Objective 

Apply academic discourse strategies (e.g., Think Pair Share, Fishbowl, sentence frames) across various instructional contexts.

⏳Suggested Time: 20mins

As you watch the video below, based on your grade level, observe how the teacher utilizes sentence stems in their classroom. Pay attention to how sentence stems impact student participation. To access, click the selected video. Once the navigation bar appears, click the first icon (the square with the arrow). The video will open in a new window.

Bridge to Vocabulary and Comprehension

Sentence stems provide students with the starting framework to incorporate academic vocabulary in the classroom. Through practice, students can learn to use sentence stems naturally, incorporating vocabulary into their writing or speech in context.

Examples

Elementary

1) I predict that _________ will happen because ___________.

2) The main character of the story showed __________ when ___________.

Secondary

1) The ________ is a/the __________ that __________.

2) The author conveyed his main idea of ________________ by ______________.

Fluency Checks

As students submit written sentence stems or speak orally, teachers can evaluate student's work for comprehension. By providing students constructive feedback, teachers can give students support on how to articulating their thoughts using sentence stems.

When utilizing sentence stems in your classroom, remember the following tips:

1) Display sentence stems in your room. 

2) Model using the sentence stems with your students.

3) Provide time for students to practice using sentence stems.

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Classroom discourse is the specific language used between teachers and students during written or spoken conversations.

1) Promotes high ordered thinking.

2) Increase student confidence through participating in classroom collaboration.

3) Support disciplnary literacy.

The video below supports the understanding of creating classrooms with meaningful discourse. As you watch, observe how routines and structures can foster student engagement. To access, click the video. **

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