Helping to Reach our LEP Students

By: Mary Campbell &

Mariella Duarte

Helping to Reach our

LEP Students

What is Exc-ELL? It is an evidence-based instruction model for

intergrating academic language, literacy, and content domain knowledge

Basically, its focus is on learning by reading and writing using academic language.

It is NOT something extra you need to do in your classroom. It is a set of tools that make

teaching content easier

EXC-ELL

THE THREE COMPONENTS:

Vocabulary, Reading, &

Writing

VOCABULARY

How to Select Words to Teach:

Select words outside of the bold ones in the text. Focus on

polysemous words (words that have multiple meaning and can be used

outside of the text. Example: State)

VOCABULARY

Small TalkSweet TalkTalk Shop

Talk in RiddlesTalk your Ears off

Talking to a Brick WallSpit it OutPep Talk

Talk your Way Out of It

MORE EXAMPLES

One gray winter day the elderly queen summoned all her grandchildren to the castle. “I have been fortunate to have lived a long life,” she said. “But in time your generation will rule the

country. You must work persistently to help the people and take care of the

land.”“We will always work hard,” the

children replied.“You must also be faithful to your

brothers and sisters, no matter what,” the queen said.

EXAMPLE IN CONTEXT

1.) Select Vocabulary to pre-teach before presenting the content, teacher read aloud, or student reading of any

text2.) Teach vocabulary using 7 steps

with ample student interaction3.) Students read, discuss, and write

using the new vocabulary

HOW TO TEACH VOCABULARY

1.) Teacher says the word2.) Teacher asks the students to repeat the

word 3 times3.) Teacher states the word in context from

the text4.) Teacher provides the dictionary

definition(s). 5.) Teacher explains the meaning with

student-friendly definitions6.) Engage students in activities to develop

word/concept knowledge7.) Highlight grammar, spelling, polysemy,

etc.

7 STEPS TO PRE-TEACHING VOCABULARY

1.) Teacher says the word2.) Teacher asks the students

to repeat the word 3 times3.) Teacher states the word in

context from the text4.) Teacher provides the dictionary definition(s). 5.) Teacher explains the

meaning with student-friendly definitions

6.) Engage students in activities to develop

word/concept knowledge7.) Highlight grammar,

spelling, polysemy, etc.

1.) Continent2.) Ask students to say the word

Continent three times 3.) Antarctica is a very cold

continent4.) Any one of the seven large continuous land masses that

constitute most of the dry land on the surface of the earth

5.) Point to Antarctica on the globe and indicate that it is a

continent6.) Ask students to show you the continent they are currently in,

and which continent their relatives have come from.

7.) Is continent a cognate with your language?

7-STEPS IN CONTEXT

READING

Before ReadingHook the ReaderBuild BackgroundConnect with Prior

KnowledgePre-Teach Vocabulary

ImplicitlyPreview Text with

StudentsSet Purpose for

Reading

READING

Why should you do Read Alouds in Secondary?

1.) It Builds Fluency2.) Models Self-Correction3.) Models Fix It Strategies4.) Extends Comprehension

5.) Teaches more Words*Make sure to select shorter readings

that are more in-depth!

READ ALOUD & THINK ALOUD?

From one day to the next, weather can have a big effect on your life.

When it rains, you have to stay indoors or carry an umbrella. When

it’s cold, you have to bundle up. Over the course of hundreds,

thousands, and millions of years, weather trends affect life on Earth in more dramatic ways. Ice ages or long droughts, for example, can wipe out certain types of plants and animals.

SAMPLE READ ALOUD:

Echo Reading1-2-1

#1’s are the native speakers#2 is the newcomer or struggling student

Student 1 reads a sentence. Student 2 repeats. Other Student 1 reads a new

sentence. Student 2 repeats. Continue.

PARTNER READING

Option 2: Partner A reads. Partner B helps.

Partner A retells what happened in the first paragraph. Partner B adds details (The

person who reads the page always retells.) The teacher leads a short discussion of the

page to check comprehension. As part of the discussion, partners share a word that was difficult for them and the strategy they

used to read it.

