You Don't Need More: Find the Language Opportunities in Your Lessons

Teachers often ask: "Is scaffolding the same as teaching the ELD Standards." The simple answer: No. To be clear, scaffolded instruction is good for all students (especially for our English learners) and it is essential to universal design for learning (UDL). Teaching the ELD Standards, however, asks teachers to focus on how language works. Since all lessons are language rich, we have a great opportunity to teach ELD Standards in every class.

This post is about how we can start to see what I call "language opportunities" in the lessons we teach. We don't need more curriculum to teach ELD standards! We need to see our current curriculum with a different lens.

First, consider the types of texts used in your class. Do you use novels, textbooks, primary sources, graphic novels, technical documents, editorials, articles on current events, etc.? Next, think about what your texts offer in the way of language. Here are some examples.

• text features (heading, subheadings, graphics, captions, illustrations)
• paragraphing and paragraph structure
• transitional language
• metadiscourse (language that helps announce, order, organize, express attitude, and soften claims)
• sentence structures (complex and compound)
• Tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary (See image below)
• arguments
• evidence
• rhetorical patterns
• other language functions and patterns

Knowing your texts and reading them before the lesson is critical to teaching the ELD standards. Creating opportunities for students to read the texts in your content area is also essential. Let me explain. Sometimes, teachers will read a text, analyze it, synthesize the information, and re-present it on slides. There are many reasons for this. Sometimes the text is dense and challenging to read. Other times, there isn't enough time for a full reading lesson. Although these are all good reasons for not asking students to dig into texts, think about what students gain if they engage in reading texts in the discipline and do the "heavy lifting.".

• Explore more, rich vocabulary
• Learn different text types and structures
• Analyze and evaluate how language works
• Increase exposure to how professionals in the discipline communicate
• Engage in critical thinking

Finding the language opportunities

I like to start with a single sentence or paragraph and ask, questions like:

• "What do I notice the writer doing?"
• "How is the writer sharing ideas, connecting ideas, or leading me through the text?"
• "What will the writer say or do next? How do I know based on the language?"  

These three simple questions can be used as a lens for you and your students to analyze language in a text. Why should we study language in a text? Because that is a key component to the ELD standards. As students become proficient at analyzing and explaining how language works, they will begin to transfer that knowledge to their own writing. 

Here is one anecdote. I was teaching junior AP at EL Cajon Valley High School--an inner city school with over 50% language learners. All year, I helped my students identify and analyze strong verbs in the texts we were reading. Toward the end of the year, my students turned in an analytical paper. I remember reading Fibronia's essay. It was well written. Her language was concise and clear. When I returned the essays, I pulled Fibronia aside and asked her why she used so many wonderful verbs. She used over 20 strong verbs. Her response: "All year, you have been saying 'verbs, verbs, verbs,' so I used strong verbs in my writing." I was so excited. First, a student listened! Second, my relentless pursuit of strong verbs and my expectation that students learn why and how they are used paid off. My student had started using strong verbs in her own writing. Success!

Let's keep the conversation going. Ask questions in the comments below or share how you help students analyze language in the text you read.