Creating an Environment Where Language Flourishes
- A Resource for Elementary Classroom Teachers
Planning for Language
How do you identify the linguistic demands of a lesson? How do you communicate the language objective you identified for your lesson?
WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY?
Language Objectives: An Overview
This article written for Colorín Colorado includes:
1.what a language objective is
2.steps that teachers can take to create language objectives
3.how to implement language objectives in a general education classroom
4.how to align objectives to content and language standards
5. ideas and resources on how to support teachers as they become familiar with this practice.
In this video, Dr. Cynthia Lundgren explains the value of writing language objectives when teaching English learners.
All lessons must be engaging and withing them we must find the right balance between not doing anything extra for language and overdoing the language part such that the engagement and ideas are bogged down by too many language-focused activities. (p.21)
Guiding learning means providing the right supports at the right times, and taking supports over time so that students build independence in the use of skills, content, and language.(p.55)
As language is the medium through which content knowledge is constructed, educators should not think of one without the other. (p. 30)
The content target relates the “big idea,” “essential understanding,” or primary concept of the unit and directly corresponds with the content standard. The language target, on the other hand, reflects the language function, or communicative purpose, that best fits this concept for all language learners and is often an expression of a language development standard.
Academic Language in Diverse Classrooms: English Language Arts, Grades K–2 (p.12)
Planning Tool for Writing Language Objectives:
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What is the standards-based lesson focus?
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What is the actual student task? What are students expected to do?
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What verbal and written responses can I anticipate from my students, unless I model the process, clarify the text structure, and guide language use?
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First write a model response, then write a response frame. As needed, provide a word bank and/or grammatical scaffold. What would be the ideal and most linguistically adept response(s) for this age and proficiency group?
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Write a statement describing the language objective(s). Students will … or I can
Linguistic Scaffolds for Writing Effective Language Objectives by Dr. Kate Kinsella
WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?
Try it!
Use these tools to create a language objective for an upcoming lesson.
Example: Students in 5th grade identified the adaptive traits that help their organism survive (content). They wrote 2 complex sentences describing these characteristics using a sentence frame (language).
Scaffold and example provided by science teacher, Anne Oubaha.
About content-area instruction:
The general principles of ELD hold true with respect to content area instruction (Moran, 1996). For one, content curriculum must be bridged to the knowledge and experience that students bring to the classroom (Díaz, Moll, & Mehan, 1986; Heath, 1983). More generally, a positive and supportive environment for content instruction implies a sensitivity to the competing cognitive demands posed by challenging content and complex language. Organizational strategies—tools that fit a concept into a bigger picture as well as organize bits of information within a context or a topic (Calfee, 1981; Hernández, 1989)—are utilized at every level of the process. Meaningful contexts and practice through interaction with the language and concepts involved must be varied depending on the content and the function, but it is clear that interaction, whether in social studies, science, or mathematics, enhances learning (Hudelson, 1989; Reyes & Molner, 1991). Reporting or sharing is encouraged through a variety of modes of expression, both orally and in writing, and supported by the teacher’s modeling and providing sentence frames and relevant vocabulary (Kinsella, 1997).
Students in 5th grade need to solve this multi-step word problem. Their teacher wants them to show their work and be able to explain how they found their answer.
Problem: A theatre sold 1,500 tickets. There were 852 adult tickets and the rest were child tickets. Each adult ticket was $7.00 and each child ticket was $3.50. How much money was made in ticket sales?
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What academic language is needed for students to communicate effectively their answer? (word, sentence, discourse level)
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How would you plan linguistic support for this lesson?
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What support would you provide students so all learners can engage in high order thinking?
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What linguistic differentiation would you provide?
Adapt and support language tasks to match current levels and observed needs.
Analyze this student's explanation. What can she do? What feedback would you provide in order to support her linguistic growth?
Look at an example I created. There are many ways to approach this lesson based on your understanding of language use and the students in your classroom. This example can be improved through best collaborative practices such as co-planning with content teacher.
This 3rd grader is sharing how he solved the following multi-step problem.
Anthony has 19 red beads and he has 3 fewer yellow beads than red. Anthony also has 8 more green beads than red beads. How many does Anthony have in all?
How would you support this student so he can effectively communicate what he knows about language?