EAL Newsletter March, 2014 Please share this newsletter with interested colleagues. For suggestions, ideas, input, contact Jayesh Maniar at 204-788-0203 ext. 303 or via e-mail, [email protected]. Eight Strategies for Teaching academic Language objectives. These words are critical to students' successful processing of academic tasks and on standardized tests. Adapted from Todd Finley’s Blog, http://www.edutopia.org/ blog/8-strategies-teaching-academic-language-todd-finley Teaching Academic Language Academic language requires that students move away from social language, with its more simplistic grammar and Anglo-Saxon vocabulary (body, chew, mellow), to a more sophisticated grammar with Greek and Latin words (aesthetics, ctenophore, heuristic). However, students should be taught to look at and through both registers. "Think in terms of uncovering the subject -- that is, making the ways of using language and the ways of thinking in the subject explicit to your students," writes Pauline Gibbons, the author of three books in the field of English language education. Understanding Academic Language Academic language is a meta-language that helps learners acquire the 50,000 words that they are expected to be familiar with by the end of high school and includes everything from illustration and chart literacy to speaking, grammar and genres within fields. Think of academic language as the verbal clothing that we don in classrooms and other formal contexts to demonstrate cognition within cultures. There are two major kinds: instructional language ("What textual clues support your analysis?") and language of the discipline (examples include alliteration in language arts, axioms in math, class struggle in social studies and atoms in science). No student comes to school adept in academic discourse -- thus, thoughtful instruction is required. Where to Start It would be a mistake to think that academic language is a garbage pail category involving any word, depending on the context. A banana daiquiri is a fine adult beverage that most first graders cannot define, but is not an example of academic language. Nor do Tier 1 words such as and or house fit the category, although these basic words are important to teach EAL learners. If you are new to incorporating academic language into your lessons, a good place to begin is with Tier 2, high-frequency, general instruction words (such as paraphrase, summarize, predict and justify) that learners need to know for completing an activity, but that are not a lesson's primary learning 8 Specific Strategies 1. Encourage Students to Read Diverse Texts: Reading and then thinking and talking about different genres is a robust sequence for learning academic language. 2. Image credit: iStockphoto Introduce Summary/ Sentence Frames: Students read a section of text to them- selves before verbally summarizing the passage to a partner. Alternatively, learners can complete sentence frames -- guides for summarization. Here are some examples among many others: If the main idea of the paragraph is problem/solution, use the frame: "_____ wanted _____ but ______ so ______." If the main idea of the paragraph is cause/effect, use the frame: "_____ happens because ______." 3. Help Students Translate from Academic to Social Language (and Back): Model how to say something in a more academic way or how to paraphrase academic texts into more conversational language. Provide students with a difficult expository passage and have teams reinterpret the text using everyday language. 4. Have Students Complete Scripts of Academic Routines: Some discourse routines seem obvious to adults, but are more complex than NASA for young learners unless you provide scaffold- ing, like these speech examples: "The topic of my presentation is ______." "In the first part, I give a few basic definitions. In the next section, I will explain ______. In part three, I am going to show ______." 5. Winter Field Trip Ideas Word Pointillism EAL Learners may benefit from these winter field trip ideas. Perhaps when it is not so bitterly cold, they may enjoy being outdoors or playing in the snow. One technique of pointillism painting involves using repetitive words to represent colours of parts of a painting. This system can help enhance vocabulary by visual and repetitive use of a word. Some examples are: Dynamically Introduce Academic Vocabulary: Repeated encounters with a word in various authentic contexts can help students internalize the definition. They also benefit when teachers use the word in a funny or personal story. Show a short video from VocabAhead that features 300 SAT words and categorizes vocabulary by grade level. 6. Help Students Diagram Similarities and Differences: When stu- dents generate a list of similarities and differences between words and complete a Venn diagram, like this one comparing and contrasting moths and butterflies, they are working with one of Robert Marzano's high-yield instructional strategies. 7. Have Students Write with a Transition Handout: Formal aca- demic writing challenges students of all ages. Before students write, give them a handout of transitions. Model where these transitions fit and describe how they help convey the message to the reader. 8. Teach Key Words for Understanding Standardized Test Prompts: Kechia Williams teaches 10 Terms that help students understand prompts and ace standardized tests. For many of our students, outdoor winter activities may be a new experience. Preparatory and follow-up activities will provide a safe and an enjoyable field trip as well as give opportunities to enhance communication using rich, descriptive language. Some suggestions:  Ice skating  Cross-Country Skiing  Tobogganing  Winnipeg Jets Hockey  Fort Gibraltar  Fort Whyte Alive  Assiniboine Park Zoo  Historical tour—Exchange District  Arctic Glacier Winter Park (the Forks)  Red River Mutual Trail  Little Mountain Park—limestone quarry  Winter golf (use red ball) Other activities may include: Millennium Library:  Winnipeg Folk Festival (in the Library) - March 8 at 1:30 pm  Book to Movie Days: March 16 at 2 pm: The Pianist  Skywalk Concerts/Lectures: March 12 and 13 at 12:10 pm Please contact Millennium Library for more information.