M/J Developmental Language Arts Through ESOL (Reading) (#1002181) 

VERSION DESCRIPTION

This course is designed for students who are native speakers of languages other than English. This course includes instruction that enables students to accelerate the development of reading and writing skills and to strengthen those skills so they are able to successfully read and write middle grade level text independently. Instruction emphasizes reading comprehension, writing, and vocabulary study with access to a broad range of texts. 

The purpose of this course is to enable middle school students who are native speakers of languages other than English instruction that enables students to accelerate the development of reading and writing skills and to strengthen those skills so they are able to successfully read and write middle grade level text independently. Instruction emphasizes reading comprehension, writing fluency, and vocabulary study through the use of a variety of literary and informational texts encompassing a broad range of text structures, genres, and levels of complexity. Texts used for instruction focus on a wide range of topics, including content-area information, in order to support students in meeting the knowledge demands of increasingly complex text. Students enrolled in the course will engage in interactive text-based discussion, question generation, and research opportunities. They will write in response to reading and cite evidence when answering text dependent questions orally and in writing. The course provides extensive opportunities for students to collaborate with their peers. Scaffolding is provided as necessary as students engage in reading and writing increasingly complex text and is removed as the reading and writing abilities of students improve over time.

The multiple credit courses have been designed for the teacher to select and teach only the appropriate standards corresponding to a student's grade level and/or instructional needs.

General Notes

English Language Arts is not a discrete set of skills, but a rich discipline with meaningful, significant content, the knowledge of which helps all students actively and fully participate in our society. Standards should not stand alone as a separate focus for instruction, but should be combined purposefully.

The texts students read should be meaningful and thought-provoking, preparing them to be informed, civic-minded members of their community.

Curricular content for all subjects must integrate critical-thinking, problem-solving, and workforce-literacy skills; communication, reading, and writing skills; mathematics skills; collaboration skills; contextual and applied-learning skills; technology-literacy skills; information and media-literacy skills; and civic-engagement skills.

General Notes:
The course includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• analyzing central ideas of a text (implied or explicit) and its development;
• applying knowledge of context clues, figurative language, word relationships, reference materials, and/or background knowledge to determine the connotative and denotative meaning of words and phrases, appropriate to grade level;
• analyzing the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole;
• tracking the development of an argument, analyzing the types of reasoning used and their effectiveness;
• analyzing authors' purpose(s) in multiple accounts of the same event or topic;

Additional Notes: Students entering the upper grades who are not reading and writing on grade level have a variety of intervention needs. No single program or strategy can be successful in remediating the needs of all students. The intervention course should require that students increase the amount and complexity of text they read and write independently throughout the school year to ensure students have enough exposure to various text structures and academic vocabulary to develop skills necessary for college and career readiness.

It is necessary to implement a combination of research-based programs and strategies that have been proven successful in accelerating the development of literacy skills in older readers.

The following practices should be incorporated in the course:

1. Scaffolding of close reading is provided but does not preempt or replace text.
2. Systematic instruction in vocabulary is provided.
3. Explicit instruction in applying grammatical structures and conventions is provided.
4. Student independence is cultivated.

Special Notes:

Instructional Practices: Teaching from well-written, grade-level instructional materials enhances students’ content area knowledge and also strengthens their ability to comprehend longer, complex reading passages on any topic for any purpose. Using the following instructional practices also helps student learning.

1. Reading assignments from longer text passages, as well as shorter ones when text is extremely complex.
2. Making close reading and rereading of texts central to lessons.
3. Asking high-level, text-specific questions and requiring high-level, complex tasks and assignments.
4. Requiring students to support answers with evidence from the text.
5. Providing extensive text-based research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).

Achievement on standardized tests assessing reading and writing skills is a reflection of students' confidence and competence in reading. Therefore, instruction throughout the school year should ensure students possess the ability to read and comprehend difficult texts and perform challenging tasks associated with those texts. Time spent engaging students in practice tests should be limited, given most students' vast experiences with standardized tests and the relatively small role that knowledge of test format plays in student test performance.

In those instances when this course is repeated, the content should be differentiated based on reliable and valid assessment data. If repeated, the required level of student proficiency should increase. If students are making adequate progress (accelerated growth) in a given intervention, that intervention should be continued. If students are not making adequate progress, a new intervention should be implemented.

English Language Development ELD Standards Special Notes Section:

Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading and writing instruction that allows English language learners (ELL) to communicate information, ideas and concepts for academic success in the content area of Language Arts. For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success. The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL’s need for communication and social skills. To access an ELL supporting document which delineates performance definitions and descriptors, please click on the following link: https://cpalmsmediaprod.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/docs/standards/eld/la.pdf

VERSION REQUIREMENTS

Approximately one-third of the titles from the 6th, 7th, and 8th, Grade Sample Book List(s) should be used in instruction, with a focus on grade-appropriate texts specific to student needs.

General Information