StrategiesforTeachingContent andLanguagetoEnglish...

Strategies for Teaching Content and Language to English Learners

Mary Lou McCloskey Janet Orr Lydia Stack Gabriela Klečková

McCloskey, Orr, Stack, Kleĉková (2010) Strategies for teaching Content and Langauge 7/2015 2

A. Strategies for Teaching Content and Language to English Learners

1. 3-‐2-‐1 Summary 2. 5 Senses Chart (GO) 3. Anticipation Guide 4. Café Talk 5. Cause/Effect (GO) 6. Concrete Found Poem 7. Continuity Scale [time, importance, excitement...](GO) 8. Cooperative Sentences 9. Creating Imagery 10. Character Sociogram 11. Culture Map (GO) 12. Drawing Conclusions 13. Drawing with Words 14. Literature Circles 15. Main Idea (GO) 16. Making Inferences (GO) 17. Narrative Text Structure (GO) 18. Numbered Heads Together 19. Paired Reading 20. Partner Prediction 21. Personal Dictionaries 22. Persuasive Essay Sandwich (GO) 23. Point of View/Character Chairs 24. Problem-‐Solution (GO) 25. Question-‐Answer-‐Response (QAR) 26. Quickwrite 27. Read, Retell and Summarize


28. Reciprocal Teaching 29. Reporter’s Outline (GO) 30. Sequence (GO) 31. Think, Pair, Share 32. T-‐List/Matrix/Table (GO) 33. Venn Diagram (GO) 34. Word Sort 35. Word Square 36. Word Web (GO)

B. References


3-‐2-‐1 Summary As the name suggests, this is a strategy that allows learners to create a brief, 3-‐part summary of a text/reading material (Levine & McCloskey, 2008; Saphier & Haley, 1993). The three levels of the task represent three levels of comprehending and conceptualizing a story (remembering facts, connecting events, and determining theme/main idea), and help learners to develop the key academic skill of summarizing. Target learning strategies: analyzing theme, style and connections; writing a short summary

Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners, Interacting with Text, and Extending Understanding

Language Levels: All

Procedure: 1. Before students read a text, introduce the 3-‐2-‐1 summary form below,

which they will complete after the reading. 2. As they read, remind students to keep the summary in mind. 3. After students have finished the text, have them work alone or with a

partner to return to the text to find the information and create the summary. Once the charts are completed, guide students to share their observations with one another in small groups. Have groups select favorite responses that they will share with the larger group.

4. Elicit sample answers from the whole class to conclude the activity. For a future review lesson, make a list of the questions students ask about the text and of the things students would like to learn more about.

3-‐2-‐1-‐ Summary

3. Write three important details in the story. 1. 2. 3.

2. Write two events in the story that are connected to one another (e.g., hint at the beginning points to the ending, how a character changes from the beginning to the end.)

1. 2.

1. Write one statement or question about the meaning or main idea of the text; or one thing you would like to learn more about after reading the text.

1.

Example:


A Five Senses Chart by __________________

Sense

Example (Quote the author’s words in the text)

Sight

Hearing

Touch

Taste

Smell

5 Senses Chart

A Five Senses Chart is a graphic organizer that helps students discover and understand how an author uses the senses in writing to make a text more vivid or real. Readers study a piece of writing -‐-‐ usually fiction or poetry -‐-‐ to find examples of authors’ uses of references to the five senses. Learners can also use a similar chart to plan their own figurative writing.

Target learning strategies: imagery; note taking; figurative writing

Lesson Stages: Interacting with Text, and Extending Understanding


Procedure: 1. Choose a fiction selection

or a poem rich with sensory imagery.

2. After reading the piece, point out examples where the author refers to the senses.

3. Ask students to reread the text closely to locate more places where the author refers to the senses. Ask them to quote the words the author used in the appropriate box in the graphic organizer. (Under “hearing” and “touch,” they might put the quote: “Every bee that ever was/was partly sting and partly...buzz” (Prelutsky, in Wilner, 1977)).

4. In small groups, have readers take turns reading a quote, while others tell which sense is evoked. Then readers tell why they made the choices they did. “This quote is about touch because you can feel the sting of the bee.”


Anticipation Guide An Anticipation Guide is a way for learners to make predictions about a reading to prepare for further study (Green, 1995). Before they read, students agree or disagree with statements about the text they will read. As they read and after reading, they check back to see how the text answers the questions and if their answers were right.

Target learning strategies: use an advanced organizer; distinguish fact and opinion



Procedure: 1. Prepare an anticipation guide by writing 6 (or so) true/false statements about

the text to be read. Use two basic types of statements: first, list the “big ideas” found in the text; second, state opinions or predictions about important supporting ideas, concepts, or events in the selection.

2. Before they read the selection, ask students to copy the chart and complete the “you” column of the Anticipation Guide individually by writing “T” if they think the statement is true or “F” if they think the statement is false. They should be ready to explain why they answered as they did.

3. Have learners find a partner and compare and discuss their answers. 4. After reading the story, students respond to the statements again in the “text”

column. This time they base their answer on information found in the text. 5. Students discuss the answers, checking with the text to support answers. Example:

Anticipation Guide Title: Baseball in April, “The Marble Champ” Author: Gary Soto You Text Statement F F Everyone can play sports equally well

F T Marbles is a sport F T Girls can play marbles as well as boys can F T Girls can beat boys at the sport of marbles


Café Talk

English Learners view visual texts and respond both in writing and orally. This can be used to prepare the learners for what they are going to read or to review what they read.

Target learning strategies: use an advanced organizer; distinguish fact and opinion

Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners and Extending Understanding


Procedure: 1. Select four pictures about the topic of the lesson 2. Tape the pictures, facing out, on to a large piece of chart paper. 3. In groups of four, ask students to write about the picture in front of them for one

minute. 4. Turn the chart. Ask students to read what is there, respond and write more about

the new picture. 5. Continue until students have responded to and written about each picture. 6. Ask students to discuss all the pictures.

� Who is in the pictures? � What are they doing? Why? � Who is missing? Why?


Cause and Effect English learners need to conceptually understand how one event can cause another (Zwiers, 2004). Cause-‐effect graphic organizers help readers see the relationship of an episode and the events that led up to that episode. Learners can use these organizers as both a note-‐taking and a pre-‐writing aid.

