Using the Cognitive Content Dictionary to Develop "Word Attack" Skills

Today we modeled the cognitive content dictionary from Project GLAD with English learners in a third grade bilingual classroom during ELD time. The students were at varying levels of proficiency in English, ranging from beginning to advanced levels.

We first wrote the words "ecologist" and asked students who had heard the words before (h) and who had not heard the word before (nh). Then we asked students to "put their heads together" in a cooperative group and make a prediction about the meaning of the word. We called on a representative to tell us what prediction their team came up with, and asked what clues they used to make that prediction.

As you can see in the picture, the first group predicted that the word ecologist meant "scientist". When we asked what helped them make that prediction, they told us that the word had the ending "-ist" and it reminded them of scientist. The second group informed us that they thought ecologist was a signal for something because they had heard us say by accident, "When you hear the word ecologist, I want you to..." The third group told us that they thought that the word meant "college" because it "sounded like the word college". Another group expressed a similar prediction stating that it must be a scientist who went to college. The final group informed us that they predicted that it meant "knowledge" because the part "olog" in the word sounded like the word "knowledge".

Throughout the lesson we read about ecologists and pointed out the word in poems and the book. Tomorrow we will ask students to tell us the meaning of the word and then we will conduct word analysis on the word, explaining that "eco" means "environment", "ologist/ology" means "one who studies __ or the study of ___", and "-ist" means "a person who".

From our initial modeling it was clear that the students already had word consciousness, because many of them noticed and analyzed the word parts in order to aid them in predicting the meaning of the word.
cognitive content dictionary, eld, english language development, project glad, glad strategies
Why do we write down predictions, even if they are not correct?
It's important that students begin to make their own predictions about words, based on context clues or morphological analysis of word parts. If we always give students the meanings to vocabulary, when will they ever learn to have the word attack skills necessary to predict the meanings of words? As teachers we need to sometimes explicitly tell students the meaning to certain vocabulary words, but at other times we also need to assist students with learning how to become "word detectives" and figure out the meaning of the word on their own. At times it is necessary for students to make their own predictions and later return to confirm and revise their predictions.
eld, eld standards, the cognitive content dictionary is an eld strategy, eld strategies, eld
Why is it important to ask about the clues that they used to make the prediction?
It's important to model with students that there are various clues that we can use when trying to figure out the meaning of an unknown word. It's important that students become sophisticated with looking for prefixes, suffixes, root words, cognates and context clues that enable them to make a prediction about the meaning of a word. This takes considerable practice and teacher modeling in order for students to appropriate "word attack" skills and become proficient enough to use it on their own when reading independently.

When using an ELD strategy such as the cognitive content dictionary with English learners, it helps to sometimes choose words that might have prefixes, suffixes, roots words, etc in order for students to develop practice with morphological analysis of words. When you first begin to use the strategy, students might not have the sophistication necessary to verbalize which clues they used used to make the prediction. In this event, teachers can prompt students by using the following examples:

• Does the word remind you of another word? Does it look like a word that you know?
• Have you seen the word somewhere before?
  
• Did someone tell you what they thought the word meant?
• Did you just make a "wild guess"?

With enough practice and teacher modeling, many students will begin to independently use word attack skills on their own in order to determine the meaning of unknown words.
The cognitive content dictionary is an ELD strategy that can be used during ELD for vocabulary development. ELD means English language development.

Literacy and Language Development Activities During the Week of Thanksgiving

It's that time of the year again when teachers can make a really great connection to students' home lives--Thanksgiving! I know that many might be on vacation during the week of Thanksgiving, but those who are not have the opportunity to make connections with their students and build literacy through the study of the theme of Thanksgiving. Teachers can try the following activities with their students in order to build literacy and language development:

1. Write a letter about what students are thankful for in their lives. Teachers should provide a model for students at the lower levels of ELD English proficiency. Teachers can also teach mini-lessons about letter writing, capitalization, punctuation, compound sentences and many other language objectives when teaching about letter writing. Make every second count! Just because students are having with holiday activities doesn't mean that literacy and language objectives shouldn't be taught!
2. Read aloud books about Thanksgiving to students. The local library or local bookstores will have tons of books about Thanksgiving. Read both nonfiction and fiction books about the holiday. Take the time to teach concepts of print, comprehension strategies and other mini-lessons about reading.
   
