Dsf consulting Contents Page Introduction 0

Provide Regular, Structured Opportunities to Write

The scaffolding techniques used for writing in the following lessons are consistent with recent research (Kim et al., 2011; Lesaux et al., in press). Techniques include “providing writing assignments that are anchored in content and focused on developing academic language as well as writing skills; providing language-based supports to facilitate student’s entry into and continued development of writing; using small groups or pairs to provide opportunities for students to work and talk together on varied aspects of writing; and assessing students’ writing periodically to identify instructional needs and provide positive constructive feedback in response” (Baker et al., 2014, p. 6). For example, in the prototyped lessons, all writing is anchored in content that students have read, and focuses on developing academic language through questions that require students to talk in pairs and then write. All writing assignments provide language-based supports such as glossaries, word banks, sentence frames, and starters (as needed) and graphic organizers to facilitate students’ entry into and continual development of writing. For both short, constructed-response writing during close reading and more extended writing, students have opportunities to talk with each other. For constructed-response writing, they talk with a partner to answer questions before writing. For longer writing assignments, students work in pairs to generate ideas and organize their thoughts with a graphic organizer before writing. In the lessons, students write responses to pre- and post- assessments to help teachers identify areas of weakness and growth. Teachers edit longer pieces of writing and confer with students to help them improve their writing skills.

Capitalize on Students’ Home Language Skills and Knowledge

The scaffolds in the previous sections may be helpful to all students. Scaffolds unique to ELLs are those that capitalize on their home language knowledge and skills to help them acquire the knowledge and skills of a new language. A large body of research indicates that ELLs draw on conceptual knowledge and skills acquired in their home language in learning their new language (Dressler, 2006) and that instructional methods that help ELLs draw on home language knowledge and skills promote literacy development in the new language (August et al., 2009; Carlo et al., 2004; Liang, Peterson, & Graves, 2005; Restrepo et al., 2010). In the prototyped lessons that follow, scaffolds that help students draw on home t language knowledge and skills include glossaries that include home language translations; theme-related reading in students’ home language; bilingual homework activities; and routines that pair ELLs who are at emerging levels of language proficiency with bilingual partners so that discussions can occur in students’ home language and in English. In addition, teachers teach students who speak a cognate language to use home-language cognate knowledge to figure out the meanings of unknown words in English.
In the lessons that follow, the scaffolds that capitalize on home language knowledge and skills are modeled in Spanish. These models can be used to develop similar scaffolds for students from other home-language backgrounds. The cognate activities will be helpful, however, only for ELLs whose home language shares cognates with English.