Target learning strategies: directed attention; reviewing key ideas and details; understanding cause/effect relationships



Procedure: Model the process with an example from a previous reading: 1. First, select a cause-‐effect relationship sequence in the story. 2. Next, discuss with students the relationship between the causes and the effect. 3. Write the effect in the box marked “effect”. 4. Write the causes leading up to that event in the “causes” boxes. 5. Make a concluding statement about the cause and effect and write it in a box

across the bottom. 6. When students understand the process, have them work in small groups or as

individuals to make cause-‐effect charts of their own about readings or to prepare for writing.

Example:

Cause-‐Effect Chart Title: Science Friction Author: David Lubar

Causes Effect 1. Amanda had a messy room but the team met there anyway

They learned about decomposition and people: “Some elements combined quickly. Others combined slowly. And some didn't combine at all unless you mixed them together under high heat and intense pressure.”

2. All the students hid some part of their snack in Amanda’s room. 3. After 6 weeks the food was moldy 4. They found the moldy food and made a discovery about themselves.


CHARACTER SOCIOGRAM A Sociogram is a graphic reflecting the relationship of a main character with other characters in a story. Sociograms help students to distinguish characters and their relationships when there are several characters in a story and/or complex relationships between characters. This strategy also can provide students practice in writing dialog and the use of colloquial language. Target learning strategies: relationships between characters; reviewing key ideas and details; practicing colloquial language.

Lesson Stages: Extending Understanding


Procedure: 1. Place students into groups of 3 or 4 2. Provide each group with a large chart paper 3. Ask students to write the names of characters in separate boxes on the

paper. 4. Ask students to drawn lines connecting the character boxes. 5. Ask one student to start by writing a comment or question to another

character. A second student replies to the first student’s question or comment in writing.

6. Add other characters and boxes if appropriate.

Romeo Lord Capulet

Juliet Lady Montague Nurse


Concrete Found Poems by Marilyn Pryle Standards Met: CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1; R.2; R.3 What You Need: Fiction, dramatic, or nonfiction texts; Concrete Found Poem reproducible; drawing or construction paper; pens, markers, and crayons What to Do: One novel way to go deeper into a prose text is through poetry. By combining two poetic forms—the concrete, or shaped, poem and the “found” poem, which is composed solely of words from another text—you can push students’ thinking and analysis to a higher level. Students will first decide what type of concrete found poem they’d like to create: character, setting, conflict, or theme. Then, using words, phrases, or sentences from their chosen text, they will shape these words into a visual representation on paper. For example, if they’ve chosen to do character, they can use the narrator’s or character’s own words to create a poem, but the exact words must appear in the text. (Students should make list on a separate page of the quotations and page numbers where they’ve found their phrases.) The image they create might be in the shape of the character’s face or a symbol related to the character. Your grading rubric might include the following criteria: aptness of quotations from text, inclusion of citations for quotes, suitability of image for topic, creativity, and accuracy with quotes/effort. PROMETHEUS CHAINED TO THE MOUNTAIN


Continuity Scale Graphic organizers help learners to “transform information into knowledge” (Hyerle & Hyerle, 2009). Continuity scale graphic organizers assist higher-‐order learning by showing learners how to put items in order along a scale. Like other graphic organizers, they provide learners with a visual tool for better comprehension of the text and organization of ideas before, during or after a text. Target learning strategies: grouping; note taking; evaluating; recombination; using physical actions to remember



Procedure: 1. Provide students with a copy of a continuity scale graphic organizer with points

along a scale, like those below. (Draw it on the board for them to copy or hand out duplicated copies).

2. Show students how items can be placed on the scale (from left to right or right to left) according to a given criteria (e.g., time, importance, interest). Write an example on the board to model what they will do later.

3. Ask students, as they read or review a text, to place items along the continuum according to the criteria.

4. After they finish their reading, students can compare and defend their findings with a partner or as a whole class.

_________|_________|_________|_________|_________|_________|_________ first event last event _________|_________|_________|_________|_________|_________|_________ most important least important _________|_________|_________|_________|_________|_________|_________ nicest meanest


Cooperative Sentences This cooperative learning strategy is an entertaining way for learners to review information found in a text while they learn to construct sentences to ask and answer questions (Stack & McCloskey, 2008). Learners answer questions about a text with sentences –but each learner speaks only one word of the answer at a time. As a result, learners have to think “on their feet” about the answers, but also about many aspects of language – including grammar, collocation (what words “go together”), and word choice. Target learning strategies: summarizing; synthesizing; reviewing; retelling; using physical action to remember language; word order

Lesson Stage: Extending Understanding

Language Levels: Intermediate to Advanced

Procedure: 1. Ask students to work in groups of four. Have each group write three

questions about the text they have read. Questions may be general or may be directed to a particular character in a story. (Note: some characters can be imaginary -‐-‐ even inanimate objects.)

2. Each group then sends one representative to stand in the front of the room. 3. Have the students in the front of the class stand in a line facing the class. 4. Have them practice the process of answering questions with sentences,

each person speaking one word at a time (when an unfinished sentence gets to the end of a line, it “wraps” around back to the first). Use general questions to help students get started. For example, ask, “What is your name?” Students answer the question in a complete sentence, one word at a time, e.g., student #1 says “My”, student #2 says “name”, student #3 says “is”, student #4 says “(her first name), student #5 says “(his last name) .”

5. Invite a student from one of the groups to ask one of that group’s questions. If the question is addressed to a character, remind the student to name the character.

6. Students in the front of the class answer the question in complete sentences, one word at a time. (Especially at first, the group will need considerable modeling and prompting from the teacher and other group members. Note issues of grammar, word choice, word endings that students need help with and that will be valuable “mini-‐lessons” for the future.)

7. Continue until all questions are asked and answered.


Creating Imagery Proficient readers create mental images as they process a text. They engage with the text and envision or respond to what they read by visualizing it. Creating this visual imagery requires interaction with the text and deep and careful mental processing which results in better recall and comprehension of the reading material (Buehl, 2008; Gambrell, Kapinus, & Wilson 1987). Target learning strategies: prediction; using imagery, using background knowledge

Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners, and Interacting with Text


Procedure: 1. Identify a concept in a text for which visualization might improve readers’

understanding, such as description, or personification, or characterization or dialogue.

2. Read the text aloud and guide learners as they create mind pictures from the language.

3. Then have learners read the text and try to create their own mind pictures as they read.

4. Ask learners to share their ideas in pairs or groups. 5. Have learners return to the text and compare the mental images of the concept

with the text descriptions.


Title” “Ode to Tomatoes” Author Francisco X. Alarcon (The teacher is speaking.)

