Dsf consulting Contents Page Introduction 0

Integrate Oral and Written Language Instruction Into Content Area Teaching

The scaffolding techniques used to integrate oral and written language into content area instruction in the lessons that follow are consistent with recent research (August, Branum-Martin, Cardenas-Hagan, & Francis, 2009; Brown, Ryoo, & Rodriquez, 2010; Ryoo, 2009; Silverman & Hines, 2009; Vaughn et al., 2009). Techniques include “strategically using instructional tools such as short videos, visuals, and graphic organizers—to anchor instruction and help students make sense of content; explicitly teaching the content-specific academic vocabulary, as well as the general academic vocabulary that supports it, during content-area instruction; providing daily opportunities for students to talk about content in pairs and small groups; and providing writing opportunities to extend student learning and understanding of the content material” (Baker et al., 2014, p. 6). For example, the lessons strategically use instructional tools such as short videos, visuals, and graphic organizers to make text and discourse comprehensible. Other scaffolding techniques are the use of supplementary questions that guide students to the answers for more overarching text-dependent questions and glossaries that define words and phrases important for understanding the text. The lessons explicitly teach and provide students with opportunities to use both content-specific and general academic vocabulary before close reading, during close reading, and after close reading. Almost all lesson activities provide opportunities for partner talk. Students have ongoing opportunities to extend learning. They write constructed responses to questions while reading narratives, informational or explanatory texts, and arguments connected to the anchor text.

Provide Regular, Structured Opportunities to Read for Multiple Purposes

The Common Core State Standards call for reading for multiple purposes. The importance of providing ELLs with opportunities to read for multiple purposes is supported by research (August & Shanahan, 2008. First, if the text contains cultural, historical, or thematic information ELLs are unlikely to have acquired, they read short supplementary texts to help them acquire such knowledge. Second, teachers read the anchor text aloud to model fluent reading while students listen and follow along in their texts. The oral reading provides opportunities for teachers to define vocabulary in context. Third, ELLs read to answer questions about key ideas and details. Fourth, students reread the text to identify vocabulary and sections of the text they did not originally understand. Finally, ELLs revisit the text to analyze craft and structure and integrate knowledge and ideas. The scaffolding techniques described in the other section of the approach are used throughout.