Content Writing Strategies to Support ELLs

Narrator: The objective for today's class is to learn how the geography of the Nile River shapes the lives of the people who live along its banks. Ms. Alsizer guides her students through a series of writing exercises to enhance their learning and prepare them for later writing assignments.

Students reflect on prior knowledge, write questions about what they'd like to know, review vocabulary, use visuals and texts to learn more about the Nile River, summarize and take notes on what they've read, and share their understanding with the class. Ms. Alsizer starts the lesson with a review of what students already know.

Colleen Alsizer, teacher: Hank, I'd like you to tell me, what is one feature you have on the Nile River?

Hank: It's really long.

Alsizer: OK, it's really long.

Narrator: Then they are asked to write two questions, pointing out what they'd like to learn about the Nile River. Writing helps students think about the content.

Alsizer: And let's go over to Christopher. What was one of the questions you have about the Nile River?

Christopher: How long is it?

Alsizer: How long is it. We're definitely going to be able to answer that today. Edward?

Edward: What country does it go through?

Alsizer: What country, or countries actually. We're going to read more about that today. Jack?

Alsizer: It's important for them to come up with their own questions, because it directs the learning. Those are the questions that need to be answered. Those are the main topics, really.

Narrator: The class then reviews the previous night's homework, a vocabulary graphic organizer.

Alsizer: We're going to go over these terms today in class, and you guys have great images to represent your definitions.

Narrator: They write the word in one column, its definition in another, and then a visual representation. Throughout the unit, they will refer back to this list to recall geography terms.

Alsizer: Can you tell us what a water cycle is?

Student: It's a constant movement of water from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back again.

Alsizer: I think the ELL kids, especially, need those images because it's hard for them sometimes to come up with the vocabulary, and having that image helps them understand the concept.

Narrator: The vocabulary graphic organizer becomes the student's reference and study guide.

Source: From Raising the Literacy Achievement of English Language Learners (DVD), 2006, Alexandria, VA: ASCD.