PARTNER READING

Partners discuss what they learnedMap out main ideas or critical elementsFind word meanings they don’t know

Work on their word banksGive each other spelling pre-test

Practice formulating questions from the reading

Work on pronunciation of new wordsWrite about the reading

Play word games

SPONGE ACTIVITIES

1.) Put students into heterogeneous groups2.) SW clear their desks, except for one piece of paper and pencil for the whole

group3.) Each student writes an answer and

passes the paper to the right4.) Everyone must write an answer

5.) Continue this process until time is called

ROUND TABLE

Give students one minute to look over a text with vocabulary or key concept

Groups should have about 1 minute to take turns writing a word or word cluster from the text

Stop the students after 1 minute Have groups count how many words and word clusters that

they have (for word clusters, count every word. Example: Over the course of hundreds of years = 7 words)

Give students another minute to look over the text. Have students put their heads together to come up with a

strategy to improve their team total Repeat the same activity and have groups try to beat their

first score (this is great to build fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and to practice rereading carefully)

ROUND TABLE

Have students create questions or tasks based on the Bloom’s Taxonomy

SW make up the questions and assignments based on what they learned throughout the unit or just in a week. It is a great activity for ELL’s (English Language Learners) because it allows

them to critically think about the text and encourages them to read, reread, and reread

again to make up their own questions and assignments. ( Let me know if you would like a spreadsheet of all of the Bloom’s Levels like the

example table above)

QUESTIONING

Example: Unit: Insects

Level 1: Knowledge/ Remembering = What is an example of an insect?Level 2: Comprehension/Understanding = Describe the parts of an

insect. Draw and label an example of an insect.Level 3: Application = Explain the difference between an insect and a

worm.Level 4: Analyzing = Categorize different types of insects based on the

readingLevel 5: Evaluate = Judge the life of an insect. Would you want to be an

insect? Why or why not?Level 6: Create = Make a 3D model to show the features of an insect and how it lives in its natural habitat or Make a play with dialogue

where you impersonate and think about the challenges you would face as an insect

EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS

WRITING

Students should be writing for a specific purpose every day! Some great ways for students to assess student’s

comprehension quickly are: Data Journal: SW summarize what they learned today and highlight

vocabulary or key concepts Ticket out the Door/ Exit Pass: Ask students a simple question based on

the lesson. This can be a concept, vocabulary, strategy, all of the above, etc. Students can write these on an index card, stickey note, or a blank sheet of paper. You can quickly glance to see if they got it. Keep track

of these exit passes to track students’ growth throughout the year. Creative Writing: Have students write a story of their choice using the

vocabulary words or to explain a concept (Let the students be as creative as they want. Example: if you are learning about water, have

students write an adventure story about a water droplet using vocabulary or write a mystery story about people who lived in ancient

Egypt.

WRITING

Modeling the Writing Process is one of the best ways to improve

writing skills.

Collaborative and Cooperative Strategies have proven to work the best for students learning English

MODELING WRITING

Give students regular practice with good writing skills. A great tool for this is to show a sentence or several a

day and allow students to make corrections. Example: miguel was gonna go to skool n help with the

Student fundRaiser but he overslept. This is only useful with repetition. Students should

share as a class to help all students writing skills. This exercise is also great because it makes students read,

reread, and correct. It is essential to start training students to practice reading what they wrote and

correct it. This is also great because it builds students critical thinking skills, necessary for EOGs/EOCs.

PRACTICING WRITING

Put students into groups of 3 or 4 Clear their desks except for pencil and paper.

Each student should have a pencil and paper Provide a sentence starter/ prompt or two and

let them choose:Example: Humans are the cause of global

warming due to… OR Nature is the cause of global warming due to…

Students will take turns adding a sentence and then passing the paper to the right

Students should continue adding on a sentence to the paper until time is called

WRITE AROUND

DOOR PRIZES

What are the three components of Exc-ELL?

Answer: Vocabulary, Reading, & Writing

QUESTION #1

What is a Read Aloud/ Think Aloud and why is good for Secondary students?

Answer: It is modeling how to think as you are reading. It is great because it

builds fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and teaches good

reading skills

QUESTION #2

Name one way to integrate writing into your lesson as a

quick assessment

Answer: Data Journal, Exit pass, Free Write, etc.

QUESTION #3

VISITING OUR WIKI SITE:

Our site is: http://whitewateresl.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/

home

Please feel free to stop in or observe my class to see any of

these strategies!

CMS WIKI SITE

THANK YOU!