This poet uses personification -‐-‐ he talks about tomatoes as if they were alive -‐-‐ as if they were people. Close your eyes and make picture in your mind the tomato people as I read from the poem. Ask yourself, ‘What does this tomato person look like? Is it a man or a woman? What is it doing? What might it say?’ First, make a picture of tomatoes “making friends everywhere”... now tomatoes as “red smiles in the salad”... now “hot salsa dancers... now, “round Cardinals of the kitchen...) Now choose one of the tomato people and draw a picture...show what your tomato person looks like, and what it is saying and thinking and doing.... What did the poet’s personification help you understand and feel?


Culture Map

Culture frames our way of seeing and understanding the world around us. Literature-‐based lessons and activities give learners opportunities to think about other cultures and draw comparisons to their own (Brisk & Harrington, 2007). Many unique cultural groups contribute to the fabric of the United States and have links to cultures around the world. Target Learning Strategies: using what you know; classifying into meaningful groups Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners and Extending Understanding

Language Levels: intermediate Procedure: 1. Choose a selection rich with cultural references. 2. Help learners understand the meanings of the various cultural elements by

having them find examples in their own culture. The non-‐visible elements are, of course, the most difficult.

3. Students then read the selection on their own. 4. They then review the selection looking for the cultural elements listed. 5. In small groups, they note and compare the cultural elements identified and

find the best examples. 6. Students write the examples in the column on the right. Not all stories will

provide examples of all elements. Students may identify other cultural elements not listed on the chart.

Culture Map Title of Selection: Author:

Culture Element Example (page #)

Visib

le Culture elements

Food

Music

Events

Holidays

Names

Living environment

Family living arrangements


Clothing

Occupations

Recreation

How th

e cultu

re se

es th

e world

Religion

Prejudices

Values

“Wise Ones” in culture

Attitudes: family, age, gender, work, leisure, etc.

Health care practices

Attitudes about animals

Commun

ication

Language

Greetings

Communication styles

Unique Non-‐verbal communication

Other


thoughts

Drawing Conclusions By using prior knowledge, metacognitive strategies, and learning plans such as graphic organizers, English language learners can increase comprehension (Fitzgerald, 1995). A conclusion is drawn when readers combine what they know with what have learned from a reading selection. Target learning strategies: selective attention; note taking; deduction; use what you know Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners, Interacting with Text, and Extending Understanding

Language Levels: Intermediate and Advanced Procedure: 1. Introduce a theme/topic of the selection to be read. Ask students what they

know about that theme/topic and write those ideas in the boxes in the left hand column.

2. While reading, students individually write important facts learned from the selection in the boxes in the right hand column.

3. After reading, students gather in small groups and discuss what conclusions can be drawn based on their thoughts and the facts they learned in the selection. They write these conclusions in the triangle at the bottom of the two columns.

What I knew What I learned before I read while reading Example:

Conclusions


Literature Circles The Facts

Adapted by Christie Hall at Francisco Middle School Based on

Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student Centered Classroom. By Harvey Daniels

1. Always do the required reading for the week before coming to class. 2. There are 5 different jobs. You will have a different job every week with work

to do before coming to class.

(a) A Summarizer prepares a brief summary of the week's reading highlighting the important concepts from the chapter. This summary is read to the group.

Product: A written summary. (b) A Passage Picker locates three short selections from the chapter to be

read aloud to the group. The idea is to help people remember some of the interesting, funny, powerful, and important sections from the reading.

Product: Typed or Xeroxed selections with space for the group to respond in writing.

(c) A Connector lists or outlines connections between the concepts in the

reading and your life. You then connect the story to the classroom or larger world setting, and other readings from this class or other classes.

Product: A list or outline of connections. (d) A Graphic Organizer prepares a graphic, artistic representation of some

of the key concepts from the reading. Product: A graphic representation. (e) A Discussion Director develops a list of questions for discussion by the

group and acts as the timekeeper for the group. Product: A list of questions for discussion.


1. Your group is responsible for dividing the reading into five sections.

2. You will meet in your discussion circles two times a week-‐ Monday and Wednesday. Members will report on the work they did, while the other members take notes. Three members will report on Monday and three members will report on Wednesday. Be prepared.

3. You will meet in your discussion group for about 30 minutes each class.

Each member will have about five minutes to report on the work they prepared, while the other members take notes. Then the Discussion Director will lead a 15-‐minute discussion on the reading. Be prepared.

4. You will be rated by every member in your group on how well you fulfilled

your duties and the work products you prepared for the discussion will be submitted to your work folder for evaluation.

5. You will be graded on how well you fulfill your duties for your job each

week (notebook), the notes you take at the literature circle meetings, and the final project that your group presents.

6. If all group members receive an 80% or above on the notebook and final

project, everyone will receive 5 extra points in the group. Sample jobs record sheet Date Role Product Score May 2 Graphic Organizer Venn Diagram 5 pts May 4 Discussion Leader Questions for

discussion 4 pts

May 10 Word Wizard 10 words for others to find and define in the reading

5 pt

May 12 Connector 3 connections to other stories we have read

4 pts

May 18 Summarizer Summary of reading

3 pts.


Main Idea To identify the main idea of the text and its supporting ideas, learners employ higher-‐ order thinking skills in evaluation and analysis (Anderson, 1999). This graphic organizer supports these processes and guides learners to consider the importance of ideas in the text and recognize hierarchical relationship among these ideas. Target learning strategies: analyzing theme; creating a map; evaluation



Procedure: 1. Before students read a text, introduce the main idea map below and explain

that that they will complete the map afterwards. If needed, model completing the map with a different text.

2. As they read, remind learners to keep the map in mind. 3. After students have finished the text, have them work alone or with a

partner to return to the text to locate the main idea and supporting details. If a longer story is used, students or pairs of students can be assigned different sections of the selection. Once they have completed their main idea map, guide students to share their observations with one another in small groups (perhaps having pairs join other pairs to make groups of 4.)

4. Elicit sample answers from the whole class to conclude the activity. A brief writing activity can follow using the map as an outline.

5. If you chose to have students work on different sections of the text, main ideas can be combined and a whole story retold with the support of the maps.

