English Language Development

• Students experiencing difficulty tend to read less, which results in less of the practice that is
  needed to build fluency. Motivation to read, therefore, needs to be addressed. (Hudson 2011)


• Children who have difficulty reading words often fail to attend to the vowel and letter
  combinations; explicit attention is essential. (O’Connor 2007)

English Language Development in the Grade Span

The key content and instructional practices described in previous sections of this chapter are
important for all children, but they are critical for EL children as they develop academic English
and deep content knowledge. Teachers of ELs need to
understand not only the core content and instructional
practices in grades two and three but also how to identify
and address the particular language and academic learning
strengths and needs of their EL students. In order to support
the simultaneous development of both English and content
knowledge, teachers need to consider how EL children learn
English as an additional language, how to meet these needs
throughout the day during ELA and other content instruction
(through integrated ELD), and how to focus on these needs
strategically during a time specifically designated for this
purpose (through designated ELD).

The CA ELD Standards serve as a guide for teachers
to design both integrated ELD and designated ELD. They
highlight and amplify the language in the CA CCSS for
ELA/Literacy that is critical for children in grades two and three to develop in order to maintain a
steady academic and linguistic trajectory. They set goals and expectations for how EL children at
various levels of English language proficiency interact with content and use English in meaningful ways
while they continue to develop English as an additional language. These expectations help teachers
target their ELs’ instructional needs during planning, observe student progress during instruction, and
evaluate progress after instruction has occurred.

Integrated and Designated English Language Development

Integrated ELD refers to ELD throughout the day and across the disciplines for all ELs. In
integrated ELD, the CA ELD Standards are used in ELA and all other disciplines along with the CA CCSS
for ELA/Literacy and other content standards to support
ELs’ linguistic and academic progress. Throughout the
school day, ELs in grades two and three engage in activities
where they listen to, read, analyze, interpret, discuss, and
create a variety of literary and informational text types.
Through rich and interactive experiences that are provided
through English, they develop English, and they build
confidence and proficiency in demonstrating their content
knowledge through oral presentations, writing, collaborative
conversations, and multimedia projects. In addition, as
students are supported to develop language awareness,
or how English works in different situations, they gain an
understanding of how language is a complex, dynamic, and
social resource for making meaning. Through intellectually-

Teachers of ELs need to

understand not only the core

content and instructional

practices in grades two and

three but also how to identify

and address the particular

language and academic

learning strengths and needs

of their EL students.

Through rich and interactive

experiences that are provided

through English, they [ELs]

develop English, and they build

confidence and proficiency

in demonstrating their

content knowledge through

oral presentations, writing,

collaborative conversations,

and multimedia projects.

Grades 2 and 3 Chapter 4 | 317