Applying the Research to
Elementary and Middle
Grades Classrooms
Diane August, PhD
Copyright © 2006 Center for Applied Linguistics
Adaptations to the
District’s Basal Reader
Skills and Activity Chart
Guided
Reading
Day 1
Story Tomás and
the Library Lady
pp. 285-294
Day 2
Story Tomás and
the Library Lady
pp. 295-305
Day 3
Day 4
Work sheets
See Day 3 and Day 4
Lesson Plan
Extra Work
Sheet
Activities
See Day 3 and Day 4
Lesson Plan
Assessment
Skill: McGraw-Hill
Reading PRACTICE
p. 225- Main Idea
McGraw-Hill Reading
RETEACH
p. 225
EXTEND: p. 225
McGraw-Hill Selection
Assessments
p. 105-108
Study Skill: McGrawHill Reading
PRACTICE
p.222- Read a Library
Floor Plan
Extra Skill
Homework
Supplement
ary
Materials
Day 5
Week 27 Day 1
Echo Reading
ELMO Chart
Dolch Words
MacMillan
Glossary
McGraw-Hill
Reading
PRACTICE
A Pet for my Pet
pp. 220a and 220b
Week 27 Day 2
Echo Reading
ELMO Chart
Dolch Words Day 2
My Phonics Word
Book
SAILL SAFARI
Activity Sheet
McGraw-Hill Teaching
Chart/ ELMO Chart
188
Teaching Chart 185
Activities to Build Oral
Language
• Glossaries for Dolch words and vocabulary
introduced in the basal that include
pictures
• Read-aloud of the stories with questions
prior to students’ reading on their own
– Use of ESL techniques such as pointing and
demonstrating
– Defining words in context
– Higher order questions combined with partner
talk
Glossary for Vocabulary
Introduced in the Basal Reader
borrow
___________
What might you borrow from your friend?
I borrow books from the library.
desert
___________
The desert is very hot and sandy.
evenings
___________
The family eats dinner in the evenings.
Dolch Glossary
Picture
Word
bread
___________
farm
___________
car
___________
Sentence
I heat my bread in the toaster.
The cow lives on a farm.
What other animals would you find on a farm?
The car is on the street.
Guiding Questions for Interactive
Reading: Part 1
Page No
Page 287
Page 288
Teacher script
Why did Tomàs spend the winters in Texas and the summers
in Iowa? [Anticipated response: His parents were farm
workers who worked in Texas in the winters (because Texas
has a warm climate and food grows in the winter there) and in
Iowa in the summers.]
Tomàs was very thirsty. Let’s pretend we are thirsty like
Tomas and do what he told his Mother he would do: Let’s
drink a large glass of cold water in large gulps. Now let’s
suck on the ice, and pour the last drops of water on our faces.
Does the family live in a house by themselves in Iowa?
[Anticipated response: No, they share a house with other
workers.]
Look at the picture on p. 289. What are the boys doing?”
Why is the ball they are playing with made out of an old teddy
bear? [Anticipated response: They are playing ball. Their
mother made a ball for them out of the teddy bear because the
family could not afford to buy a real ball.]
Guiding Questions for Interactive
Reading: Part 2
Page 291
Page 292
Page 294
PARTNER TALK: Tell your partner the story about the man in the forest.
[Anticipated response: On a windy night a man was riding a horse through a
forest. The wind was howling and the leaves were blowing. All of a sudden
something grabbed the man and scared him. He was too scared to look at what
was holding him, so he stayed like that all night. In the morning he saw that it was
just a thorny tree.]
How could a thorny tree hold you? [Anticipated response: Thorns are like sharp
needles that can catch onto clothes, etc.]
Let’s pretend we are Tomàs counting the stairs in Spanish: Uno, dos, tres,
cuatro.
Why did Tomàs’ mouth feel full of cotton? [Anticipated response: Because he
was very nervous, and it can happen when you are nervous that your mouth dries
up, as if it’s full of cotton.]