Main Idea

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Supporting Details

Supporting Details


Making Inferences Proficient readers are able to actively interact with a text, link their own knowledge and experience with information in the text, and make inferences about possible implied messages in the text (Gallagher, 2004). They can draw conclusions about ideas that may not be explicitly/clearly given in the text. Sometimes this ability is referred to as the ability to “read between the lines.” Learners can infer ideas about characters, places, writer’s views, etc. Although this skill applies to any genre, it becomes even more important when reading poetic words, which are usually suggestive and not explicit. This graphic organizer scaffolds the process of making inferences and allows learners to identify meanings that are perhaps implied but not stated in the text. Target learning strategies: deduction; elaboration; making inferences

Lesson Stage: Extending Understanding

Language Levels: Low-‐Intermediate to Advanced

Procedure: 1. After reading a text, introduce the graphic organizer below. Explain that making

inferences is what detectives do. To illustrate the skill of making inferences, use a well-‐known experience familiar to your students to illustrate inference. For example, if they see the sign “no cell phones,” what does their experience or background knowledge tell them? (That there is a reason cell phones cannot be used, perhaps a performance, or a concern that cell phones will interfere with other electronics, etc.) Explain that inference is based combining words and clues in the text, related understandings, and our experience.

2. Select context clues/facts from a text. Include ones that students might be confused about. Guide them to write down a clue or fact from the text (about characters, setting, communication, etc.). Select the first few clues to get learners started. Then have them write what they know about the fact in the second column. Last, encourage students to make a conclusion combining the fact/clue and their knowledge.

3. Complete the chart including 4 or 5 clues or events. Have students share their inferences in groups or in front of the class.

Making Inferences

Context clue My experience & knowledge My inference Example:


Narrative Text Structure Most narrative stories share a common structure; that is they consist of setting, characters, a goal/problem, events and resolution (McCloskey & Stack, 2004; Strickland, Ganske, & Monroe, 2001). The Narrative Text Structure graphic organizer helps learners to outline and/or organize the sequence of events in a narrative story. It can be used both to discuss a story learners have read and to plan a story they will write. It also introduces important connecting words that learners can use in retelling the story. Target learning strategies: reviewing key ideas; cooperation; story schema

Lesson Stages: I Preparing the Learners, Interacting with Text, and Extending Understanding


Procedure: 1. Provide students with a copy of the graphic organizer (draw it on the board for

them to copy or hand out duplicated copies). 2. Explain to students that each narrative story has common characteristics. There

is a setting (where and when the story takes place), characters (who is in the story), a problem and/or a goal, a series of events in trying to solve the problem, and finally a resolution -‐-‐ how the problem is solved. As a model, have them help you create an example from a story they all know.

3. After students have finished reading the target text, have them work alone or in pairs to identify the elements of the story following the graphic organizer.

4. Have students share their answers and use them to compile a whole class story map of the narrative.

Characters: Setting: Problem/goal: Events: First Next Next Then Resolution:


Sample Numbered Heads questions about a selection from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-‐Time Indian in which the author, Alexie, introduces two main characters:

• Why does Junior choose to draw? How many reasons can you find in the text? • Find passages that tell you about the character of Rowdy. Why does Junior like him so

much? • How do the drawings in this selection give you different information from the written text?

How do they add to what you know about the characters? • Think of a question about the text for another group to answer.

Example: Numbered Heads Together

This powerful and engaging cooperative learning strategy (Kagan, 2004) can be used at many stages of a lesson: for brainstorming, problem solving, preview, or review. It effectively involves every learner and provides a structure for learners to support one another’s achievement. In the example below, the questions are used in the “beyond” stage of the lesson to help learners intensively re-‐read a passage to find answers to questions.

Target learning strategies: summarizing; synthesizing; cooperating with classmates; inference



Procedure: 1. Have students work in groups of about four. 2. Students in each group number off 1 to 4. (If groups have 5, two students

take turns as one number; if groups have 3, one student has two numbers). 3. The teacher asks one question at a time about the text or topic and gives a

time limit for the group to decide on an answer. 4. Group members “put their heads together” to find and agree on their

answers. (This may include looking up page citations in a text, solving a problem, summarizing a passage, drawing a diagram, inventing a product...)

5. The teacher calls a number to designate which student will answer for the group.

6. Students with that number give their groups’ answers (orally, on paper, or on the board)

7. Gives feedback as appropriate; teams might receive points for correct answers, creative answers, correct spelling, etc.

Example:


Example:

Paired Reading Paired Reading (Topping, 1995) or Buddy Reading (Samway, et al., 1995) is a powerful strategy in which a student reads with a partner -‐-‐ often (but not always) a more accomplished reader such as an older peer, teacher, parent, or tutor. The partners use a variety of activities to share the reading, and then review and retell the story.

Target learning strategies: reviewing; retelling; summarizing; negotiation of meaning



Procedure: Pairs of students sit together in a quiet place to read a text using one or more of these activities. 1. Reading and retelling in turn. Each partner reads a paragraph, and then

retells what the paragraph is about. Then the other partner takes a turn. 2. Tandem reading. Pairs read aloud together. When one wants to read alone

he/she gives a signal (e.g., one finger in the air) and the other stops. When a student wants the partner to help with a word, he/she gives a signal (e.g., hand out flat) and the other helps. When a reader wants the partner to join in, he/she gives a signal (e.g., two fingers in the air) and the partner joins in. reading alone wants help with a word.

3. Read Aloud, retell. One partner reads aloud to the other. Periodically, the partner stops and the listener retells the main points of the story. Both go back to check the text if they’re not sure.


Partner Prediction The Prediction Advanced Organizer (Green, 1996) can be used to prepare learners for reading a text as well as to model reading comprehension strategies for learners (Sadler, 2001). Learners work with partners to make predictions about a story or selection at various points in the story. Trying to focus on important concepts and ignore extraneous ones helps learners to see the important details and events in the text and how they are related as well as how the process of connecting these events makes the story easier to understand.

Target learning strategies: advanced organizer; inference

Lesson Stages Preparing the Learners and Interacting with Text

Language Levels: Advanced

Procedure: 1. Before the activity, identify places in your selected text where it will be

useful to stop and predict what might happen next. 2. Read the title and look at the illustrations and ask students to turn to a

partner and make a prediction about what the story is about. 3. Model using the Prediction Advanced Organizer for the class. After reading a

section of the story, partners copy the event the teacher selected in the first column, “Before Reading” and predict what will happen next in the story. In the second column, “After Reading”, they write what they learned about their prediction from the reading.

Example:

Prediction Advanced Organizer Title: “My People” Author: Margaret Peterson Haddix

Before Reading After Reading Predict what will happen What happened? Title: My People

This story is about the people Lindley lives with

Illustration(s) – An old truck I think Lindley will go somewhere in the truck

She goes to a summer college program in the old truck but it breaks down on the way

First event: Lindley gets a letter inviting her to attend a summer college program. Prediction: I don’t think her mother and father will let her go.

