Content and Pedagogy:
Grades Six Through Eight
INTRODUCTION
If any of you have ever seen a middle school or even been a middle schooler once, then you know what we are talking about when we say middle school is a difficult time. At this time, children are experiencing rapid physical, cognitive, and social-emotional growth. To complicate matters more, each student is developing at entirely different rates resulting in awkward chaos. Good educators are given the task of increasing an adolescent's cognitive capabilities and desire to learn as well as encouraging their quest for autonomy.
The overarching ELA/literacy and ELD goals are: readiness for college, careers, and civil life; increased capacities of literate individuals; to be broadly literate (understanding many contexts); and navigation skills in the 21st century. Standards insist that instruction in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language be a shared responsibly within the school.
California greatly values primary language and takes an additive stance through an interdisciplinary approach. The desire is to make learning integrated, motivating, engaging, respectful, and intellectually challenging. Good teachers do this by making learning relevant to the adolescent's life, connecting what they read, encouraging creativity, fostering abstract and creative thought, giving more responsibilities for their learning, and creating opportunities for collaboration and communication with their peers.
OVERVIEW
Meaning Making
What is it?
- Students should be learning how to make meaning of a text, build awareness and understanding, and analyze/interpret complex texts
Why does this matter?
- In middle school, students are being exposed to more complex text structures and vocabulary, making understanding more critical
How do I apply this?
- Engage students in meaningful interactions through questions and metacognitive conversations and make learning relevant to their life
Language Development
What is it?
- Students must develop linguistic awareness and understand how/why language functions in our culture
Why does this matter?
- Middle school is a time where students rapidly gain academic language as they are exposed to complex and research-based texts
How do I apply this?
- Provide language-rich environments through explicit instruction of vocabulary and grammar and natural avenues for natural conversation
Effective Expression
- The ability to use writing, discussing, presenting, and language conventions.
Why does it matter?
- At this age students are growing in their ability to communicate through social media and the technological world and it is important for them to grow in their ability to communicate more effectively in the academic world.
How do I apply this?
- The CA ELD standards are a guide for scaffolding that teachers can use to assist their students in being able to use language in order to express their knowledge.
Content Knowledge
- As students in middle school continue to increase their ability to read complex texts they gain knowledge in specific academic subjects.
Why does it matter?
- Students are continuing to use their skills to gain a foundation of information that they will need as they progress into the high school level and beyond.
How do I apply?
- Address the importance of content and literacy and use them to guide each other.
Foundational Skills
What is it?
- By middle school, students should have well established foundational skills and continue to improve/develop their fluency
Why does this matter?
- English Language Learners come in to middle school at varying levels of proficiency and have varying levels of degrees in reading and writing in English.
How do I apply?
- Adapt the ELA foundational standards by using appropriate instructional strategies and materials to meet their literacy needs and the need to teach these foundational skills in an accelerated time frame
ACTIVITY: Case Study
MEET BENISON:
Activity:
meaning making, language development, effective expression, content knowledge, & foundational skills. In each group, discuss how we can tailor each content area to the unique needs of Benison as an EL student and an individual.
Compare & Contrast: 6th, 7th, 8th
6th Grade
- Represents a major transition in students lives and provides a foundation for later grades
- Expected to write summaries that are distinct from personal opinions, judgments, and prior knowledge
- Move from writing opinion pieces to writing arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence
- First time expected to use multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility of each source, quote data and conclusions
- Refer to evidence on the topic, text, or issue during discussions
- Methods such as reciprocal teaching, expert grouping, jigsaw, and literature circles provide students with structured opportunities to engage in discussion
- Students presentations become more formal (first time students are expected to delineate a speakers argument and specific claims)
- Increased literacy demands in all content areas, so improved comprehension becomes ever more critical to their academic success.
7th Grade
- More rigorous texts
- More Complex & Analytical Thoughts
- Cite several pieces of textual evidence to determine main idea
- Compare & Contrast texts and authors
- Actively develop academic language
- Write more complex texts
- Write arguments in which they address opposing claims
- Conduct research for particular audience
- Students now pose questions in discussion rather than teacher
- Begin presenting in debate format
- Increasing reading fluency
8th Grade
- Last opportunity to prepare students for the rigor of high school
- Distinguish between what texts implicitly say and what they infer (what a text is about/what it is really about)
- Recognize and use passive and active voice and the conditional and subjunctive mood
- Integrate civic instructions into learning (such as reading and discussions on cyber bullying)
- Develop and defend an argument
- Writing narratives
- Research and present relationship between information and ideas
- Discussing and presenting and backing up their views
- Plan and deliver a narrative while integrating a multimedia presentation
ASSESSMENT: Exit Ticket
Bonus question: without looking at your resources, try to list the five content areas for ELD standards!