Point to the librarian.
Let’s pretend we are the dinosaurs that Tomàs is reading about. Let’s bend our
long necks and lap up shiny water.
Why did Tomàs forget about everything—the library lady, Iowa and Texas when
he was reading in the library? [Anticipated response: Because when you read a
book, you can become very involved in what you are reading, as if you are a part
of what is happening in the book. In this way, you can forget about where exactly
you are.]
Questions to Build
Comprehension
• Addition of student worksheets to
build comprehension of the story, to
replace comprehension worksheets
produced to accompany the basal
Safari: part 1
7. How long was Tomás at the library? How do you
know? [Page 296]
8. What did the library lady say every time Tomás
went to the library? [Page 297]
9. What did Tomás teach the library lady? [Page
298]
–
–
–
Tomás taught the library lady some Spanish words.
Tomás taught the library lady how to ride a bike.
Tomás taught the library lady how to pick vegetables.
10. What main event happens on page 300?
Safari: part 2
11. Why do you think Papá Grande now calls Tomás the “new
storyteller”? [Page 302]
12. Put T for true if the sentence happened in the story.
Put F for false if the sentence did not happen in the
story. The first one has been done for you.
__T__ Tomás’s parents work in the farm fields.
____
Papá Grande loves to hear Tomás read stories in English.
____
Tomás does not like the library lady. She is not very friendly.
____
The librarian shows him books that bring his imagination to
life.
____
Papá Grande is known to be the worst storyteller in the family.
TAKS Questions
A Pet for My Pet
1. The child in the story borrowed a cage for the lizard because –
o
o
o
o
the lizard liked to climb into the closet
the lizard was sad
the family was going on vacation
the lizard liked cages
2. In this story, the word cool means –
o
o
o
o
good
calm
a little cold
exciting
A Pet for My Pet: cont.
3. Which of these is a FACT in this story?
○
○
○
○
The lizard had a long, thin tail.
The lizard ate lots of insects.
The lizard liked his pet.
The lizard fell asleep on the way to the beach.
4. What is this story mostly about?
○
○
○
○
It is about the weather in the desert.
It is about the food that lizards like to eat.
It is about a pet lizard and its owner.
It is about a long drive.
5. Which of these happened first in the story?
○
○
○
○
The family drove to the beach.
The lizard seemed sad.
The child borrowed a cage for the lizard.
The dad left the hotel.
Read-Alouds of Authentic
Children’s Literature and
Expository Text
Components of the ReadAloud-Narrative Text
• Pre-teaching ‘Tier 2’ words, post-teaching of basic
words and ‘other words and phrases’
• Interactive Reading
– Other words taught in context
– Meaning made clear through demonstration, pictures,
paraphrasing
– Questions to create the opportunities for accountable
talk
– Modeling of and practice predicting, summarizing,
inferring meaning
Key Word Card – side 1
BOLD
Word 3 – Bold
Image 2
Here is another picture of bold.
Partner talk: turn to your partner and talk about why this picture demonstrates the word
bold.
Ask one or two pairs for their response.
[Anticipated possible response: the girl is bold, as she let the snake be wrapped around her neck;
the girl is not afraid of doing dangerous things, like holding a snake.]
Key Word Card – side 2
BOLD
Word 3 – Bold
Image 1
Now, let’s look at a picture that demonstrates the word bold. This person [point to the
parachutist in the picture] is bold. He is jumping with a parachute, which means he is not
afraid of doing risky things.
Basic Word Card
Word 3 – Tomato slices
TOMATO
SLICES
Teacher Talk
This is a picture of of tomato slices. Tomato slices are pieces of a
tomato that are cut with a knife. People put tomato slices on
sandwiches and salads. When you cut a tomato into slices, it looks like
this: [Demonstrate what it would look like to slice a tomato.] Let’s all
pretend to cut tomato slices. Remember, we only use a knife when we
are with an adult!
I am going to say tomato slices and then I want you to repeat it with me
– tomato slices– tomato slices – tomato slices.
