wigfield and Eccles, 2000).

• Research has shown that English Language Learners (ELLs) thrive not only academically, but also psychologically, when they are specifically taught academic vocabulary (Taylor & McAtee, 2003).

Scaffolding vs. Differentiation vs. Modification

Scaffolding• Scaffolding - bridge to support learning, but

a bridge that is designed to disappear over time. Not a permanent structure.

• Example: “Chunk” the text into smaller pieces, breaking into small groups for discussion of task, working with small groups one on one; think time

Zone of Proximal Development

Differentiation• Differentiation-requires knowledge of

students’ varying levels of understanding.• Different in elementary and secondary. • Formative assessment, quizzes, and

traditional assessments help decide when differentiation is needed.

• Differentiation can also be provided over the course of a unit of instruction. Vary activities/practices/assessments/etc.

Modification• Changing the assignment, and therefore

changing the rigor• Example: Homework is reduced, or even

eliminated; essays are reduced to a paragraph response; labs are to be observed rather than completed.

The Nitty Gritty• Strategies to support AL acquisition:

▪ Pair sharing, group discussion, guided interaction: cooperative learning

▪ Visuals- graphic organizers, images, maps, graphs▪ APK- explicit connections to previous concepts▪ Model thinking- think alouds▪ Identify the key concept of the lesson and consider

providing direct instruction on vocabulary▪ Listening with a focus

Strategies to support Academic Language

Putting it all together…

….by discussing lesson designhttps://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/common-core-teaching-division https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/academic-choice-lesson

Let’s talk about lesson design! What strategies do you already use? What

would you like to try out?