3. Ask students to orally share with their partners how they celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday in their home. Guide students (by showing a model) of how to write a paragraph about how they celebrate Thanksgiving in their home. Compile all of the paragraphs into a class book.
4. Chant and read songs, poems, and chants about Thanksgiving and related themes such as turkeys, pumpkins, and autumn. English learners will benefit from the oral language development and reading. In addition, teachers can teach English language development (ELD) mini-lessons about vocabulary, pronunciation, phonics, high frequency words, and many other literacy topics. Teachers can find poems on the Can Teach website, the Alphabet Soup website, the Apples4Teacher website, and many other websites.

Have fun and develop literacy!

Teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model

In the past I have written about the SIOP model (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol), an instructional model of sheltered instruction, English language development (ELD) and literacy for English learners. SIOP is a research-based instructional model that integrates all of the critical components of sheltered instruction as well as effective SDAIE strategies.

The SIOP model is clearly outlined in the book "Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model". As I mentioned before, the book is very powerful because it compiles all of the research-based components that are essential for the education of second language learners.

Now I have just found out the creators of the SIOP model also have published additional books about the SIOP model! Reading these books will further develop your understanding of the SIOP model and will assist you in it's implementation.

Here are some examples of additional SIOP books:

• 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model: This book is pretty explanatory! It includes 99 ideas and activities for each of the eight SIOP components. It's a further expansion of the smaller section in the original SIOP book about sample SIOP strategies.
• Making Content Comprehensible for Elementary English Learners-The SIOP Model: This book includes new classroom vignettes that were not in the original book. It also includes additional SIOP strategies, resources for English learners who are struggling readers, a review of writing content and language objectives, and a section on response to intervention within the SIOP model. A cd also comes with the book with video vignettes in an elementary classroom
• Making Content Comprehensible for Secondary English Learners-The SIOP Model: This book includes everything that I just talked about in the elementary book, except it has a focus on the SIOP model at the secondary level. This is a great resource for middle school and high school teachers who are teaching an English language development (ELD) class, a sheltered instruction class, or who have a class with English learners!!

But wait-it even gets better! When I have conducted a SIOP training, it is inevitable that math teachers sometimes feel that the initial SIOP book doesn't have enough examples, SDAIE strategies, and classroom vignettes with an emphasis on teaching math to English learners. Now SIOP has created a SIOP book with a specific emphasis on mathematics! The book is called "The SIOP Model for Teaching Math to English Learners". I recommend that math teachers first read the original SIOP book, but then the book with an emphasis on math is a second must-read!

You can read more about these books and some future books that will be published about the SIOP model in the ELD Strategies store!
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Must-Have Reads to Prepare for English Learner Certification/Authorization

A couple of weeks ago, Mary Ann Zehr on Ed Week asked her blog readers whether receiving their English learner teaching authorization was a way to keep their job in the pending economic crisis that is affecting many school districts. Over the past couple of weeks, I've seen an increase in teachers preparing to take some of the state tests that will provide authorization to teach English learners. A few teachers have expressed a bit of hesitation regarding taking the state test, because they feel that they are not necessarily prepared for the exam. So I have put together a must-read list of materials that will most definitely prepare you for state EL authorization exams. These books are also must-reads for any teacher of English learners who may already have their English learner teaching authorization!

• The Crosscultural Language and Academic Development Handbook: A Complete K-12 Reference Guide
•  Reading, Writing and Learning in ESL: A Resource Book for Teaching K-12 English Learners
• A Course for Teaching English Learners-(Do you notice the abbreviations on the cover "CTEL"? The CTEL is the state exam for English learner authorization in California-hint, hint!)

