Preparing ELLs for Opinion Writing: Teaching Academic Language

In our last post, we explored how the structure, language features, and vocabulary of a genre can help us determine language objectives. (You can check out that post here, if you missed it.) Today, we will dive deeper into some strategies for teaching academic language. 

Academic language must be explicitly taught to English language learners. This teaching  can be done in different contexts: during a word study block, in small groups during reading or writing workshop, or during an Interactive Read Aloud. 

We incorporate explicit academic language instruction into our morning meeting. We call these academic words our "scholarly" words.  Following the responsive classroom protocol, we engage in a greeting, share, activity, and morning message on a daily basis. Every week we choose a high utility academic word and incorporate it into our share time. We follow an instructional sequence that provides authentic practice with the academic word.  Here's a glimpse of our instructional sequence. We spend one week on each word. Once the students catch on to the routine, it takes about ten to twelve minutes from beginning to end. This particular week our "scholarly" word was "agree." 

To start, we practice the word in isolation. We say the word, clap the parts, spell it, write it, and classify it. We use a call and response approach to keep the energy high. The teacher will begin by inviting students to the task.  This language can be seen in the arrows above. Students respond with the statement in quotations. For example:

T: Scholars, let's clap it.

S: I can clap each part. 

T: a [clap] gree [clap] 

S: [repeat] 

T: a [clap] gree [clap]

S: [repeat] 

T: Which part is louder? 

S: gree 

T: Yes, "gree" is louder. That is the stressed syllable. A-gree. Repeat. 

S: A-gree

Next we explore the definition of the word. We will tell a short (micro) story that uses the word in context. Then, we teach the definition.

T: Scholars, let's define it! 

S: What does it mean? 

T: (Using gestures) Agree means to think (point to brain) the same (hold up hand in stop gesture) way (hold up other hand in stop gesture).   

S: (Mimicking gestures) Agree means to think the same way! 

T: Agree means to think the same way. Please teach your partner the definition of agree. Teach! 

S: Ok! [Students teach with words and gestures.]

We embed grammar into this routine as well. Since opinion writing is generally written in the timeless present tense, we make sure to highlight the subject verb agreement, as seen on the "Use It" slide. 

"I agree with Mrs. K."  

"Mrs. Quinn agrees with Mrs. K."

As depicted in the "Try It" slide, the next activity invites students to use the word in context using a model sentence and then an open-ended sentence frame. In this example, students are presented two opposing opinions and need to decide which one they agree with. We always begin by modeling the sentence frame with a series of options.  This allows us to highlight the patterns in language.  For example, a noun or pronoun will always follow the word "because:" 

I agree with Mrs. K because students will hurt their eyes.
I agree with Mrs. Quinn because video games can teach you new things.
I agree with Mrs. Quinn because she went to college.

We've learned to use more obscure examples when we model, ones we know the students will not use. The scholarly word and grammatical structures are new to students so leaving them with familiar ideas to use helps reduce the cognitive load. After 

We finish our routine with a share time. We craft share topics that prompt students to utilize the "scholarly" word in their response. Students share with partners first, and then a select few share out to the group.

To support vocabulary development and retention, we maintain a "scholarly" word wall. Words are categorized by part of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives. This word wall is separate from our high frequency word wall. 

This routine provides our students with explicit vocabulary instruction. It also gives them ample opportunity for oral rehearsal. 

In our next post, we'll explore ways to encourage development in opinion writing.

Part 3: Developing Reasons