Other Words and Phrases Card: Side 1
Week 29S – Other Words and Phrases
Word 2 – Might
MIGHT
Other Words and Phrases Card: Side 2
Teacher Talk
2. Might
In English, if you say something “might” happen, then maybe it will
happen or maybe it won’t. It might.
En español, “might” indica posibilidad. Por ejemplo, si alguien dice: “It
MIGHT snow tonight” quiere decir que puede ser que nieve esta noche;
es decir que hay posibilidades de que nieve, aunque también es posible
que no nieve.
This picture demonstrates the word “might.” The little frog [point to the
frog in the picture] might jump out from under the rose petal, or he
might stay there for awhile longer.
If I say, “I might come home late tonight,” what does that mean?
Call on One Child
[Anticipated response: It means that I maybe I will come home late, or
maybe I will not—I am not sure.]
Partner Talk
Imagine that we put a skeleton of a dinosaur’s bones together, and then
put muscles, skin and eyes on the skeleton to make it look real. We can
then say, “This is what the dinosaur might have looked like.” Why do
we say “might?” Why can’t we be sure that that’s what the dinosaur
really looked like?
Teacher Talk
Ask one or two pairs for their response.
[Anticipated responses: We can’t be sure because no human being has
actually ever seen a dinosaur. We can only guess what they might have
looked like by putting together what remains of them.]
Repeat after me: Might; might; might.
Interactive Reading, Narrative Text
Teacher Talk
When we read Once there was a Tree, we saw how so many insects
and animals shared a single tree stump. Are people always as good at
sharing as animals are, do you think? This is a story about a village of
people who learn something important about sharing.
[Read the title and the author/ illustrator’s name.]
Page 1
There was once a comfortable little village nestled in the mountains [point to the
houses and the mountains].
Movement
Cup one of your hands and pretend it is like the mountains. Find
something small on your desk, and nestle it into your cupped hand.
Your hand is like a soft shelter for it like the mountains are for the
village.
The people who lived there had more than enough to keep themselves content.
Call on One Child
What word in this sentence tells you that the people in this village
have enough to be happy or satisfied?
[Anticipated response: Content.]
Look at the two characters who are approaching the village [point to
the two people walking toward the village.] Do they look as well off or
wealthy as the people in the village probably are? Why not?
[Anticipated response: No, their clothes look ragged.]
Interactive Reading, Narrative Text
One day two travelers came along. Their coats were tattered. Their hats were torn.
Their dusty shoes had holes in their soles.
Hungry and tired, one traveler said to the other, “Surely someone here can
spare a bit of food.”
Call on One Child
How do we know that the travelers are poor?
[Anticipated response: Their coats were tattered or ragged; their hats
were torn; and they had holes in their dusty or dirty shoes. They were
also hungry.]
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
They knocked boldly on a door.
Movement
Let’s pretend we are the travelers. Let’s knock boldly on the door!
We are bold; we aren’t afraid of what the woman will say to us
[demonstrate a fearless expression].
It creaked open and a woman asked, “What do you want?”
“Please,” said one of the travelers, “we are hungry. Do you care? Will you
share? Do you have any food?”
Teacher Talk T Let’s say that together: “Do you care? Will you share? Do you have
any food?”
Components of the ReadAloud-Expository Text
• Pre-teaching words that cross-cut grade-level
science curriculum (e.g. observe, explore,
measure)
• Use of expository text aligned with grade-level
content standards, in our case Foss science
• Introduction of a simple experiment to give
students hands-on experience with the concept
• Guiding questions
• Similar techniques as narrative text, with domain
specific words taught in context
Interactive Reading, Expository Text
Call on One Child
Earlier, we read the first part of Pebbles, Sand, and Silt. We learned
what rocks look like, what minerals are, and how rocks change. Then
we observed rocks and learned information to help us answer the
question: How are the pictures of rocks in the books different than the
rocks we observed? How are they the same? What did we learn?
