Scaffolding Language
and Learning to
Support ELLs
EWSIS Staff Meeting
Monday, January 24, 2011
2:55 pm - 3:40 pm
Connecting Activity
Read the bulleted items on the
checklist
Check off the items you do regularly
Count up the items you checked off
Raise your hand when the number
of items you checked off is called
Scaffolding* to Support
R-W-L-S & Language
scaffolding:
(a) temporary support - visual, written, oral, tactile –
that allows a learner to complete a task;
(b) without the scaffold, the learner would not be
able to do the task independently;
•
(c) scaffolding is gradually removed as learners
develop skills, knowledge, language and can do
tasks independently
As a family, EW can support our ELLs in
and out of the classroom by scaffolding.
Together Everyone Achieves More!
•
Office staff can simplify speech, restate, and speak
at a slower speed when addressing an ELL.
•
Non-teaching staff can scaffold oral and written
materials; create word walls for key words used in
their work; use pictures and charts to support
delivery of important information; reinforce
information with tactile demonstrations.
•
Administration can provide oral, visual, written, and
tactile scaffolds modeling for staff and students.
Today’s PD:
What are we doing/can we do as a
school to scaffold learning for ELLs?
Purpose: to discuss (1) how we are scaffolding
language and learning; (2) how we are providing
access to information; (3) how we are maintaining
high expectations for all learners
Process: review, provide overview, engage in
content area teams to discuss the how, why, and
what of scaffolding a text or student task
Product: content area team charts - possibilities
for scaffolding a student task or text
Scaffolding 101!
Visual scaffolds:
pictures, word walls,
charts, timelines, calendars...
Written scaffolds: sentence frames and
starters; outlines; graphic organizers; word
banks; step-by-step directions; how ‘to’
flowchart...
Oral/Auditory scaffolds: simplification,
repetition, elaboration, slower speed,
avoidance of slang and idioms, use of music...
Tactile scaffolds: realia, manipulatives...
How do I decide
what and how to scaffold?
The what: content & information;
from vocabulary to procedures...
The how: depends on the level of
language proficiency of your
learners; background knowledge of
your learners; what you already
know your learners can do
independently; and what the task is
asking a learner to know and do
How can content and meaning be
visually represented to provide
learners access to the content?
pair word with picture and provide prior
to reading a text with that term, e.g.:
cuneiform writing
artifact
How can written scaffolds
support learners?
simplified text can be more comprehensible;
excerpted text can be less challenging; written
structures model, show how, ...
written supports take many forms
Oral/Auditory Scaffolds...
introduce new terms using choral
repetition to provide model of
pronunciation and have students
practice
rephrase challenging ideas by using
simpler language or elaborating by
adding more information that
defines or explains and by giving
examples
Tactile Scaffolds...
gestures
realia
What scaffolding will
support our ELLs?
TABLE ACTIVITY: Your task as a T.E.A.M.:
Review the ELL profile: proficiency level, etc.
Review the task or text
Review what students need to know and be
able to do to complete task/text successfully
Create a charted table with scaffolding ideas
for each category (if applicable)
Present charted ideas to the whole group
Reflecting
Orally & In Writing
•
ORALLY: What are you taking away
from today’s PD?
•
ORALLY: How will you use what we
did today to support the ELLs in our
school?
•
In Writing: Please take a few
minutes to complete the FourSquare Reflection