As a former classroom teacher and current teacher educator myself, I still continue to use these three books frequently in order to prepare my trainings for teachers. If you study these books, you will most definitely feel prepared for the state tests! 

Coming Soon:

I'm drafting a follow-up post about the SIOP model. I am specifically focusing on the following questions: What are language and content objectives? How can I teach language development when I am teaching Science and/or Social Studies content? 

Stay tuned!!

ELD Strategies Book Review Part Two:Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners-The SIOP Model

In a previous post, we provided an overview of the SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) model of sheltered instruction and English Language Development, or ELD. If you haven't read the first post, you might want to read it here before reading part 2.

In our last post, we provided an overview of the eight SIOP components, and briefly summarized the following components of SIOP:

• Lesson Preparation
• Building Background
• Comprehensible Input

In this post, we'll summarize the remaining five components of the SIOP model of instruction for English learners. 

Strategies

The strategies component emphasizes the following features: 1) metacognitive, cognitive, and social affective learning strategies; 2) verbal and instructional scaffolding techniques; and, 3) higher-order questioning.

Interaction

The interaction component is an essential feature of effective instruction for English learners, because students who are learning a second language need multiple opportunities to practice a second language with peers. The following features of interaction are discussed: 1) multiple opportunities to practice all four language domains (i.e., listening, speaking, reading and writing); 2) various grouping configurations (e.g., whole group, flexible small group, heterogeneous, homogeneous, partners, etc); 3) sufficient wait time; and, 4) clarification of key concepts in students' primary language.

Practice/Application

The practice and application component emphasizes the following features: 1) hands-on practice of learning with manipulatives or meaningful activities; 2) integration of all four language domains; and, 3) application of new learning in multiple ways.

Lesson Delivery

SIOP's lesson delivery component ensures that the following features are present in effective lesson design and delivery: 1) content and language objectives are supported during the lesson; 2) students are actively engaged in the lesson; and, 3) the lesson pacing is appropriate (i.e., not too fast, not too slow).

Review/Assessment

The review and assessment component emphasizes the review of key concepts and vocabulary. In addition, effective review and assessment consists of immediate, corrective feedback to students as well as formative and summative assessment.

If you are a teacher who is just starting out and learning about ELD and sheltered instruction, or if you are a teacher who has been around the block for a while...this book is applicable to you. The book packages all of the effective components of sheltered instruction in order to assist teachers in implementing quality ELD lessons for students. Purchase a copy today-you will not be disappointed!

ELD Strategies Book Review Part One:Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners-The SIOP Model

Today we'd like to discuss a really great resource for teachers of English learners, the book "Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model". This book is now in it's third edition, and the third edition is the edition to buy!

The SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) model is an instructional model of sheltered instruction and English language development for English learners. Sheltered instruction is a way to make grade-level academic content understandable and comprehensible to English learners while at the same time promoting English language development. There are a variety of instructional techniques that many people label as "SDAIE strategies" in the education community, but what the SIOP book does is package all of the research-based strategies into one instructional model. This book is indispensable for any teacher who is a teacher of English learners and/or English Language Development (ELD)!!

The authors have organized the instructional model into eight distinct components of sheltered instruction. The components are:

1. Lesson Preparation
2. Building Background
3. Comprehensible Input
4. Strategies
5. Interaction
6. Practice/Application
7. Lesson Delivery
8. Review and Assessment

For this article, we will outline the first three components. In a subsequent post the additional SIOP components and the SIOP protocol (i.e., the peer teaching/coaching self-reflective protocol sheet) will also be discussed. 

Lesson Preparation

The lesson preparation component is one of the most important components of effective sheltered instruction and ELD, but it sometimes tends to be the most neglected. Within the SIOP book, teachers will learn about the features that define the lesson preparation component. Such features include: 1) writing, displaying, defining and reviewing content and language objectives; 2) ensuring that lesson concepts are appropriate for the age and the educational background of students; 3) effective use of supplemental materials; 4) adapting content for students at all proficiency levels of language development; and, 5) providing meaningful opportunities for students to practice the language and content. 