[Anticipated response: Answers will vary according to the types of rocks
you used. Accept all reasonable answers.]
Call on One Child
CALL ON ONE CHILD: We have already read two stories about
rocks called Rocks In My Pockets and Stone Soup. In both of those
stories, rocks are very important. The characters use rocks for a lot
of different things. Who can tell me some of the ways the characters
use rocks?
[Anticipated response: The two travelers in Stone Soup find a rock on the
ground and put it in a pot as the first ingredient in their soup. The family
in Rocks In My Pockets puts rocks in their pockets to keep the wind from
blowing them away. They also warm rocks in the fire then put them in
their beds to keep them warm in the winter. The children, Tommy and
Jenny, play with the rocks, and the adults like to “worry” the rocks in their
pockets. The family also sells the rocks.]
Explanation
Just like the characters in Rocks in My Pocket and Stone Soup, we use
big and small rocks for a lot of things. We’re going to read about
those things today.
Interactive Reading, Expository Text
Overarching Question
Teacher Talk
As we read, we are going to listen for information that will help us
answer this question:
How do people use rocks?
[Write the question on the board before the lesson]
Page 16
Making Things with Rocks
People use rock to make things.
Call on One Child
CALL ON ONE CHILD: What kinds of things do you think people make
with rocks?
[Anticipated response: Answers will vary, but might include buildings, walls,
and clay sculptures.]
A quarry
is a place where people dig rock out of
the earth.
Explanation
CALL ON ONE CHILD: [Point to the quarry picture on page 16.] Look at
the picture of this quarry. People in the quarry get big rocks by splitting
big pieces of stone from the rest of the rock. They also bring sand, gravel
and other materials from lakes, rivers and streams into the quarry.
Then they sell those rocks to other people who use them to make things.
Let’s say quarry together three times: quarry – quarry – quarry.
Page 17
Big pieces of rock are used to make
big things. Statues and churches are
often made from rock. People make
things out of rock because it is strong.
Call on One Child
CALL ON ONE CHILD: [Point to the pictures on page 17.] Here is a
picture of a church and the Lincoln Memorial, which is a giant statue in
Washington, DC, built to help people remember President Lincoln.
They are both made of rock. What other kinds of buildings can be made
of rock?
[Anticipated response: castles, houses, etc.]
Teaching Language and
Literacy in the Context of
Science: Project QuEST
10 classrooms in five middle
schools in south Texas
Components of Project
QuEST
• Start with sound science instruction
– Develop a lot of hands-on experiences aligned with state
standards and text
• Ensure comprehension through lab work, bilingual
instructions, bilingual glossaries, partners
• Build language through partner work, glossaries
• Develop strategies for word learning—cognates, base words,
word roots
• Guided reading following hands-on experiences to expose
students to academic vocabulary, build oral language, and
comprehension
• Ongoing student assessment
Outline of Daily Activities
Week Six, Day One
Topic: The Cell Environment
Introduction
• Student Activity A (10 minutes): Vocabulary Quiz.
• Student Activity B (10 minutes): Warm-up: Diffusion –
Molecules in Motion.
Application
• Student Activity C (10 minutes): Measure and record
circumference and mass of eggs.
Wrap-Up
• Student Activity D (6 minutes): reexamine the warm-up
experiment.
• Student Activity E (4 minutes): Review Academic Word Glossary
homework.
Example of Bilingual Student Lab
Group Work, Task #1
Trabajo en Grupo, Tarea #2
INDIVIDUAL MICROSCOPE LAB
Laboratorio Individual del Microscopio
Choose one or two objects from the list below and look at them under the
microscope using a wet mount. Using the space below record your object, then
draw what you see and write the total magnification under low, medium, and high
power.
Escoge uno o dos objetos de la lista de abajo y míralos por el microscopio utilizando
una platina húmeda. Usando el espacio de abajo escribe el objeto, luego dibuja lo
que ves y escribe la ampliación total debajo de poca, media y mucha luz.