She goes to the summer college program with the help of her grandmother

Next event: Prediction:

How will the story end?


Personal Dictionary Personal dictionaries empower learners by helping them choose target words and learn their meanings, uses, and/or spellings (Hart, 2009).

Target learning strategies: word analysis; vocabulary expansion; classifying vocabulary into meaningful groups; translation

Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners and Extending Understanding


Procedure: 1. Students can make their own personal dictionaries in a variety of ways:

a. They can use the back 26 pages in their journals, with a letter of the alphabet at the top of each page;

b. They can use paper in their notebooks with initial letters, or index cards punched with holes and put in a binder,

c. Or they can simply use a single ring to clip together pages or cards with a hole punched in them.

d. A Word Square can be used for each new word entry (see the “Word Squares” strategy).

e. Or, students can organize their words thematically (all the new words from something they read on one page, or words for a particular content area or topic in one section, or perhaps just words in the order they are added to the dictionary).

2. When students ask for the meaning or spelling of a word, or show they don’t understand an important word, have them make an entry for that word in their personal dictionaries. Encourage them to use learner dictionaries, picture dictionaries, or other word sources to help them with the words.

3. Each entry should include enough information to help students learn the words, i.e., the word, its pronunciation, its meaning in language the learner can understand, a translation, a sentence showing the meaning and use of the word, and/or a picture that illustrates the definition.

4. Encourage students to work in pairs to practice and test one another on their words. If they forget how to spell a word, refer them back to their dictionaries. Periodically assess student understanding of their words, and have them check off words they’ve mastered and add new words they need to study.


Persuasive Sandwich Every culture has a food in which ingredients are held together with some kind of bread to make a hand-‐held meal. This graphic organizer uses the sandwich as a metaphor to help learners see how a persuasive paragraph is organized.

Target learning strategies: planning; organizing; directed attention; summarizing


Language Levels: Intermediate to Advanced

Procedure: 1. Use this organizer after reading a text that brings up issues students feel

strongly about, such as a speech or story that has more than one point of view.

2. Model the development of a persuasive argument. a. First, think about what perspective your argument will take. Perhaps

that people should take better care of their streets by picking up the trash in front of their home.

b. Then, list reasons why this is a good argument, i.e.: • The streets will be safer, preventing people from falling, • People will be healthier, • It is easier to keep things clean if every person does his/her part, • The streets will look more beautiful if they are clean.

c. Then, organize your argument with a topic sentence (the top bread/bun), supporting ideas (meat, cheese and vegetables in the sandwich), and a concluding sentence (the bottom bread/bun).

d. Next, you might like to have the learners help you write a model persuasive paragraph about your topic.

3. Then help students brainstorm topics for their own persuasive paragraphs. What is something that they’d like to try to get someone else to think or do?

4. Students outline their paragraphs with the sandwich organizer based on the reading selection.

5. Using their outlines, they can draft and revise their paragraphs. 6. Finally, students can share their finished paragraphs by reading them out

loud to one another or the class Topic sentence Reason one Reason two Reason three... Concluding (summarizing) sentence


Point of View / Character Chair In this cooperative learning strategy, learners take on the roles of characters from a story and work to understand the motivation behind the actions of these characters (Zwiers, 2004). Groups of learners write questions directed toward an assigned character from the story. Learners from each group come to the front of the class to answer the questions, as if they were the characters. This strategy guides learners to re-‐read a passage in order to ask and answer questions, to understand and identify with characters, to practice speaking in the first person, and to have fun.

Target learning strategies: cooperation, prediction and questioning for clarification


Language Levels: Advanced

Procedure: 5. After learners have read a fiction or nonfiction selection with strong

characters, have them work in groups of about four to think of questions to ask a character.

6. Assign each group one character. Include as one character an non-‐human living thing or something inanimate -‐-‐ for example if you were reading the story of Rosa Parks, you might choose the bus. If you were reading about Wangari Maathai you might include a tree.

7. Model forming and asking questions and if needed, provide question prompts like “Who____? What____? When____? Where ____ and How____. Encourage learners to ask more questions that start with Why and How -‐-‐ questions that don’t have one-‐word answers.

8. Ask each group to write three or more questions directed to their assigned character, e.g., “Rosa, why didn’t you give up your seat?” Encourage them to return to the text to look for good questions.

9. When learners are ready, ask each group to send one person to the front of the class play the part of their character. You may choose to label the chairs with names of the characters or to put signs around the necks of characters to show who they are.

10. Invite the class to ask characters questions. You will probably start with questions from that character’s group, but can soon open up the questioning to everyone. Remind the questioners to tell which character they are addressing the question to.

11. The characters, answers the question as completely as possible, using sentences and staying in character.


Problem-‐Solution Chart

The skills of analytical problem solving include the steps of 1) identifying a problem, 2) collecting information, 3) determining possible solutions, and 4) evaluating pros and cons of each, and 5) deciding on the best solution (Zwiers, 2004). The analytical type of problem solving involves higher-‐order thinking and language skills and is often used in school. As students go through the steps of making a Problem Solution Chart, they are required to synthesize information, identify cause and effect and possible consequences, and evaluate possible solutions.

Target learning strategies: synthesizing, evaluation



Procedure: 1. Ask the class to think about a text they have just read and to identify a

main problem for a character or characters. 2. Then ask them to consider 3 or 4 possible solutions to the problem. 3. Finally, ask students to determine the best solution and share their

reasons. 4. Students can fill in the chart below with their answers. 5. Have learners share and compare their problems and solutions.

Problem-‐Solution Chart

Text: Author: Problem: Solutions Analysis #1 #2 # 3 #4 Analysis: The best option is ___ because: Example: Students who read “My People” by Margaret Peterson Haddix developed Problem-Solution Chart below, and then used it to create a chant.


Problem-‐Solution Chart Text: “My People” Author:Margaret Peterson Haddix

Problem: Lindley received an invitation to a summer program on a college campus but the campus is far from her house. How can she get there? Solutions Analysis #1 Take the bus Too costly and too lonely and too slow #2 Fly Too costly # 3 Ask someone in her family to drive her

Who could do it?

#4 Walk Too far Analysis: The best option is #3. Lindley’s grandmother offers to drive her to the college in her old truck.

“My People” by Margaret Peterson Haddix Lindley has a problem, it’s a very big deal She needs to solve it right away. The main issue is _She wants to go to college. But __how can she get there, you see? I suppose she could ___take the bus_____ . Or even ____fly __ Maybe someone could drive her in a car. Or she could walk, if it’s not too far. Now we need to analyze each idea And see what each one is worth The idea of flying costs too much. And the one about taking the bus takes too long. The one about walking will never work. But I think the idea of getting a ride Is better than the rest Because it doesn’t cost too much and She won’t be going alone. So let’s take it to the test!

