Scaffolding Academic Language:
A Tool for Success!
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*Magdalena Ruz Gonzalez,
Project Director III
*Leolyn Boyer, Independent
Consultant
*
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To support English Learners’ access to
academic language with
“A Tool To Scaffold Instruction for
English Learners”
*OUTCOMES
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WHAT DO ENGLISH
LEARNERS, ACADEMIC
LANGUAGE, AND
THE COMMON CORE
HAVE IN COMMON?
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ACADEMIC LANGUAGE AND
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
Academic language provides:
Ways to understand concepts
(labels, categories, descriptors, etc.)
Ways to discuss and write about
concepts (describe, compare, etc.)
Focused, explicit academic language instruction
and support is critical for
EL
success.
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STRUCTURING COHESIVE TEXTS
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EXPANDING AND ENRICHING IDEAS
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CONNECTING AND CONDENSING IDEAS
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ACADE
MIC
LANGUAGE
*Purposes
*Text Types
*Grammatical
Language
Patterns
*Word Level
Understanding
*
Purposes
These relate to student interactions and
products:
*Active Verbs
*Bloom’s Taxonomy
*Webb’s Depth of Knowledge
TEXT TYPES
*Text Types and their corresponding structures must be
taught so that students understand how different texts
are organized, and how they support meaning. Teachers
analyze texts to determine what linguistic scaffolds are
needed. Various text types are identified in the ELD
Standards.
Examples:
*Informational Text= Tables and Diagrams
*Poetry= Stanzas
Grammatical Language
Patterns
Analyze how texts are grammatically structured to
determine linguistic scaffolds and examine language
patterns at these levels:
*Text Level Understanding-of text types, associated
features, structures and can apply it in their writing.
*Sentence and Clause Level Understanding-guided to
unpack “dense sentences” focusing on meaning by
DECONSTRUCTING SENTENCES, then, RECOMBINING
IDEAS.
*Phrase Level Understandings-use of noun phrases,
adjectives, embedded clauses, etc.
Word Level Understanding
*Morphemes and word families
*Nominalization to change word function and
collapse phrases and clauses
*Domain Specific Vocabulary
*General/Support Vocabulary
*Cognates
General Support Vocabulary:
signal/transition words
at
although
away from
above all
into
however
in spite of
since
as a result
and/or
1 Narrative Text
1 Argumentative Texts
1 Literary text
1 Informative Text
1 Recount
1 Procedural Text
1 Explanatory Text
1 Response to Literature
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COMPLEX TEXT AND
INFORMATIONAL DENSITY
• Understanding the structures of sentences, paragraphs,
and the text contributes to comprehension.
• Understanding layered and cultural messages contribute
to comprehension.
• Internalized awareness made explicit through
modeling, guiding, scaffolding, and discussion.
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UNPACKING COMPLEX ACADEMIC
TEXTS: SCAFFOLDS
Instruction at the micro-levels (moment-by-moment)
and macro-levels (planned) are critical for
comprehension.
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STRUCTURE
*Sequence of steps, focuses on audience in general,
basic structure includes: goal, material, method
FEATURES TO FOCUS ON
*Use of headings, subheadings, diagrams,
identification of target audience
*Use of active/passive verbs, conjunctions, timeless
present tense, imperatives, specific vocabulary
*TEXT TYPE:
PROCEDURAL TEXT
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*
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*Remembering:
*Expanding Level, DOK 1, P. 2
*Question:
*Can you explain what is determined each year?
*Sentence Frames:
*The first step is determine a new depreciation rate
followed by dividing the number 1 by the total
number of unused years remaining in the recovery
period at the beginning of the next tax year and
the rate is applied.
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*
*Remembering:
*Emerging Level, DOK 1, p 3
*Strategies: L1 using Google Translate
*Es relativamente fácil de averiguar su modificación acelerada
recuperación de costos deducción del sistema bajo el método
de línea recta. En primer lugar, una nueva tasa de
depreciación se determina para cada año en el periodo de
recuperación. En segundo lugar la Línea de Cambio recta se
determina dividiendo el número 1 por el número total de
años restantes no utilizados en el periodo de recuperación a
principios del próximo año fiscal. La tasa seaplica a la base
no recuperada de la propiedad. Si el periodo restante a
principios del próximo año es menor que el de un año,
entonces la tasa de línea recta para ese año es del 100%.
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*
 Remembering:
Bridging, DOK Level 1, p. 3
Products: Test Items
1.What is the sequence for determining your MACRS?
2. Describe the Straight Line Rate applied to the
unrecovered basis of the property.
3. When do you use 100% of the Straight Line Rate?
4. Have you ever used MACRS? Under what
circumstances?
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5. Apply MACRS to another example
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*YOU TRY IT!
1.
Work in a triad to develop Questions,
Sentences Frames, Strategies and Products
for two text types from the ELA Text
Exemplars provided.
1.
Use two different levels of scaffolds but
make sure you address all levels of English
proficiency.
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http://mas.lacoe.ed
u
562-922-6332
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