Objects: human hair, animal hair, string, yarn/ Objetos: cabello humano, cabello animal, cuerda, hilo.
Object 1/ Objeto 1
_____________________
Low Microscope Power
Microscopio de Poca Luz
Total Magnification/ Ampliación
Total: _____________
Example of Academic Words Glossary
adequate
adecuado
Adequate means good enough.
This man is shivering because he is not wearing
adequate clothing for the cold weather.
Adecuado significa apropriado para las condiciones o
circunstancias. Algo que es suficiente.
Your sentence:
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
concentrated
concentrado
Concentrated means brought together in one place.
Most of the tall buildings are concentrated in the
downtown area of the city.
Concentrado significa reunido en un mismo lugar.
Your sentence:
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
Example of Technical Words Glossary
Diffusion is a process in which molecules move from an area
of high concentration (a lot of molecules) to an area of low
concentration (not a lot of molecules). When you put
_______________ cream in coffee it diffuses through the coffee.
Difusión es el método principal por el cual pequeñas
moléculas se mueven dentro y fuera de las células. Durante
la difusión, las moléculas se mueven de un área de mayor
concentración (muchas moléculas) a un área de menor
concentración (menos moléculas).
______________
Picture:
Molecules are particles that are made of two or more atoms
bonded together. Water molecules have 2 hydrogen atoms
combined with one oxygen atom.
Las moléculas son partículas que están hechas/ formadas de
dos o mas átomos unidos. Las moléculas de agua tienen 2
átomos de hidrógeno combinados con un átomo de
oxígeno.
Example of Graphic Organizer
for Vocabulary
Living
Things
Cognates, Part One: Cognate
Hunt
There are 11 cognates in this paragraph. One is a false cognate. Find them
and circle them.
On their way to the moon, Apollo 8 astronauts looked back and saw a bright blue
globe. At that moment, they became the first people ever to see earth as a planet.
Their photographs demonstrate something we know, but is hard to believe. We are
all moving through space. Our spaceship is the earth; it moves around the sun at
67,000 miles an hour.
Cognates, Part Two: Letter
Differences
Read the Spanish words in the list below. Next to each Spanish word, write its English cognate from the
passage.
Spanish Cognates
English Cognates
1. astronautas
__________________________
2. momento
__________________________
3. planeta
__________________________
Cognates, Part Three: Sound
Differences
Some cognates sound more alike than others. Circle the number for each cognates to
identify how alike or not alike the sets of cognates sound.
4= Sound exactly alike
2= Sound similar
3= Sound slightly different
1= Sound very different
Astronaut / Astronauta
Sounds completely
different
Sounds slightly
different
Sounds similar
Sounds exactly
alike
1
2
3
4
Sounds completely
different
Sounds slightly
different
Sounds similar
Sounds exactly
alike
1
2
3
4
Moment / Momento
Guided Reading, Teacher Lesson
A cell membrane is usually permeable to substances such as oxygen, water, and
carbon dioxide. On the other hand, the cell membrane is usually not
permeable to some large molecules and salts. Substances that can move into
and out of a cell do so by one of three methods: diffusion, osmosis, or active
transport.
A 3: Name some things that can easily permeate the cell membrane.
(Oxygen, water, and carbon dioxide can permeate the cell membrane.)
O: Name some things that cannot easily permeate the cell membrane.
(Large molecules and salts cannot permeate the cell membrane.)
Have students answer Key Question #1 in their student charts.
Key Question 1: How does the structure of the cell membrane relate to its
function?
(The cell membrane is structured so that substances can only move into and out
of a cell by either diffusion, osmosis, or active transport. The cell membrane’s
structure does not allow all substances to pass through it.)
Guided Reading, Student Activity
A 3. Name some things that can easily permeate the cell membrane.
_____________, water, and carbon dioxide can ___________ the cell membrane.
Key Question 1: How does the structure of the cell membrane relate to its
function?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Questions? Comments?
Questions? Comments?