In a few upcoming posts, we will specifically answer the following questions: 

• What exactly are content and language objectives? What are some concrete examples? 
• Why should teachers integrate content and language objectives?
• What are some examples of language objectives? How do I know which language objectives to choose when teaching a content lesson?

In a nutshell, teachers need language objectives in order to develop students' language skills during content instruction. In other words, language objectives can help a teacher teach ELD and English literacy through such content areas as Science, Social Studies, etc. Stay tuned for future posts about content and language objectives!

Building Background

Activating prior knowledge and building background are extremely important components of the teaching and learning process. The SIOP book discusses the following features of building background: ) explicitly linking concepts to students background experiences and previous learning; and, 2) developing high levels of academic vocabulary.

Teachers will learn about a variety of instructional strategies designed to build background knowledge and enhance academic language development. In one of our future posts, we are planning on discussing some of the following questions:

• What exactly is "academic language"?
• How is the SIOP building background component similar to Project GLAD's focus and motivation component? How can these two complementary models be used together to increase the academic achievement of English learners? 

Comprehensible Input

We often hear the phrase "comprehensible input", but what exactly does it mean? All English learners need comprehensible input through the use of specific strategies that are designed to make cognitively complex concepts accessible and understandable to students. Teachers sometimes provide comprehensible input through pictures, realia, sketches, total physical response, pictorial input charts (i.e., a Project GLAD strategy), etc. The SIOP book also discusses the following components of comprehensible input: 1) using speech that is appropriate to students at various English proficiency levels; 2) clearly explaining and modeling classrooms tasks; and, 3) using a variety of techniques to make content comprehensible to students at all English proficiency levels. 

Stay tuned in the future for some posts featuring effective comprehensible input strategies. We also plan on outlining the similarities between the SIOP comprehensible input component with Project GLAD's input component. 

If you plan on purchasing the SIOP book, please purchase it through our ELD Strategies Amazon store. All proceeds will be used to purchase additional books for future book reviews!! We appreciate your support!

eld, english language development, systematic eld, english learners, eld strategies, eld activities, eld standards, eld lessons, eld lesson plans, project glad, glad strategies, siop

Effective Vocabulary Instruction for English Learners

There's a lot of talk lately about teaching vocabulary and the necessity of teaching vocabulary for reading comprehension and academic development. While we are not refuting that all students need explicit vocabulary development, we have seen that vocabulary development has become such an isolated teaching skill in some cases that students won't have a deep understanding of the vocabulary words taught. 

Vocabulary instruction for English learners needs to be highly contextualized, meaning that it must be taught in the context of meaningful instruction. It defeats the purpose to have a "word of the day" that may be isolated from anything that students are learning. There is a really great book that we recommend by Robert Marzano, Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools. In the book, Marzano outlines eight principles of academic vocabulary development:

1. Effective vocabulary instruction does not just consist of giving students a definition of the word, or having students look up the definition of a word in the dictionary. Students should be exposed to the word many times in the context of meaningful instruction and teachers should provide a study friendly definition of the word.
2. Students should be able to express their knowledge of the words through both "linguistic and nonlinguistic representations". This may include drawing, pictures, graphic organizers, acting the word out, etc.
3. Effective vocabulary instruction includes multiple exposures to certain words across a variety of contexts. In order for students to retain a word in long term memory and have an in-depth understanding of words, students must be exposed to words in books, writing, etc. It is not enough to discuss a word once or twice and assume that students will have completely understood the word.
4. Students need to be taught the morphology of the word, which includes prefixes, suffixes, and root words. An excellent resource for prefixes, suffixes and other words parts is the ESL Teacher's Book of Lists.
5. Different types of words need a different method of instruction. Some words require more direct instruction than others.
6. Students need to be given opportunities for students to discuss the words that they are learning. Project GLAD defines this as opportunities to have "comprehensible output"; many of Project GLAD's guided oral practice strategies offer multiple opportunities to use vocabulary in meaningful ways.
7. Students should play with words through games and other fun activities.
8. Students should be taught words that have a high chance of raising academic achievement. Marzano has put together essential lists of key vocabulary words per school subject that students need to learn. Another valuable resource for teachers is the ESL Teacher's Book of Lists and the Vocabulary Teacher's Book of Lists. 

