Reading in

the Content Areas

Project Mast2er ELL Module

Adapted from Center for Applied Linguistics

Enriching Content for Secondary ESOL Students

C. Carlson

Agen

d a1.Effective Content

Instruction for ELLs2.Content Area Reading Principles3.Strategies

What’s our goal?

Success For All in Content Classes

Why do we have to change? ….the way we think about teaching & learning

1. Read the text2. Create a passage title3. Think-pair-share

3 Guidelines for Effective Content Instruction

1

What’s our goal?

in Content Classes

Increased Success for ELLs

3 Gu

idel

ines

How can we modify lessons to help ELLs learn in content classrooms?

To Increase ELL Success in Mainstream Classes:

1.Increase Comprehensibility2.Increase Interaction3.Increase HOT Skills

3 Gu

idel

ines

Increasing

Comprehensibility

during content area

reading

Focus

Reading to LearnThink, pair, share: “What makes reading in the content areas difficult for ELLs?”List on chart paper

Selections from TextbooksDirections:Read each selection and

identify 2-3 difficulties that

ELLs might have in reading it.Read

ing

to Le

arn

3 Content Area Reading Principles

2

3 Co

nten

t Ar

ea R

eadi

ngPr

incip

les 3

Passages:Deductive lesson

Pass

age

#1

• First, read passage & try to determine

topic• What principle does this passage illustrate?• List some classroom strategies & implications

The procedure is really quite simple. First, you arrange things into different groups depending on their makeup. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to the lack of facilities, that is the next step, otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo any particular endeavor. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run, this may not seem important, but complications from doing too many may arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. The manipulations of the appropriate mechanisms should be self-explanatory, and we don’t need to discuss it here. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another part of your life. It is difficult to foresee an end to the necessity of this task in the future. (Bransford & McCarrell, 1974)

Principle 1Passage

#1

Build on students’

background knowledge

& provide the “big

picture”

Pass

age

#2

• First, read passage & try to determine

topic• What principle does this passage illustrate?• List some classroom strategies & implications

“Do I deserve a mulligan?” asked Bob.

“No, but I don’t take a drop,” said Al. “Use a hand-mashie, then fly the bogey high to the carpet and maybe you’ll get a gimme within the leather.”

“You’re right,” said Bob, “I’ll cover the flag for a birdie and at least get a ginsberg if I’m not stymied.”

Principle 2Passage

#2

Explicitly teach

essential content

vocabulary

Proficiency Levels

(CAL, 1998)

Proficiency Levels

(CAL, 1998)

Proficiency Levels

(CAL, 1998)

Pass

age

#3:

• Look at your “role” & do not share with anyone• Read passage 3• List as many details as

you can remember in 30 seconds • Record on T chart by

group• Guess other group’s “role”• Discuss implications

Principle 3Passage

#3

Set a purpose

for reading

“… all language skills… are best developed when students are

using those skills to achieve communication

goals that are interesting to them.”(Peregoy & Boyle, p. 310, 2006)

Reading for a Purpose

Content Reading for ELLs:

3 Principles

1. Build on students’ background

knowledge & provide the

“big picture”

2. Explicitly teach essential

content vocabulary

3. Set a purpose for reading

Plus: Teach reading strategies and

other skills needed for academic

success

“plus”

3 Guidelines for ELL

Instruction To Increase Success in Mainstream Classes

1.Increase

Comprehensibility

3 Specific Strategies

2.Increase Interaction

3.Increase Higher Order

Thinking Skills

(CAL, 1998)

Increase

Comprehensibility

Plus:

Make connections

& modify

assessments

Increasing Reading

Comprehensibility

3 Specific

Strategies•Contextual Support

•From Text to Graphics

& Back Again

•Teach the Text Backwards

3 Strategies3

Cont

extu

al

Supp

ort

Use: • ______________, • ______________, • Non- ___________clues, etc. 1.Communicate the

overall meaning,2.Then correlate the

meaning with the text.

Visuals

LinguisticRealia

From

Text

to

Grap

hics

&

Back

Aga

in

From, Other Places, Other Times, G. Tang.

• Preview the chapter and determine

how it’s organized and what its key

concepts are• Pay explicit attention to the

language of the text • Choose a graphic organizer to help

students understand the

organization and/or major content

and relationships• Students practice constructing

graphics from the text• Students do academic writing task

using the graphic organizers &

language learned

Teac

h th

e Te

xt

Back

ward

s

1.Extension activities2.Discussion3.End of chapter questions 4.Then, read!

Lesson Sequence

• From ________ knowledge to

new

knowledge• From the ________ to the

abstract• From ________ language to

texts• From ________ contextual support to less contextual support

more

oralpriorconcrete

Lesson Sequence

• From ________ knowledge to

new

knowledge• From the ________ to the

abstract• From ________ language to

texts• From ________ contextual support to less contextual support

moreoral

priorconcrete