Specialized Literacy Strategies for English Learners WABE Annual Conference / Yakima / April 21, 2017 ANDREA QUIGLEY, ELL SPECIALIST, BELLINGHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS PATTY FINNEGAN, BILINGUAL EDUCATION SPECIAL PROJECTS PROGRAM SUPERVISOR Specialized Literacy Strategies for English Learners by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Specialized Literacy for ELs What is it? Instructional design and collaboration to support ELs through the complexity and increased cognitive load of learning two language registers and becoming proficient readers and writers in English. 2
Why Specialized Literacy for ELs? Data on Current EL Literacy Achievement OSPI Performance Indicators Data & Analytics http://www.k12.wa.us/dataadmin/performanceindicators/dataanalytics.aspx 2016 SBA ELA Grade Met Standard (ELs) Met Standard (All) 3 21% 55% 5 19% 61% 7 10% 60% 11 8% 33% 3
Why Specialized Literacy for ELs? Research on EL Reading Development Instruction in the essential elements of reading will have greater impact on decoding and fluency for ELs than on comprehension. Focused oral language support is required to develop comprehension for ELs (August & Shanahan, 2006; Lesaux, Crosson, Kieffer, & Pierce, 2010) Explicit instruction in academic language and multiple opportunities to practice content-related discourse in the learning environment (Dutro & Kinsella, 2010; Gottlieb & Ernst-Slavit, 2014) 4
Why Specialized Literacy for ELs? Research on EL Reading Development Authentic task-based practices to support comprehension and skill transfer (Lightbown & Spada, 2006) Learning opportunities that integrate language across subject areas (Saunders, et al., 2013) Design language and content objectives for each lesson and share with students (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2012) 5
Why Specialized Literacy for ELs? Research on EL Reading Development Recognizing student s native language skills as assets to transfer knowledge and skills to English (Escamilla et al., 2013; Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass, 2005) Use of native language scaffolds build greater brain density in areas related to language, memory, and attention which increase comprehension in English (Moughamian, Rivera, & Francis, 2009) 6
Turn & Talk What does literacy instruction for ELs look like in your school or district? 7
Challenges to Implementing Specialized Literacy Strategies Complexity of language learning models Identifying and implementing research-based interventions Difficulty to assess fidelity of implementation Differentiation 8
The PLUSS Model Pre-teach critical vocabulary Language modeling and opportunities for practice Use visuals and graphic organizers Systematic and explicit instruction Strategic use of native language and teaching for transfer 9
Benefits Critical elements of effective instruction Implemented across all tiers of instruction Simpler to plan, remember Provides consistency and fidelity 10
Pre-teach Critical Vocabulary 11
Language Modeling and Opportunities for Practice 12
Use Visuals and Graphic Organizers 13
Systematic and Explicit Instruction Explanation, Demonstrate, Guided practice, Independent practice 14
Strategic Use of Native Language and Teaching for Transfer Synonym in L1 Preview entire lesson in L1 15
Turn & Talk What resonates with you? What are your take-aways? Pre-teach critical vocabulary Language modeling and opportunities for practice Use visuals and graphic organizers Systematic and explicit instruction Strategic use of native language and teaching for transfer 16
Feedback & Questions? Patty Finnegan Patty.Finnegan@k12.wa.us 360-725-4468 Andrea Quigley andrea.quigley@bellinghamschools.org 360-223-6473 17