Language Literacy and Access to Content

Introduction

  • Lindsey Swanson from the Office of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education at CDE.
  • Topic: Language literacy and access to content.
  • Background: Taught bilingual education in Houston, Denver, Eagle, and Argentina.
  • Experience at CDE: Seven years.
  • Two bilingual learners (children aged three and five).
  • Focus on variations of literacy, early concepts of print, and engaging with print and text.
  • Drawing from research and personal experience.

Housekeeping

  • Access to Google Drive folder (link provided).
  • Padlet for saving resources related to language literacy and English learners (link provided).

Workshop Overview

  • Morning: English language acquisition basics and the role of culture in literacy development.
  • Afternoon: Five components of reading for English learners and strategies to support ELs.
  • Applicable to elementary, middle school, and secondary teachers.
  • Addressing phonics and word study for secondary students.
  • Read Act introduction for non-K-3 teachers.

Participant Roles

  • Acknowledging impact of content teachers on language and literacy.
  • Goals for the Day
    • Examine the role of culture in literacy development and its impact on instruction.
    • Develop an understanding of how learning to read in English differs for native speakers and ELs.
    • Identify effective strategies for improving reading instruction.
    • Discuss the five essential components of reading.

Breakout Group Activity

  • Cooperative learning activity adaptable across content areas and grade levels.
  • Consideration of language proficiency levels and backgrounds when grouping students.

Google Drive Instructions

  • Document with instructions for the breakout room session.
  • Breakout Room Session Instructions document.

Jamboard Activity

  • Discuss: Does culture matter in reading instruction? Why or why not?
  • Reflect silently and use sticky notes to type thoughts.
  • Questions for reflection:
    • Does culture matter in reading instruction? Why or why not?
    • How does literacy instruction for English learners differ from literacy instruction for native English speakers?
    • What are the research-based components of strong reading instruction?
    • What strategies will make my literacy instruction more effective in meeting the needs of English learners?
  • Instructions for using sticky notes on the Jamboard.
  • Ten minutes for individual response, followed by seven minutes to look and respond to others, and three minutes for small group discussion.

Breakout Room Sharing

  • Sharing big moments or discussions from teams.
  • Question about whether recent college grads receive training in instructing students with different languages.
  • Requirement for teachers in teacher prep programs in Colorado to receive training in supporting English learners.
  • Focus on differentiating for linguistic and English learners in college and teacher prep programs.
  • Strategies used for English learners are impactful for all students.
  • Secondary teachers may lack formal training in teaching reading.
  • Free PD for K-3 teachers through the READ Act.

English Language Development (ELD) Programs

  • ELD: Explicit language instruction differentiated based on language proficiency levels.
  • Co-teaching or SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocols) models.
  • Dedicated and targeted time reflected in the master schedule.
  • Objective centered on English language skills and development.
  • Aligned to the SELF (Colorado English Language Proficiency Standards) or WIDA standards.
  • Not literacy intervention (should be provided separately if needed).
  • Not translated texts in content classes (translation can be a temporary support).
  • Not a full-day program separate from non-English learner peers.
  • Not an elective (required by law for identified English learners until redesignated).
  • Not something separate outside the school day.

Learning vs. Acquiring a Second Language

  • Learning Approach: Focus on grammar rules, rote memorization, and explicit instruction.
  • Acquisition Approach: Focus on authentic communication, meaningful context, and implicit learning.
  • Teacher role: Facilitator in acquisition, director in learning.
  • Student role: Active participant in acquisition, passive recipient in learning.

L1 vs. L2 Acquisition Chart.

  • L1: Primary Language, L2: Second Language
  • Sentence frames for discussing the chart.
    • "A key point that stands out to me is…"
    • "A new question I have is…"
    • "This makes me wonder…"
  • Timeline of language acquisition affected by age.
  • Exposure to oral and written language, explicit instruction.
  • Importance of continuing to interact with L1 at home.

Cummins Dual Iceberg Theory

  • Surface structure and deep structure of language.
  • BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) and CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency).
  • Cognitive structure of language below the surface.
  • Oral and written expression above the surface.
  • Learners must be provided with appropriate language to express what they already know.
  • Practicing pronunciation and vocabulary in L2.
  • Analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating in L1.

Comprehensible and Compelling Input

  • Comprehensible Input: New messages and language through context.
  • Compelling Input: Content so interesting that students forget it's in another language.
  • Creating enough scaffolds and supports to dive into the text.
  • Lowering the affective filter.

Affective Filter

  • Negative feelings, lack of motivation, self-confidence, anxiety act as barriers.
  • Creating a welcoming environment to lower the affective filter.

Comprehensible Input Video

  • Teacher demonstrates lesson with and without comprehensible input strategies.
  • Strategies used: repetition, visual demonstrations, gestures, visual aids, slowing down.
  • Strategies to support English learners: visuals, exemplars of scaffolded notes, teaching vocabulary, annotations with Google Docs.

Language Acquisition

  • Build language for English learners is really supportive for all kids in the class
  • Connecting new language to existing knowledge.

Role of Culture in Literacy Development

  • TED Talk: The Danger of a Single Story.
  • Relate to English learners and literacy.
  • Discussions on the importance of diverse literature for students see themselves in literature, creating a safe environment.
  • Acknowledging and addressing personal biases as instructors.

Contextual Factors in Second Language Acquisition Article

  • Read the article with a partner.
  • Highlight significant sentences, phrases, or words.
    • Discuss key points and questions.
  • Using sentence frames.
    • "A key point that stands out to me is…"
    • "A question that comes to mind when I read this is…"
    • "One idea that I found interesting was…"

Implications

  • Honoring dialects.
  • Addressing students feeling like they have to give up linguistic/cultural background.

English Learning and Reading

  • Poll: Is learning to read the same process for English learners and non-English learners?
  • Brain research shows that learning to read in a language with alphabetic orthography such as English is very similar for English learners and for English speakers.
  • Important to simultaneously need that additional instruction and support in learning the English vocabulary that they're expected to learn to read.
  • Claude Goldenberg (Stanford): Studies ELs and the science of reading.

Five Components of Reading

  • Phonological awareness.
  • Phonics and word study.
  • Reading fluency.
  • Vocabulary.
  • Reading comprehension.
  • Oral language skills.

Scarborough’s Reading Rope

  • Word recognition strands:
    • Phonological awareness
    • Decoding
    • Sight recognition.
  • Language comprehension strands:
    • Background knowledge
    • Vocabulary
    • Language structures
    • Verbal reasoning
    • Literacy knowledge

Phonological Awareness

  • Producing, identifying, isolating, and manipulating units of spoken language.
  • Awareness of units of speech.
    • Spoken words
    • Syllable awareness
    • Alliteration
    • Rhyming
    • Onset rhyme
  • Phonemic awareness: Awareness of speech sounds.
  • Practicing some of those skills in another language and then teach them.
  • Help students to hear the words.

Pronunciation

Caution Not to practice or spend too much time working on pronunciation. we want to make sure we're valuing individual accents and use of English and then acknowledge that we all have our own voice and pronunciation.

  • Pictures of brief definitions to provide context.

Language Resources

  • Omniglot: Language profiles.
  • How to give Support with how English is different