L3/L4 Writing Instruction

[Matt Johns]

Can anyone point me in a direction for providing writing instruction for L3/L4 ELLs in English Classes for English and ELL classes for support?  We are seeing common writing issues such as sentence structure, verb tense issues, etc sometimes referred to as "translated text".  However, I have struggled to find some systematic instructional practices that English teachers can incorporate with our ELLs. 

Some studies suggest to do nothing about it yet as it is early in the game.  It is difficult to advise English teachers not to try to improve the writing.  Some research has shown that teachers should focus on one aspect of the writing but not expect significant gains.  Finally, I have come across other suggestions regarding talking ELLs through the editing process as they rarely possess the language control to self-edit their work.

How do you systematically teacher writing within your school and have you found it successful? 

[Lydia Breiseth]

Matt,

There might be some helpful strategies in these articles:

http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/teaching/writing

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/22364

I'll keep my eye out for other resources!

[Bobbi Ciriza Houtchens]

Hi Matt. You hit the nail on the head with this one, since most of our ELLs, especially in the Southwest, Florida, and NY, are long-term ELLs who get stuck at this level because their unique language needs are not addressed in mainstream classes and ELD classes often seem too babyish. I would recommend many of the practices from the Writing Project in your state, as well as one-on-one conferencing with them to focus on the one area that would make the greatest difference in their writing, whether that be organization, supporting details, or a specific grammar weakness. Don't overwhelm them, yet don't undervalue what they can learn. Also, reading, reading, reading, to build that internal language.

[Norma Reyes]

Our district has recently begun working with Susana Dutro's Systematic English Language Devleopment. You begin with this pre-assessment of language gaps for long term ELLs. Its interesting because you see the functional errors that these students make. It seems to focus on the fossilized grammar errors that these students struggle with. The whole point is to focus on a few forms and functions a week. We have lesson plans that our like on a five day period, and we dedicate 15 minutes a day to this. It was begun at the elementary school level before they started at the secondary. It can be difficult to prep and plan for this, and sometimes it feels childish, but it does force a teacher to think of those problems. I don't think i'm explaining it well. The website for it is www.elaachieve.org. They have a few sample

[Matt Johns]

I think you are explaining it very well and it sounds like an interesting program to explore for working with long term ELLs. I like the diagnostic aspect of it. Thank you for the tips.

[Haley]

Matt,

On our campus we divided which language skills should be taught at which levels. We collaborate so that we have some assignments in common. We have anchor papers in which we all agree what is an A paper, a B paper and so on, so that we grade approximately the same when evaluating student work. We have writing conferences with our students during the school day where we give feedback to them on their writing orally, in addition to comments we make. I am working with our beginning level students, so it looks a little different.

Since students cannot memorize some verb tense lists to use in all situations, we continue to recommend that students read, read, read, and some of their learning is not specifically taught in class but acquired naturally. We have some grammar books and sometimes recommend websites, depending on the situation. We do teach students how to use spell check and provide specific rubrics for key assignments, and we use the LCD to show what we like and do not like about some writing assignments.

Students write almost daily and I reflect back to them, as do others. Unsure if this is what you are reaching for, but there is some background.

We have a writing project on our campus and in our district. English and Social Science teachers work together, so on our Intranet we share lesson plans and ideas. It is specifically for grades 7-12.

In my opinion, we are very successful. We do not start out that way. We shape them. They are still sometimes examined because they are a subset of students that might score lower than our EO students. We remind people of the time it takes to acquire a language and how we see similar challenges when students transfer from beyond our district.

The best move for us has been to save some models of what we expect, and this is not as easy as it sounds.

Hope the new school year is going well for you. You remind me that EL students are everywhere these days, not only in border states!

[Matt Johns]

Thank you so much for your response. It definitely helps me picture aspects of a successful, fully integrated writing program.

Haley said:

Matt,

On our campus we divided which language skills should be taught at which levels. We collaborate so that we have some assignments in common. We have anchor papers in which we all agree what is an A paper, a B paper and so on, so that we grade approximately the same when evaluating student work. We have writing conferences with our students during the school day where we give feedback to them on their writing orally, in addition to comments we make. I am working with our beginning level students, so it looks a little different.

Since students cannot memorize some verb tense lists to use in all situations, we continue to recommend that students read, read, read, and some of their learning is not specifically taught in class but acquired naturally. We have some grammar books and sometimes recommend websites, depending on the situation. We do teach students how to use spell check and provide specific rubrics for key assignments, and we use the LCD to show what we like and do not like about some writing assignments.

Students write almost daily and I reflect back to them, as do others. Unsure if this is what you are reaching for, but there is some background.

We have a writing project on our campus and in our district. English and Social Science teachers work together, so on our Intranet we share lesson plans and ideas. It is specifically for grades 7-12.

In my opinion, we are very successful. We do not start out that way. We shape them. They are still sometimes examined because they are a subset of students that might score lower than our EO students. We remind people of the time it takes to acquire a language and how we see similar challenges when students transfer from beyond our district.

The best move for us has been to save some models of what we expect, and this is not as easy as it sounds.

Hope the new school year is going well for you. You remind me that EL students are everywhere these days, not only in border states!

[Haley]

Like. I may be using Facebook too frequently. Our program is much more than this. The more specific you can define a situation, the better I am able to help and to share materials.

[Lydia Breiseth]

Hi everyone,

 

Do you have a favorite writing guide or workbook for ELLs?  What works best for you students?

 

Thanks!