Byte, Write, Unite

A CS-themed trio of strategies:

BYTE uses chunking and setting the purpose for text reading or video listening.
WRITE uses sentence frames or another graphic organizer to have students summarize the previous byte.
UNITE uses sentence frames and pair share structures to have students share their understanding.

How Does this Strategy Engage English Learners?

This strategy engages English learners by breaking up text heavy learning experiences (video, text) to support better understanding. It enables them to effectively listen and take in information. The next part is for students to write what they learned and understood. The last part is for them to talk with a partner or small group to make sure their understanding is correct. This is also a way for them to read and share their written response with. During this process, students will at minimum listen, write, and speak and reading can be done as well with students reading their partner's response.

Steps for Planning & Instruction

Before Teaching

Chunk the information you are presenting into bytes. Each byte should be a main idea for students to understand.
- TIP: Consider 3-minute segments for students to listen to you present (or read or a segment of a video) and actively listen.
For each chunk create guiding questions to help students identify the purpose for their reading/listening.
Create a structure (e.g., sentence frames, other graphic organizers, PearDeck or Nearpod activity), and create potential answers you would like students to give.
Pick timings for the "write" and "unite" activities.
- TIP - Write: For 3 minutes of active listening, allow 2 minutes to write the main idea. Longer times of active listening may need more time for writing.
- TIP - Unite: 2 minutes is a good amount of time for conferring with a partner. This provides enough time to share responses and discuss any misconceptions or clarifications.
Select student pairs. Options could include the following:
- Complementing partners: Pair students with different strengths -- e.g., one student has strong writing skills is paired with another who has strong speaking skills.
- Same levels: Pair students who have similar language proficiency levels.

While Teaching

Set the expectations for students to actively listen to the byte -- not taking notes, but focusing and listening for repetitions.
- TIP: Consider doing a sample byte, write, unite activity around non-academic content to explain and practice the routine.
Give the students time to write down the key ideas of the byte.
- Provide sentence frames: e.g., “The main idea for ____ is…”
- TIP: 2 minutes is usually sufficient to write the main idea.
Have the students pair up with a partner or small group to get clarification or confirmation.
Provide students with instructions or sentence frames to share responses and to either confirm how their responses are similar or help strengthen their response.
Bring it back to the classroom and have a student or two share their response for the main idea.

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