What Does This Look Like in the Classroom?

Let's take a second grade example regarding important people in the community. We looked at the state standards, and looked through the Social Studies textbook that students were using for key academic vocabulary that we wanted to teach students. We wanted to make sure that students were exposed to the vocabulary in multiple ways, so we employed many strategies designed to provide multiple exposures to certain words. One strategy that we used was a cognitive content dictionary (a Project GLAD strategy). 

Next we read the textbook and other books with students in order to expose the vocabulary words to students. If our chosen vocabulary words were not in the given books, then we strategically used them with students in our discussions of the texts.

The next strategy that we employed was the use of songs, poems and chants to facilitate vocabulary development. We created a few poems with many of the same vocabulary words in each poem. After presenting the poems once to students, we then asked the students which words they thought were high-level words and we highlighted the words that they identified.

Here's another poem:

We also used a couple of other poems that can be found here. In addition to these strategies, there are many other strategies such as shared/modeled writing, pictorial input charts, that could have been employed as well.

In our next post, we will highlight a few more strategies that can be used with this heroes/important people unit in order that students retain the academic vocabulary in their long term memory.

We've got to go beyond the traditional pictures/drawings/realia that we often hear of when discussing the education of English learners. What are some other strategies that you use to teach vocabulary in context?

March Updates

I just wanted to keep everyone updated about some things that I've been busy working on. On March 31, 2009 we will have the raffle for the Project GLAD book, and I will post the winner here. I also have some great prizes planned for the upcoming months.

I haven't posted much because I have been working on a piece about vocabulary development that I will be posting soon. I wanted to discuss how we can teach vocabulary in context as opposed to isolated vocabulary drills, multiple exposure to vocabulary, etc. I've been taking a bit of time to complete the post because I was working on creating some poems, songs and chants with the vocabulary and taking pictures of the strategies. 

Thanks to those of you who have purchased some of the materials out of our store!! The proceeds will go back into getting some books that I would like to review here for readers. Have you ever bought a book for teaching and then either realized that it was too simple or you didn't like it? Well, I most definitely have and I want to assist teachers in purchasing books that are going to be useful to them.

ELD Strategies Web Resources: Project Connect

One great web resource for ELD is the Project Connect website developed by the Orange County Office of Education. The site has a matrix of the ELD standards, with corresponding strategies and activities that are appropriate for the different English proficiency levels and language development strands. In addition to the matrix, there is an additional page of various strategies that pertain to English language development and sheltered instruction. The list of strategies includes a mini-introduction with links for additional information. A few of the strategies have links to quicktime mini-video clips that demonstrate some of the strategies. We just wanted to share this web resource with you and hope that you find it useful in some way!!

Thanks for joining us!! 

Effective ELD Instruction: Project GLAD

Project GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) is an effective instructional model for teaching English Language Development (ELD). The Project GLAD model is based on the extensive research-base of second language acquisition, brain research, and effective literacy practices for English learners. GLAD is a standards-based ELD instructional model that promotes high levels of academic language and academic achievement for students at all levels of English proficiency.