In the end, her Grandmother will help her She will drive Lindley to college for less.


Question-‐Answer-‐Relationship (QAR)

The Question-‐Answer Relationship (QAR) strategy identifies four types of questions that students learn to ask and answer: 1) “Right there” questions (the answer is clearly stated in one place in the selection); 2) “Think and Search”questions (the answer requires students to look for the answer in more than one part of the story); 3) “Author and you” questions (the answer is a combination of information from what the author wrote and what the reader knows); and 4. “On your Own” questions (the answer comes from the reader’s background knowledge and experience, in interaction with the ideas from the story). These questions ask students to think about a text at four different levels, and enhance both comprehension and thinking skills.

Target learning strategies: reviewing, retelling, negotiation of meaning



Procedure: 1. Explain and model the four levels of questions to students: Right There,

Think and Search, Author and You, and On Your Own. 2. Prepare a list of questions in the four areas for the students to answer

based on a selection from the text. 3. In small groups of 3-‐4, have students read the selection and answer the

questions. They indicate the QAR category for each question and justify their decisions.

4. Ask students read another selection from the text and write their own QAR questions. Each group exchanges their questions with another group, answers them and categorizes them into QAR levels.


Sample Science Questions: Earth Science a. Right There: What are four gas giant planets? Where are they

located? b. Think and Search: How are the four gas giant planets different from

the four terrestrial planets? c. Author and you: What might it be like to live on Jupiter? d. On your own: Is it possible that there are even more planets to be

discovered in our solar system?

Sample Literature Questions: a. Right There: What is the setting of this story? b. Think and Search: Why was the character upset? c. Author and you: In what situations have you been upset? d. On your own: Is there anyone who reminds you of the main character

in the story? Who and why?

Sample Math Questions: a. Right There: What is an integer? b. Think and Search: What types of integers are there? c. Author and you: When would you use negative numbers? d. On your own: How would I do a ___________ problem?


Quickwrite

Quickwrite is a strategy teachers use to help students generate ideas by writing quickly about a topic. This process helps students explore and activate background knowledge. Often students don’t know what they want to say went they begin writing -‐-‐ it is the process of writing that makes their thinking clear. After writing, students share their ideas and listen to what others have written, thereby clarifying their own thoughts and gaining new ideas and insights.

Target learning strategies: activating prior knowledge, active listening, Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners, Interacting with Text, and Extending Understanding


Procedure 1. Ask students to write about a topic related to a topic or reading for 5

minutes without stopping. 2. Tell learners that if they don’t know what to write, they should write the

last word they wrote over and over until new ideas come into their heads. Tell them not to worry now about form or spelling -‐-‐ the important thing is just to get ideas down on paper.

3. After the five minutes of writing, have students find partners and take turns read what they wrote to their partners and listening to what their partner wrote.

4. Partners then ask one another questions and offer comments and encouragement about one another’s writing.

5. Ask for volunteers to read from what they wrote to the class. 6. Use learners’ ideas as pre-‐assessment to guide introduction of topics.

Refer back to their original ideas as appropriate.


Read, Retell and Summarize A Read, Retell and Summarize is a strategy that enables students to practice a range of literacy skills including reading, writing, listening, speaking, thinking, interacting, comparing, matching, selecting and organizing information, remembering, comprehending and summarizing. (Brown, H. & Cambourne, B., 1987). The purpose of the strategy is to practice summarizing a text by retelling the reading to a partner using key words.

Target learning strategies: listening, speaking, synthesizing, evaluation



Procedure: 1. In selecting a text, ensure students have had previous experience

with the genre/text type, e.g. lab reports, letters, stories etc. 2. Ask students to look at the title and predict what the reading is

about. They should discuss this with a partner and then the class. 3. Read the first paragraph aloud to the class. The class follows along 4. Next, select and read key words and phrases and ask students to underline

these words or phrases as you say them. 5. Ask student to make a list of those words and phrases on another sheet of

paper. 6. Using the list of words and phrases as guides, students retell the paragraph

to a partner. 7. Instruct students to listen as their partners retell the paragraph to them. 8. Together partners write a summary of the paragraph again using the words

and phrases as guides.


Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal Teaching (Palencsar & Brown, 1986) teaches learners to focus intently on what they are reading by using four key strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying and summarizing. Using these strategies helps readers understand and remember what they read. When Palencsar and Brown (1986) used reciprocal teaching with learners for just 15-‐20 days, the learners’ reading comprehension increased from 30% to 80%. Follow-‐up research on the strategy (reported in Oczkus, 2003) has also shown its effectiveness. Target learning strategies: predicting; questioning; clarifying; summarizing Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners, Interacting with Text, and Extending Understanding

Procedure: 1. Begin with a whole class introduction to the reading strategies provides a

common language and terms for using the strategies. Explain the strategies below and demonstrate how they are used to understand a reading selection. a) Predicting. Prediction is used in the Into and Through stages to make

logical guesses about what will come next in the story. The lesson may include reviewing text structure, previewing headings, illustrations, and other features. Language used: I think..., I bet…, I predict…, I suppose, I imagine…, I wonder if…

b) Questioning. Effective readers ask themselves a variety of questions during the Through stage of a reading lesson. These questions are about the main idea, important details, and textual inferences gathered as students read. Language used: questions with whom, what, when, where, why, how, what if…

c) Clarifying. During the Through stage while students are reading, they learn to use clarifying strategies such as rereading, looking at word parts, looking at the context, thinking about similar words, trying another word that makes sense. Language used: This is not clear. I can’t figure out…, Now, this makes sense. or This word is tricky because…

d) Summarizing. Used while reading in the Through stage and to review reading during the Beyond stage, summarizing involves using many


skills and strategies at one time to remember and rearrange the most important information in a text. Language used: The most important ideas were; First…, next…, then…finally;

2. Model each strategy by doing a teacher demonstration or guide a student to demonstrate by reading and thinking aloud in front of the whole class.

3. Small Groups of 2-‐5 can use reciprocal teaching. One student assumes the role of “Leader” and leads a discussion to predict what the story is about and other relevant details.

4. All others read the selection silently. 5. The leader reads a paragraph aloud. Then leads a discussion using the 4

strategies to discuss that paragraph. 6. The next student in the group becomes the leader for the next section or

paragraph, and so on until the whole reading selection is read.


6/2001Mary L ou McC los key, Ph.D. 6

Who?What?

When?

Where?Why?

How?

R eporter’s Outline(S uns hine Outline)

Reporter’s Outline

There are key questions that reporters ask when writing a story that can help with many other types of narrative writing. These questions address core information/facts that most stories include. The Reporter’s Outline graphic organizer provides visual support for using these question words to take notes or outline the basic facts of a story. Learners are not only given a visual tool to note information when reading a text, but they also get a tool to use in their own writing when preparing to write a story (McCloskey & Stack, 2004). Target learning strategies: asking questions; answering questions; summarizing; outlining



Procedure: 1. Provide students with the Reporter’s Outline graphic organizer (draw it on the

board for them to copy or hand out a copy). 2. Show students how each question word relates to an aspect of a story: Who is

involved?; What happened?; Where did it happen?; When did it happen?; Why did it happen?; How did it happen? Use a previously read narrative or a story they all are familiar with for your example. Write answers on the board next to the questions to model what they will do later.

3. Ask students to read a text and take notes on its key events using the graphic organizer.

4. After they finish their reading, students can share their findings with a partner or as a whole class and exchange feedback on the accuracy of their outlines.

5. Encourage students to use this strategy in planning their own narrative writing.


Wrestling Unit in Gym

Wrestling Fregley in Gym

Decision to add weight to move up one weight class

Gain weight

Eat weight gain powder

Sequence or Chain of Events Recent brain research suggests that good readers automatically predict what will happen next as they read and recall an entire sequence of events. So readers can use cues in the text to predict future events and detect when things do not turn out as expected (Kumaran & Maguire, 2006). Sequence or Chain of Events graphic organizers help to visualize a series of events in which one event leads to another in both fiction and nonfiction. Target learning strategies: sequencing; selective attention; contextualization Lesson Stages: Interacting with Text, and Extending Understanding

Language Levels: All Procedure: 1. After reading a selection, guide learners to identify the

story sequence or chain of events. Draw a simple graphic organizer on the board and add details of a chain of events as the students provide them. See sample graphics below.

2. Following practice with one or two selections, students should be able to identify the chain of events in a small group or on their own. Readers can also outline the sequence of events while taking notes during reading.

Simple sequence of events chart:

Example from Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney showing choices the main character makes.


Think-‐Pair-‐Share and Think-‐Quickwrite-‐Pair-‐

Share

Pair Share structures offer learners the opportunity to think, listen and respond to their peers. Learners gain a shared sense of meaning of the text (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). They also connect their own experience to new information and gain from the experience of their peers as well as from negotiating meaning (Swain & Lapkin, 2000). Learners are active while processing what they have read.

Target learning strategies: self-‐evaluation; practice and elaboration; writing a summary Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners and Extending Understanding

Procedure: Preparing the Learners: Asks pairs a previewing question to activate prior knowledge, e.g., “What do you think will happen to the main character? “What would happen if ….?” Extending Understanding: Ask pairs a comprehension question or an opinion question, e.g., “How would you summarize the story?” “What do you think happens next?”; or present a problem to be solved. If using this answering structure regularly, mix pairs of students, i.e., one time students the student in front/behind them; another time they work with the student to their right./left Procedure for Think, Pair, Share 1. Think: Students think about the question and relate their own experience and

ideas.

1st •  (Details from the seleczon) • 

2nd •  • 

3rd • 


2. Pair: Partners take turns exchanging their ideas and listening carefully. 3. Share: Pairs share their answer with the whole class or another pair of

students. Each person shares his/her partner’s ideas. Procedure for Think, Quickwrite, Pair, Share 1. Think: Students think about the question and their responses. 2. Quickwrite: Students write about their response for 5 minutes without

stopping. Assure them that spelling and grammar are not important in this activity because this is a “quick write.” It’s more important to get the idea down on paper than to be perfectly written.

3. Pair: Partners read what they wrote to their partner and listen to their partners’ reading; then discuss.

4. Share: Pairs of students get together with another pair of students in groups of four. Students take turns talking and telling each other their response. Ask the class who had a partner with really good ideas. A few individuals can then share their partner’s ideas with the full class.

Example:


T-‐Chart/List Purpose: A T-‐Chart or List is a graphic organizer used for separating two view points on a topic. Examples include: pros and cons; facts and opinions; advantages and disadvantages; or strengths and weaknesses. A T-‐Chart can provide learners with an alternate way to show their understanding of what they have read. (Klingner, Hoover & Baca, 2008) Target learning strategies: reviewing key ideas and details; creating a drawing; elaboration Lesson Stage: Extending Understanding Procedure: 1. Ask learners to draw a “T” on their papers 2. Guide them as they label the two columns: advantages/disadvantages; pro/con;

facts/opinion; strengths/weakness or similarities/differences. 3. Model finding items to categorize under one of the two labels.

Learners can complete the chart alone or in a small group after reading the selection.

4. Compare charts with others in the class.

Example:

T-‐Chart

Title: “Science Friction” Author: David Lubar Advantages of group assignments

Disadvantages of group assignments

Combined work of all members of the group.

Learning to compromise.

Not knowing the other students that the teacher assigned to the group.

Some students are not serious about getting good grades.

Deciding who is in charge of the group.


Advantages

Disadvantages

shoes coat

Venn Diagram The Venn Diagram is an graphic organizer used for charting comparisons and contrasts and similarities between two or more concepts, sets, or terms. John Venn (1880) used these diagrams to illustrate formal logic assumptions. In language teaching, Venn Diagrams can be used to help learners compare and contrast words or ideas. Learners classify information into categories, visualize relationships among words or ideas, focus attention on key information, and record differences.

Target learning strategies: comparing; contrasting; contextualization; vocabulary expansion Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners and Extending Understanding

Procedure: 1. Show learners an example of a graphic organizer like the one above.

Demonstrate that each circle represents one of the concepts being compared, and overlapping area represents what these two concepts have in common.

2. Ask students to draw two overlapping circles on a piece of paper. 3. Have them write the name of a general topic above the two circles and the

sub-‐topics they will compare/contrast below or to the side of each circle. 4. Support students as they brainstorm a few items that might go in each

section of the diagram and give feedback. Instruct students to complete the Venn Diagram on their own.

5. Support students with the language they need to talk about the Venn Diagram, e.g., using signal words such as different from, in contrast to, but, or on the other hand (contrast) or, alike, the same as, not only... but also...likewise, similar to (compare).

