© 2016 Creating Effective Systems for English Learners www.elachieve.org CM300

Materials ListThe Secondary Constructing Meaning Support Kit includes:Ways We Express Our Thinking Student Cards (40)

and Poster (1)Secondary English Discussion Cards (1 box)Secondary Student Flipbooks (15)Summary Template Posters (5)Talking Chips (200)Talking Sticks (10)Sand Timers (20)Wipe-off Notebook Posters (10)Ticket Out the Door (two pads of 250)Dry Erase Markers (40)Dry Erase Cloths (20)

Secondary Constructing Meaning Support KitTools for Interactive Language Practice

This Support Kit is intended for teachers who have participated in a Secondary Constructing Meaning Institute and who implement a vision of explicit language instruction.

Constructing Meaning (CM) is built on the premise that language should be supported and developed in all content areas throughout the instructional day. CM provides a

method and strategies for creating a classroom in which English learners successfully interact with and produce discipline-specific academic language.

To learn something well – to be able to use it fluidly and accurately – requires lots and lots of practice. As James Britton eloquently noted, “Reading and writing float on a sea of talk.” We must provide students opportunities to fill their seas with talk to support reading and writing. Research continues to show that productive student talk is a key factor in high-achieving classrooms (Fisher and Frey, 2014).

Effective CM instruction provides students with ample, meaningful opportunities to engage in content learning while using appropriate academic language. Interactive tasks must:

Be carefully structured Require students to use specific language correctly

This Support Kit is designed to streamline preparation for teachers by providing generic tools needed to structure engaging, purposeful student interactions. The tools can be used with any lesson. All you need to add is lesson content and students.

Ways We Express Our Thinking Student Cards and Poster

By providing sample graphic organizers and language at multiple proficiency levels, the color-coded student cards and poster offer students concrete resources for responding to writing prompts, answering comprehension questions, and preparing for collaborative learning.

Secondary English Discussion Cards

The Discussion Cards are designed to provide English learners explicit language support for dynamic academic interactions. They offer students an opportunity to learn and practice the conversational techniques needed to move a discussion forward, as well as the rhetorical devices frequently found in formal speech and writing. As students learn to use the sentence stems on the cards, their confidence increases and they become more fully engaged members of the classroom community.

Secondary Student Flipbooks

The flipbooks are reference tools for students as they prepare to write or speak academically. They include signal words and phrases, as well as sentence frames, for five high-leverage cognitive and linguistic functions:

Cause and Effect Explain and Describe Sequence

Ways We Express Our Thinking

© 2009–2015 Secondary www.elachieve.org

Function Sample assignments Simple language Solid language Sophisticated language

Compare Identify similarities between ... How are _____ and _____ alike? Compare _____ and _____.

Analyze the differences between ... How do _____ and _____ differ? What distinguishes _____ from _____?

like/same asboth; sharealso/too

Possiblegraphic

organizers

Contrast

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3

Attribute 1

Attribute 2

Attribute 3

Attribute 4

Concept #1 Criteria for comparison Concept #2

have in commonare similar becausejust as; as well as

in comparison/similarlyare equal/equivalent toakin to; commonalities

unlike/different frombut/howevereach; only

althoughon the other hand/whileinstead of/rather than

in opposition to/alternativelya distinction/difference betweenconflicting/divergent/opposing

Explain orDescribe

Discuss the structure of ... Explain the meaning of ... Identify the components of ...

Possiblegraphic

organizers

Function Sample assignments Simple language Solid language Sophisticated language

has/have; is/areincludes/containsfor instance/for example

such as; described asis known for; is seen asrefers to; belongs to

exhibits/demonstrates/illustratesassociated with; defined by; consists ofviewed as; characterized by

Topic

Detail

Idea

Function Sample assignments Simple language Solid language Sophisticated language

Possiblegraphic

organizers

Event Result

Result

Result

Cause &Effect

Analyze the effects of ... How did ____ impact ____? Predict the outcome of ...

because/because of caused/may causeif ... then; so

result of; resulted inrealized/discovered/found led to; due to; since; therefore

concluded; producedbrought about/had an impact onstems from; which in turn

Proposition & Support

Problem–Solution

Defend the position ... Argue reasons for ... Propose a solution to ... Justify your position.

Possiblegraphic

organizers

think/don’t thinkbelieve/don’t believeagree/disagreeopinion/view/position

point of view; belief thatargue for/againstclaim; perspectiveprovide evidence for/against

justified the position thatexpressed the view thatmade the claim/stated the thesisaccording to; supported by; refuted

Reason #1 Evidence #1 Reason #2 Evidence #2

Reason #4 Evidence #4Reason #3 Evidence #3

My opinion:

Problem

End Result

Solution

What Why

Attempted Results Solutions 1. 2.

Proposition Support

Proposition

Proposition sentence

Support

Conclusion

Proposition Support

Proposition

Proposition sentence

Support

Conclusion

Explain in your own wordsQuotes/examples

Supportingreasons/details

Function Sample assignments Simple language Solid language Sophisticated language

Function Sample assignments Simple language Solid language Sophisticated language

Sequence Trace the development of ... Outline the steps of ... Summarize a sequence of events.

Possiblegraphic

organizers

began when; started bybefore; after/next; as soon asended with; in the endfirst; then/later; finally

today/currently/nowlong before; in the pastearlier; eventuallyduring/while; for the past

at present; initially soon thereafter/subsequentlyultimately; immediately; momentarilypreviously; preceding

Sequence Chain for

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s

Ways We Express Our ThinkingMost classroom assignments require you to think and write in the following ways: Explain or describe Compare and contrast Provide causes and effects Propose and argue Sequence or narrate

The tools below will assist you in completing assignments.Use the graphic organizers to improve the structure and clarity of your thinking. Use the signal words and phrases to develop and refine your speaking and writing.