The Project GLAD training is an intensive seven-day training. The first two days consist of an overview of the instructional model, including the research base and the backwards planning process of creating a Science or Social Studies ELD literacy unit. During the two day training, teachers also learn about the components of the Project GLAD ELD model as well as multiple effective strategies within each component. Project GLAD is organized into four components:

• Focus and Motivation
• Input
• Guided Oral Practice
• Reading/Writing

The focus and motivation component of the GLAD ELD instructional model consists primary of strategies designed to build background knowledge, motivate students, activate prior knowledge, and enhance academic language. The input component consists of various comprehensible input strategies that enable teachers to provide core content instruction to students at all proficiency levels in a comprehensible and understandable way. The guided oral practice component provides multiple comprehensible output strategies designed to promote the development of academic language. The reading and writing component highlights effective reading and writing strategies that can be taught whole group through teacher modeling, small group cooperative team opportunities, small group teacher instruction, and independent activities. 

After the two-day training, the GLAD model consists of an additional five days of demonstration lessons. Participants are able to observe one of the Project GLAD presenters teaching a GLAD unit to a class of English learners, while another Project GLAD presenter is coaching participants. Teachers view the classroom demonstration each morning, and the afternoon sessions are designed for debriefing, reflecting on the morning classroom demonstration, and planning of a Project GLAD unit.

Project GLAD is one of the most powerful and academically challenging ELD instructional models out there. It provides intensive professional development to teachers of English learners, and one of the best things about the training is that teachers will be able to see the strategies being taught in action! When teachers are able to see the strategies being demonstrated with students, it makes all the more sense to them.

We'll be blogging more about Project GLAD in upcoming posts. For those of you who have been Project GLAD trained or who have had exposure to the instructional model, what are some of your experiences? If you have any questions about the Project GLAD model or about this blog in general, please feel to comment or email us your questions because we would like to make this blog as interactive and useful to teachers as possible.

Thanks for visiting us!!!

eld, english language development, systematic eld, english learners, eld strategies, eld activities, eld standards, eld lessons, eld lesson plans, project glad, glad strategies, siop 

What is English Language Development (ELD)?

English Language Development (ELD) is an instructional model designed to systematically develop the English language proficiency of English learners (i.e., students who speak English as a second language). ELD instruction emphasizes the development of all four language domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing. 

During the ELD instructional block, instruction is differentiated in order to meet the needs of students who are at various levels of English language development. There are five different English proficiency levels within the second language development continuum: 1) Beginning proficiency level; 2) Early Intermediate proficiency level; 3) Intermediate proficiency level; 4) Early Advanced proficiency level; and, 5) Advanced proficiency level. Instructional techniques and language development expectations will vary depending upon each student's particular needs as well as their respective English proficiency levels. 

NCLB accountability requirements for English learners stipulate that students should master one English proficiency level per year. This requirement is consistent with the second language acquisition research-base which demonstrates that students typically need five to seven years in order to achieve academic fluency in English. 

ELD standards have been adopted by the California Department of Education, as well as other states.  A sample of the California ELD standards can be found here. The ELD standards are aligned with the state-adopted English Language Arts (ELA) standards and consist of the following strands of English language development:

• Listening and Speaking
• Reading Word Analysis
• Reading Fluency and Systematic Vocabulary Development
• Reading Comprehension
• Literary Response and Analysis
• Writing Strategies and Applications
• Writing Conventions

The state-adopted ELD standards range in spans from grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The ELD standards are designed as differentiated performance expectations for students as they develop their proficiency in English and works towards mastery of the grade-level English Language Arts (ELA) standards. The ELD standards are differentiated expectations of the English Language Arts standards for students at each of the five levels of English language proficiency.  

The Wested organization has created a teacher-friendly alignment of the English Language Arts (ELA) grade-level content standards and the ELD standards. Wested's Map of Standards delineates the connections between English Language Arts and English Language Development standards in an easy to use format. The Map of Standards is organized in a "side-by-side" format, with the English Language Arts and English Language Development standards placed on the same page in order to visually view the connection between the standards. You can view a sample reading comprehension page from the grades 3-5 Map of Standards here. 

We recommend that teachers take advantage of this valuable resource because it can be a tool utilized for planning effective ELD lessons. The K-5 Map of ELD Standards can be purchased here for a minimal price:

The Map of ELD Standards is also available in a 6-12 format: