Building Academic Language shows what teachers can do to help all students develop the language needed to reach high levels of academic achievement." "Developing academic language involves more than acquiring content-specific vocabulary; it includes learning a wide range of general utility words, figurative expressions, grammatical conventions, and discussion strategies. Drawing from current theory and research, this book provides insights and practical guidance." "Building Academic Language offers many practical activities and classroom examples as well as a wide range of tips, tools, templates, and rubrics to help teachers integrate language development into content instruction and assessment every busy day.
Author(s): Jeff Zwiers
Series: Jossey-Bass Teacher
Edition: 1
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint
Year: 2008
Language: English
Pages: 295
City: San Francisco
Tags: Mathematics Education
Building Academic Language......Page 3
CONTENTS......Page 9
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES......Page 11
PREFACE......Page 15
Chapter ONE Understanding How Students Use Language......Page 21
THE ROLE OF HOME AND COMMUNITY......Page 22
DIVERSITY OF STUDENTS......Page 24
Types of Capital......Page 26
Registers......Page 28
Invisible Criteria......Page 29
THE NEED TO VALUE AND CHALLENGE......Page 31
Being on the Same Page......Page 32
Agreeing on Importance......Page 33
Working with Diverse Ways of Organizing Knowledge......Page 34
Getting to Know Students......Page 35
Chapter Reflections......Page 37
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ACADEMIC LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY......Page 39
General and Specialized Language......Page 40
Bricks and Mortar......Page 42
To Describe Complexity......Page 43
To Describe Higher-Order Thinking......Page 44
To Describe Abstraction......Page 45
Using Figurative Expressions......Page 47
Being Explicit for “Distant Audiences”......Page 49
Remaining “Detached” from the Message......Page 50
Conveying Nuances of Meaning with Modals......Page 51
Softening the Message with Qualifiers (Hedges)......Page 52
Using Prosody for Emphasis......Page 53
FEATURES OF ACADEMIC GRAMMAR......Page 54
Long Sentences......Page 55
Nominalization......Page 56
Condensed Complex Messages......Page 58
CONCLUSION......Page 59
Chapter Reflections......Page 60
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION BASICS......Page 61
Producing Language......Page 62
Negotiating Meaning......Page 63
Modeling Academic Language......Page 64
Modeling with Think-Alouds......Page 67
Scaffolding Thinking and Language......Page 68
BUILDING HABITS OF CONNECTION......Page 72
Connect with Metaphors......Page 73
Connect with Examples......Page 74
Personify......Page 75
BUILDING HABITS OF COMMUNICATION......Page 76
Use Controversial or Provocative Statements......Page 77
Co-Shape Conversations......Page 78
Repeat Student Responses......Page 79
Rephrase Student Responses......Page 80
Use Comments to Enrich Classroom Talk......Page 82
Stop to Think About How We Think......Page 84
Focus on Deeper Levels of Talk......Page 86
CONCLUSION......Page 87
Chapter Reflections......Page 88
Chapter FOUR Content-Area Variations of Academic Language......Page 89
Interpretation in Language Arts......Page 91
Persuasion in Language Arts......Page 94
Cause and Effect in Language Arts......Page 96
LANGUAGE OF HISTORY......Page 97
Cause and Effect in History......Page 98
Interpretation in History......Page 100
Perspective Taking in History......Page 103
LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE......Page 105
Description of Scientific Inquiry......Page 106
Cause and Effect in Science......Page 108
Interpretation in Science......Page 109
Comparison in Science......Page 110
LANGUAGE OF MATH......Page 111
Interpreting in Math......Page 113
Problem Solving in Math......Page 116
Chapter Reflections......Page 119
