By: Mary Campbell
&
Mariella Duarte
EXC-ELL
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
THE THREE
COMPONENTS:
Vocabulary, Reading, &
Writing
VOCABULARY
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)
MORE EXAMPLES
Small Talk
Sweet Talk
Talk Shop
Talk in Riddles
Talk your Ears off
Talking to a Brick Wall
Spit it Out
Pep Talk
Talk your Way Out of It
EXAMPLE IN CONTEXT
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.
HOW TO TEACH
VOCABULARY
1.) Select Vocabulary to pre-teach before
presenting the content, teacher read aloud, or
student reading of any text
2.) Teach vocabulary using 7 steps with ample
student interaction
3.) Students read, discuss, and write using the
new vocabulary
7 STEPS TO PRE-TEACHING
VOCABULARY
1.) Teacher says the word
2.) Teacher asks the students to repeat the word 3 times
3.) Teacher states the word in context from the text
4.) Teacher provides the dictionary definition(s).
5.) Teacher explains the meaning with student-friendly
definitions
6.) Engage students in activities to develop word/concept
knowledge
7.) Highlight grammar, spelling, polysemy, etc.
7-STEPS IN CONTEXT
1.) Teacher says the word
2.) Teacher asks the students to
repeat the word 3 times
3.) Teacher states the word in context
from the text
4.) Teacher provides the dictionary
definition(s).
5.) Teacher explains the meaning
with student-friendly definitions
6.) Engage students in activities to
develop word/concept knowledge
7.) Highlight grammar, spelling,
polysemy, etc.
1.) Continent
2.) Ask students to say the word
Continent three times
3.) Antarctica is a very cold continent
4.) 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 continent
6.) 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?
READING
READING
Before Reading
Hook the Reader
Build Background
Connect with Prior
Knowledge
Pre-Teach Vocabulary
Implicitly
Preview Text with Students
Set Purpose for Reading
READ ALOUD & THINK
ALOUD?
Why should you do Read Alouds in Secondary?
1.) It Builds Fluency
2.) Models Self-Correction
3.) Models Fix It Strategies
4.) Extends Comprehension
5.) Teaches more Words
*Make sure to select shorter readings that are
more in-depth!
SAMPLE READ 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.
PARTNER READING
Echo Reading
1-2-1
#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.
SPONGE ACTIVITIES
Partners discuss what they learned
Map out main ideas or critical elements
Find word meanings they don’t know
Work on their word banks
Give each other spelling pre-test
Practice formulating questions from the reading
Work on pronunciation of new words
Write about the reading
Play word games
ROUND TABLE
1.) Put students into heterogeneous groups
2.) SW clear their desks, except for one piece of
paper and pencil for the whole group
3.) Each student writes an answer and passes the
paper to the right
4.) 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)
QUESTIONING
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)
EXAMPLES OF
QUESTIONS
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 reading
Level 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
WRITING
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.
MODELING 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
PRACTICING
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.
WRITE AROUND
 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
DOOR PRIZES
QUESTION #1
What are the three components of ExcELL?
Answer: Vocabulary, Reading, & Writing
QUESTION #2
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 #3
Name one way to integrate writing into your
lesson as a quick assessment
Answer: Data Journal, Exit pass, Free Write,
etc.
VISITING OUR WIKI
SITE:
CMS 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!
THANK YOU!