Intended Purpose: 

To support teachers to teach and engage students in practicing reading and writing of various sentence types (simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex) in all content areas.  This foldable is a resource teachers can use to help students learn to write more complex sentences.

Benefit for LTELs

Now that we have established the importance of focusing on oral language and student engagement, teachers must plan and implement daily lessons to ensure students continue developing academic language. Students should not have to do this independently; teachers must explicitly teach, model, and support students in developing academic language in all disciplines throughout the day. This should be done in the context of the content learning in Integrated ELD and in collaboration with teachers to use students’ content to learn and practice academic language in Designated ELD. Long-term English learners must be taught the language of academics with a spiral approach so they have multiple opportunities to learn and deepen their understanding of the complexities of how English works. Without developing the language of academics, it is difficult for students to comprehend texts and participate in academic discourse and writing. Teachers need to continuously emphasize the importance of learning academic language but not in a way that will shame students for not learning it. Teachers can assess students’ starting points and take the time to teach the language students need. Teachers should provide the structures and forms for apprenticeship in academic discourse and academic participation. This may require teachers to brush up on their understanding of academic verbs, registers, syntax, and distinct text structures. Teachers can help students see that grammar is still vital to learning and practicing at the secondary level, and they can help students become aware of the structures of English and how English works in academic registers. Teachers use direct instruction to help students learn to write more compound and complex sentences and complex text and break down difficult academic reading to analyze and evaluate what successful authors are doing. Teachers can do this work in a way that still values all types of language by teaching students about academic registers and the settings in which we would use academic registers instead of criticizing or devaluing the types of English students may bring to the classroom. 

Resources/ Teacher Examples

Sentence Foldable from El Cajon Valley High School