Compare Identify similarities between ...

How are _____ and _____ alike?

Compare _____ and _____.

Analyze the differences between ...

How do _____ and _____ differ?

What distinguishes _____ from _____?

like/same asbothsharealso/too

Contrast

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3

Attribute 1

Attribute 2

Attribute 3

Attribute 4

Concept #1 Criteria for comparison Concept #2

have in commonare similar becausejust asas well as

in comparison/similarlyare equal/equivalent toakin tocommonalities

unlike/ different frombut/howevereachonly

althoughon the other hand/whileinstead of/ rather than

in opposition to/alternativelya distinction/ difference betweenconflicting/divergent/opposing

Explain orDescribe

Discuss the structure of ...

Explain the meaning of ...

Identify the components of ...

Possible graphic organizers

Function Sample assignments Simple language Solid language Sophisticated language

has/haveis/areincludes/containsfor instance/ for example

such asdescribed asis known foris seen asrefers tobelongs to

exhibits/demonstrates/ illustratesassociated withdefined by; consists ofviewed ascharacterized by

Topic

Detail

Idea

© 2009–2014 Secondary www.elachieve.org

Possible graphic organizers

Function Sample assignments Simple language Solid language Sophisticated language

WaysWeExpressOurThinking CardSecCM_2ndEd.indd 1 5/12/14 9:58 AM

S E C O N D A R Y

SecondarySTUDENT FLIPBOOK

cm_fb_FC-ICF.indd 1 10/13/14 9:32 AM Compare and Contrast Proposition and Support (Problem/Solution)

Present an Idea

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© 2013

Secondary

Present an Idea

I think ______.

In my opinion, ______.

I noticed that ______.

I didn’t realize that ______.

One idea / suggestion / way to look at it

is ______.

I found it interesting that ______.

One thing / Something to consider is ______.

It occurred to me that ______.

One thing / Something that caught my

attention was ______.

I was struck by / surprised by_____.

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Build on an Idea

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Secondary

Build on an Idea I agree that ______ because ______. I also think that ______. That makes me think / reminds me of ______. I like where you’re going. I would add / It brings to mind ______. Your idea / comment reinforces / is related to ______. You’re on to something. A similar idea / example / reason is ______.

Based on your idea / comment, I think _____. To take it one step further, ______. Along those lines, / Similarly, ______. So if we already know ______, we can predict / infer ______.

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www.elachieve.org Creating Effective Systems for English Learners © 2016 CM300

Ticket Out the Door Name: ________________________ Date:

© www.elachieve.org

________________________

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Summary Template Posters

Facilitating activities that require students to make judgments about essential information and providing them with practice in replacing specific terminology with more general language will improve their ability to summarize. Scaffolded instruction in summary prepares students to:

Identify the main idea Determine essential details Restate and draft

The Drafting Template for Single-Paragraph Summary provides scaffolded instruction in summarizing. The poster is a valuable classroom tool that fosters discussion in pairs or small groups and prepares students to identify a main idea, determine essential details, and write a summary.

Talking Chips

Talking Chips are a great tool that can be used as signals:

To monitor pacing: During quiet time for thinking, reading, or writing, each student has the red side up, then turns it to the white side when prepared to move on. This can be a signal both for teachers monitoring the class and for classmates working in groups.

To request assistance: Students place their chip, red side up, on their desk corner to discreetly signal the teacher that they need help.

To signal any response with two options, such as: agree/disagree, ready/need more time, positive/negative, etc.

Talking Chips can also be used as tokens to ensure democratic and accountable participation. Provide each student a set number of Talking Chips to spend during small-group discussion. Or give each group a pile of chips that students can “earn” by contributing an idea.

Talking Sticks

Talking Sticks can be used to support democratic and accountable participation in small-group interactions. In addition, Talking Sticks can help students practice discourse skills by ensuring that each group member listens while the student with the stick has the floor. Speaking sequence can be pre-set (pass Talking Stick to the right) or random, as long as all students participate an equal number of times.

Sand Timers

Sand Timers are an excellent time management tool. Use them to maintain a brisk pace during students’ interactive practice. They can be used in whole-class, small-group, or partner work.

Wipe-off Notebook Posters

Useful for both individual and group activities, these reusable posters mimic notebook paper, but they are the size of a small poster for easy display. Students construct responses with erasable markers on the lined “paper.” Posters can be displayed for gallery walks, informal share-outs, or presentations.

Ticket Out the Door

Students complete a ticket and turn it in on their way “out the door.” Teachers use information from the tickets to monitor learning and guide instructional planning.

Dry Erase Markers and Cloths

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Drafting Template for Single-Paragraph SummaryExpository Writing

The article / chapter /

film / ________ titled

“________________

_________________

________________”

the idea of

the relationship between

the importance of

the reasons for

______________

examines

addresses

introduces

supports

______________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

The article / chapter /

film / _____________

_________________

uses / relies on / cites

to explain

to discuss

to describe

to support

______________

facts

examples

information

an expert opinion

______________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Another important

idea from the

article / chapter /

film / ___________ is

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

which demonstrates

which indicates

which exemplifies

because

______________

is a key detail

is a powerful example

is essential information

______________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

The examples /

details / information /

ideas found in the

article / chapter / film /

_________________

the value of

the need for

the link between

the causes of

______________

support

confirm

reinforce

emphasize

______________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Dutro & Levy © 2008–2015 Constructing Meaning: Explicit Language for Content Instruction www.elachieve.org

that illustrates

that explains

that suggests

since

______________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________

_________________