6. Encourage students to use their ideas and the signal words to make complete statements describing the Venn Diagram both orally and in writing. The Venn Diagram is a useful outline for a compare/contrast piece of writing.

ze trousers sport coat socks

dress blouse slacks

stockings

clothing

women men women

clothing


Word Sort

Word Sorts are instructional activities for studying words, word parts, and word relationships. These activities help learners both to look at words analytically and to develop an automatic reading routine (Tyner, 2004). Word Sorts guide students in the identification of common language patterns while engaging critical thinking skills. Two types of procedures and an unlimited variety of patterns in the English language create opportunities for many rich learning experiences. Target Learning Strategies: selective attention; grouping; vocabulary study; classification Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners and Extending Understanding

Language Levels: Beginning, Intermediate Procedure: Two common procedures are used for Word Sorts -‐-‐ each requires the application of different learning strategies by students. Closed Word Sort 1. Choose categories by which students will sort words in a reading selection -‐-‐ for

example, by meaning, associations, vowel sound, initial sound, word family, final sound, prefix, suffix, root words, parts of speech or initial letters in alphabetical order. Consider the level of the learners and important words in the selection they will read.

2. Write the target words on cards or pieces of paper (or have students do this). On another color of paper, write the sort characteristics that will be placed at the top of each column.

3. Have students place cards blank side up on the table then, working alone, in pairs or in a small group, select a card and place it under the appropriate sort characteristic.

For example a teacher may say to sort words by how the plural is formed. The following example uses vocabulary from the selection Are we having fun yet? by Ryan Levy. Students could sort the same word cards into alphabetical order, by vowel sounds, etc. (see the list of possible categories below).


Open Word Sort In this activity, ask students to determine for themselves how to categorize their words. Because an open word sort requires well developed critical thinking skills, use this activity after students have had experience with a variety of ways to sort words.

Category suggestions for closed and open word sorts:

• Initial, final, medial, vowel, consonant sounds. • Prefixes, suffixes and roots

o Prefixes – un-‐, re-‐, dis-‐, in-‐, non-‐, de-‐, mal-‐, co-‐, hyper-‐, mega-‐, mini-‐, sur-‐, contra-‐, inter-‐, intra-‐, ex-‐.

o Suffixes – -‐tion, -‐ship, -‐ness, -‐able, -‐ery, -‐like, -‐let, -‐esque, -‐ette, -‐ism, -‐ite, -‐ish, -‐ed, -‐ing, -‐er, -‐est, -‐ful.

o Roots – -‐scribe-‐, -‐grace-‐, -‐ampl-‐, -‐rupt-‐, • Parts of speech-‐ nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, articles • Word families – -‐at (bat, rat, sat…), -‐ell (bell, fell, dell…), -‐it (bit, hit, fit,

sit…),-‐ock (clock, sock, rock…) • Number of Syllables • Meanings (words that mean happy; words that mean sad...)

Plural -‐ add s

pleasure

suitcase

hamburger

Plural -‐ change y to i then add es

aczvity

family

cry

movie

play

day

company


Word Square The Word Square graphic organizer (McCloskey & Stack, 1996) is a tool for multidimensional vocabulary development. Learners use a variety of ways to study a new term, including writing the word in English and their home language, writing a personal definition, writing a dictionary (or glossary) definition, using the word in an original sentence that shows its meaning, and drawing a picture of the word or action. Target learning strategies: Resourcing and transferring from L1 to L2; using inference Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners and Extending Understanding

Language Levels: Beginning, Intermediate Procedure 1. Draw a four square on the board. Label each of the squares: Word, Symbol or

Picture, Meaning and Sentence. 2. Demonstrate by doing a Word Square with the whole class. Select a new word

from a reading selection. Complete the square with the help of the class. 3. If using this graphic organizer during the Into part of the lesson, the teacher

should select important words for the reading and write them on the board. Students should work in groups or pairs on each assigned Word Square.

4. If you use this graphic organizer following the lesson, in the Beyond section, words can be self-‐selected or assigned and students can create their word squares independently or in pairs. Circulate the squares and let other class members offer feedback and suggestions.

5. Remind students that they can use this tool on their own with words that challenge them.

From: Accomplishing Big Things in Small Pieces


WORD SQUARE Word

Obstacle Translation:

(Arabic) ععاائئقق

Symbol or Picture*

Meaning My Meaning: Something in the way. Dictionary meaning: n. Something that gets in the way and stops action or progress, hurdle (Newbury House Dictionary, Heinle) www.nhd.heinle.com

Sentence My Sentence: The tree that fell across the road, was an obstacle that cars couldn’t pass. Sentence from the selection: “So I carry a (Rubik’s) cube in my backpack as a reminder that I can attain my goals, no matter what obstacles I face.”

*sample artwork


Word Web Word Webs show relationships among words and that can improve learners understanding of both words and texts (Armbruster, Anderson, & Meyer, 1992). Word Webs are sometimes called semantic maps or brainstorming or spider maps. They help learners make mental pictures of the relationships and connections among concepts and terms. The goals of this strategy are to expand and improve vocabulary used in speaking and writing and to increase comprehension in reading and listening through critical thinking about words and how they relate to one another. Target learning strategies: word analysis; categorization; functional planning; grouping words Lesson Stages: Preparing the Learners and Extending Understanding

Language Levels: All Procedure: 1. Select a main idea from the reading selection. Put that idea in a circle on the

center of the board. 2. Ask students to give you words related to your main idea and list the words on

the side of the board. Students may need to consult a dictionary, a thesaurus, or an online tool like www.wordsift.com (this tool also provides images and examples to help learners understand new terms). a. In the Into stage, you might accept any word related to the main idea.

Offer your own input as well to expand vocabulary related to the chosen main idea.

b. In the Beyond stage, you might use word webs to check comprehension of the text and the vocabulary in the text by asking learners to give you only words and concepts from the selection.

3. Select sub-‐topics from your words. 4. Write these key words around your main idea, connecting them with lines.

Now, add the words related to each key word around those key words and connect these words with lines.

5. As an extension, if appropriate to the topic, you can write short explanations showing the relationships on the connecting lines.

6. Encourage students to use the words in the Word Web to make statements about the relationships between the sub-‐topics and the main topic, e.g., “Dillon is looking for a career. He wants to be a garbage collector or a fisherman.”

7. When students understand the activity, they can work in small groups or as individuals to make their own word webs.


CAREERS

teacher

fisherman

arzst

garbage collector

From the selection Dillon, Dillon teacher garbage collector fisherman artist painter thinker government worker

pa


B. References

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