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Part One The Equitable Access Approach

As the number of English learners in schools across the country increases, more and more mainstream teachers are teaching in classes that include both native English speakers and English learners. These teachers are expected to help all their students meet rigorous college and career readiness Standards using a language arts curriculum designed for native English speakers. To meet the demands now placed on teachers, we have designed the Equitable Access Approach (EAA) for English learners. This approach is not simply an add-on for English learners. Rather it is a way of teaching that can help the diverse students in language arts classrooms meet the challenge of the Standards and become successful readers and writers.

English learners are also referred to as emergent bilinguals (EBs), English language learners (ELLs), multilingual language learners (MLLs), and second language learners. We will use different terms throughout the book; however, the term we prefer is emergent bilinguals because this term emphasizes that as these students learn English, they are becoming bilingual and that being bilingual is an asset.

In this book, we present foundational concepts that help teachers support English learners as they read, write about, and discuss their language arts curriculum. We demonstrate how these concepts are put into practice by describing in detail four commonly taught English language arts units. The units we describe show how teachers in mainstream classes can differentiate their language arts curriculum to make it accessible to all their students, including their emergent bilinguals.

We encourage teachers to read and discuss this book in pairs or groups, preferably with colleagues teaching in the same school or district. However, this book is meant for individual teachers as well. When reflection activities are suggested, we encourage all readers to consider the reflections. If there are not others to talk with, readers might jot down thoughts to come back to as they continue through the book and try out the strategies suggested.

In this Part One section, we introduce the Equitable Access Approach and encourage readers to think about, analyze, and talk about their language arts reading programs. In Part Two, we present the units through a description of how four teachers, two lower elementary and two upper elementary, give equitable access to their language arts curriculum and draw upon key concepts that support all students, especially English learners. The teachers we describe all follow important practices for teaching emergent bilinguals as they teach the units. At the beginning of each chapter, we present a key concept teachers can apply as they teach emergent bilingual students. Next, as we describe the activities in the unit, we show how the teacher implements the key concept.

In Part Two, Chapter Two, “Language Objectives: A Seeds, Plants, and Plant Growth Unit,” we introduce how teachers write and implement language objectives to help students meet the academic content objectives required in the Standards. In Part Two, Chapter Three, “Making the Input Comprehensible: A Habitats Unit,” we provide specific ways teachers can make their instructional input comprehensible, including how teachers can draw on their students’ first languages even when the teachers themselves don’t speak them. In Chapter Four, “Characteristics of Texts That Support Readers: Our Amazing Oceans Unit,” we provide a list of the characteristics of texts that support readers and a rubric that helps teachers determine the cultural relevance of texts for their students. In the final chapter, Chapter Five, “Teaching Academic Language and Meaningful Content: Our Earth, Natural Disasters Unit,” we explain how teachers can help students develop academic content knowledge and develop greater academic language proficiency in the context of a unit on natural disasters.

When teachers adopt the Equitable Access Approach, which is designed to help all students meet the Standards, their emergent bilinguals succeed, and they find the language arts curriculum more meaningful and engaging. At the same time, teachers get to know their students so that they can better meet their needs. They draw on their students’ language and cultural resources to enrich classroom discussions and activities. They approach reading in meaningful ways by supporting them and then gradually releasing the responsibility for reading to the reader. Through engaging students actively, they help them develop both academic English and content knowledge.

Why This Book?

This book is intended to meet the needs of novice and experienced teachers across the country who are required to use language arts materials designed for native English speakers in classrooms with students at different levels of English proficiency. While students with limited English proficiency may be provided with help from an English as a second language (ESL) teacher, in most cases mainstream teachers teach both native English speakers and students whose home language is not English in the same class. Throughout this book, we provide teachers with practical and easy strategies they can use to provide equitable access for all students to the language arts curriculum.

Basals and supplemental language arts programs usually list a few additional ideas for teachers to use to support English learners (ELs) in their classes. However, the strategies we describe are not intended as add-ons for ELs. Instead, taken together, they constitute an approach that works effectively for all students. When teachers use this approach as they teach the units in their language arts program, all their students have equitable access to the academic content.

Required readings that are connected to Standards based units of study must be accessible to students who are not fully proficient in English. And ELs must be able to read, write about, and discuss these readings. For that reason, for each unit we identify specific, Standards based skills that students develop as they engage in the activity. We also list genres students develop during some activities that require them to write specific genres, such as letter writing or poetry.

In the first chapter, we engage readers in thinking about, analyzing, and discussing their language arts reading programs. We also discuss the importance of teaching emergent bilinguals through units of inquiry. The units of inquiry include activities that enable teachers to learn about their students, to create a multilingual, multicultural environment, to assess their students’ language proficiency, to use a gradual release model for reading and writing, to draw on students’ backgrounds and cultures, and to draw on students’ home languages by using translanguaging strategies.

Many of the activities to help readers reflect on their language arts programs that we describe in this chapter can also be applied while teaching a unit of study during language arts. So, for example, a variation on the following teacher reflection activities can be applied to analysis of characters in a story in the language arts program.

Positive/Negative Graph

On the graph that follows (Figure 0.1), place a letter (A–G) to evaluate how appropriate each of the components of your language arts materials is for your English learners. For example, if you feel that the Teacher’s Edition includes good suggestions for making the lessons accessible for English learners, you might place the letter A by +4 or +5 on the graph. Or if you believe the reading selections are too difficult for your English learners, place the letter B by –4 or –5.

1. Components

1 Teacher’s Edition

2 Reading selections

3 Phonics instruction

4 Comprehension activities

5 Workbooks

6 Assessments

7 Writing activities

Figure 0.1 Positive/Negative Graph

 Standards based skills: create, infer/predict, evaluate, recall, explain, compare and contrast

2. Turn and talk

Turn and talk with a partner about your graphs. Where did you place each of your letters on the graph? Why? Do you ever worry about whether all your students understand the stories and activities in your language arts program? Do you think the students understand what they are reading? Do they have experiences that help them read, write about, and discuss the reading selections? Do the activities supplied in the program materials help English learners access the content?

 Standards based skills: create, infer/predict, evaluate, recall, explain, compare and contrast

 Classroom applications of positive/negative graph:1. Students list positive and negative events in their life. The vertical axis is numbered 1–5 to show how positive or negative the event was, and the horizontal axis reflects student’s age. Students use this graph to write an autobiographical essay.2. As applied to a novel, the horizontal axis could indicate events in a chapter or events in a character’s life. These would be rated 1–5 to show how positive or negative the event was.3. As applied to a text recounting history, the horizontal line could be a timeline and then events could be rated positive through negative along the timeline.