CHALLENGES AND BENEFITS OF CULTIVATING RICH CLASSROOM TALK......Page 121
Display Questions......Page 123
Open-Ended Questions......Page 126
Questions in Response to Student Responses......Page 128
Pseudo-Discussions with IRF......Page 130
CRAFTING WHOLE-CLASS DISCUSSIONS......Page 132
Leading Classroom Discussions......Page 133
Lecturing......Page 136
Improving Academic Listening......Page 138
Providing Silence and Time to Think......Page 141
Conversation Circles and Lines......Page 142
Interview Grids and Mixers......Page 143
Prediction Cafe......Page 145
Simulations......Page 146
Radio Talk Show......Page 149
Structured Academic Controversy......Page 150
Chapter Reflections......Page 152
Chapter SIX Academic Listening and Speaking in Small Groups......Page 155
CHALLENGES OF USING GROUPS......Page 156
FORMS OF GROUP DISCUSSION......Page 157
PROCESS OVER PRODUCT: THINKING TOGETHER......Page 159
DESIGNING AND SUPPORTING ACADEMIC GROUPS......Page 160
LANGUAGE FOR WORKING IN GROUPS......Page 162
TECHNIQUES FOR REPORTING OUT......Page 163
GROUP ACTIVITIES......Page 164
Conversation Scaffolds......Page 165
Drama-Based Group Activities......Page 168
Jigsaw-esque Group Activities......Page 172
Pair Activities......Page 174
CONCLUSION......Page 181
Chapter Reflections......Page 182
Chapter SEVEN Language for Academic Reading......Page 183
KEY COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES FOR ACADEMIC READING......Page 184
Read-Aloud......Page 187
Comprehend-Aloud......Page 188
Improv Read-Aloud......Page 189
Lyric Summaries......Page 191
Anticipation Chats......Page 193
Role-Based Discussion Groups......Page 195
Partner Problem Solving......Page 196
Figuring Out the Figuratives......Page 198
Dissection of Textbook Thinking and Language......Page 199
Historical Source Analysis Table......Page 200
READING ACTIVITIES THAT BUILD ACADEMIC GRAMMAR......Page 202
Marking Up Long Sentences......Page 203
Analyzing Tests......Page 205
VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION......Page 207
Teaching the Bricks......Page 208
Building Word-Learning Habits......Page 209
Using Word Walls......Page 211
Chapter Reflections......Page 212
Chapter EIGHT Language for Academic Writing......Page 215
THE INFLUENCE OF ORAL LANGUAGE......Page 216
WRITING EXPOSITORY GENRES......Page 218
Using Pre-Writing Visual Organizers......Page 220
Dissecting and Analyzing......Page 221
Understanding Coherence and Cohesion......Page 226
A CLOSER LOOK: PERSUASIVE WRITING......Page 227
Using a Rubric......Page 228
Organizing Ideas with a Persuasion Scale......Page 229
Learning Logs and Journals......Page 233
Written Recap......Page 235
Written Dialogs......Page 236
Perspective Papers......Page 237
Chapter Reflections......Page 239
LESSON PLANNING......Page 241
Assessment-Driven Instruction......Page 242
Sample Lesson Plan......Page 246
ACADEMIC LANGUAGE IN SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS......Page 251
Building Language with Performance Assessments......Page 253
Performance Assessment Examples......Page 255
Designing Rubrics......Page 257
Oral Presentations......Page 259
ONGOING ASSESSMENT OF ACADEMIC LANGUAGE......Page 263
Academic Feedback......Page 264
Diagnostic Observations......Page 265
Recording the Language of Thinking......Page 266
Minute-by-Minute Assessment of Learning......Page 268
Individualized Assessment......Page 269
Chapter Reflections......Page 272
Chapter TEN Concluding Thoughts......Page 275
TEACHING THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE......Page 276
CONCLUSION......Page 279
Appendix A Recommended Resources on Academic Language......Page 281
Appendix B Frequently Used Academic Terms......Page 285
Appendix C Suggestions for Before, During, and After Mini-Lectures......Page 291
Appendix D Permanently Borrowing the Language of Standards......Page 295
References......Page 297
About the Author......Page 309
INDEX......Page 311
