was helpful in keeping a discussion on target and what might have made the discussion run more smoothly.
Tips for Differentiation by Proficiency Level
Emerging—Small groups are given images of resources that accompany the day’s lesson and are prompted to draw on the images to capture what they learned during the lesson. Use basic sentence frames such as “I think . . .” or “I see. . . .”
Expanding—Students may respond to sentence frames about the images, such as “This image shows . . . ,” “This image is important because . . . ,” or “This image is related . . .”
Bridging—Students may study images, including photographs and illustrations, and then discuss in small groups or pairs with questions or sentence prompts to guide them.
Note: A variety of sentence frames should be used throughout the school year (notice the variety provided above). ELLs at the Emerging level will need the support of basic frames, but these frames should then be varied according to language purpose throughout the school year. ELLs at the bridging level should then be expected to use more sophisticated sentence frames or to have internalized the language, so that they no longer need them at all. Sentence frames should be used as a scaffold and not a crutch.
Source: 2014 English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework, p. 210; video links can be found at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/cf/implementationsupport.asp.
Grades K–2 Interacting in Meaningful Ways Collaborative Standard 1
Academic Vocabulary—Key Words and Phrases Related to Standard 1: Exchanging information and ideas
Affirming others: Teacher or student comments that reflect a positive behavior (i.e., turn-taking) or a response or question from someone else in the conversation that exemplifies or clarifies the gist of the discussion.
Asking relevant questions or adding pertinent information: Teacher or student questions and/or comments that move forward the group’s understanding of the concepts being studied. These are usually open ended, and can be text dependent, clarifying, and/or making connections questions or comments (to oneself or others, to other texts, to other ideas).
Building on other’s responses: Student comments that take into account what others have said in the discussion, and linking their comments to those points.
Collaborative Conversations: Discussing ideas and working jointly with others to develop new thinking.
Multiple exchanges: Discussions where one idea is considered and discussed by several persons, growing richer and more complex as new ideas or examples are added, instead of the typical question/answer, new question/answer pattern that limits discussion.
Providing useful feedback: Offering specific, helpful suggestions to a student in order to improve his or her thinking or work product. Examples include “You did a good job on ______” or “I think you should ______ because it would help ______.”
Speaking audibly: To speak loudly enough to be heard but not so loudly as to be shouting or distorting the message.
Sustained dialogue: Collaborative conversations in which students create new thinking by working with others to add details or further develop thoughts on the topic of discussion.
Turn-taking roles: Various ways for students to consciously listen to others, say their contribution, and then listen again. These roles can include Think-Pair-Share, Reciprocal Teaching, using Equity sticks, etc.
Using learned phrases: Opportunities for students to share their ideas and thoughts by using patterns or prompts to frame their oral language. These can come from pattern drills, sentence frames, and other sources.
Source: Taberski & Burke, (2014), The Common Core Companion: The Standards Decoded, Grades K–2.
Notes
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Grades K–2 Interacting in Meaningful Ways Collaborative Standard 1
Example of Practice in Snapshot Related to Standard 1: Exchanging information and ideas
Snapshot 3.4. Collecting and Reporting Data on Litter at School Integrated ELA, ELD, Science, and History–Social Science in Kindergarten
The kindergarteners in Mr. Kravitz’s classroom listen to several informational and literary texts about the importance of caring for the environment and the impact litter has on local habitats. Mr. Kravitz guides a discussion about this type of pollution, asking—and encouraging the children to ask—questions about the information they are learning from the texts. He prepares them for paired as well as large-group conversations about what they are learning by revisiting the texts and images and drawing attention to some of the vocabulary that may be particularly useful for their discussions. For example, he reviews and writes on a chart some of the general academic (e.g., discard, accumulate, observe, impact) and domain-specific (e.g., habitat, pollute, litter) vocabulary from the texts that convey important ideas.
Next he has students meet in pairs to talk about what they have learned. Many of them refer to the chart to remind themselves and each other about the concepts and accompanying vocabulary. After sharing in pairs, the children gather in small groups to draw and label illustrations about what they learned and discussed. They work collaboratively, talking about their understandings and making decisions about their illustrations and the words they will use to label them. After each group presents and explains a labeled illustration to the entire class, the illustrations are displayed on a bulletin board. Next the children identify three areas of the school grounds where they can examine litter in their school environment.
CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy: RL.K.1; RF.K.2; W.K.2; SL.K.1, 6; L.K.6
CA ELD Standards: ELD.PI.K.1–2, 5, 6, 9–11, 12b; ELD.K.PII.1, 3
The snapshots and vignettes cited above can be found in their entirety at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/cf/, 2014 English Language Arts/English Language Development Framework, p. 219.
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