Snapshot 4.10. Retelling Stories
Designated ELD Connected to ELA in Grade Three (cont.)As they retell the stories, Ms. Langer also encourages them to use the literary general
academic vocabulary they have been encountering in the stories she reads aloud during ELA.
Although she teaches vocabulary during ELA, she focuses on additional general academic
vocabulary during designated ELD so that the children will have a greater repertoire of words
to draw upon when they orally retell and write their own stories. She and the children create
word banks for the words she teaches (as well as related words the group adds over time)
which she posts for the children to use.
The word banks include synonyms for said, such as replied, scoffed, yelled, gasped;
adjectives for describing characters, such as wicked, courageous, mischievous, enchanting;
adverbials to indicate time, manner, or place, such as all summer long, without fear, in the
river, and figurative language, such as the wind whispered through the trees. In addition, she
facilitates discussions where students identify and describe the words or phrases authors use
(for example, for different characters or settings) in the stories they are reading in ELA, and
the students analyze the effect on the reader that these language choices have. At the end of
the lesson, Ms. Langer writes notes on a structured observation protocol to document a few
students’ proficiency using academic vocabulary in this context. In a few weeks, she will have
notes on all students and will use them to guide future instruction.CA ELD Standards (Expanding): ELD.PI.3.4, 7, 8, 12a–b; ELD.PII.3.1–2
CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy: RL.3.2, 5, 7; SL.3.2, 4; L.3.6ELA/Literacy and ELD in Action in Grade Three
The research-based implications for ELA/Literacy and ELD instruction were outlined in preceding
sections of this chapter and also in chapters 1 and 2 of this ELA/ELD Framework. In the following
section, detailed examples illustrate how the principles and practices look in California classrooms. The
examples provided are not intended to present the only approaches to teaching and learning. Rather,
they are intended to provide concrete illustrations of how teachers can enact the CA CCSS for
ELA/Literacy and the CA ELD Standards in integrated ways that support deep learning for all students.
These examples are intended to promote collegial conversations about instructional practice and
foundational principles to inform pedagogy.
Both the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and the CA ELD Standards acknowledge the importance of
reading both literary and informational complex texts carefully, intentionally, and thoughtfully to derive
meaning. Accordingly, teachers select challenging texts that are worth reading and rereading, analyze
the texts ahead of time to determine critical areas of focus and potentially challenging concepts
and language, and plan a sequence of lessons that builds students’ abilities to read the text—and
others—with increasing independence. Analyzing texts prior to using them for instruction is critical for
supporting all learners as they interact meaningfully with the texts and for providing appropriate types
and levels of scaffolding.
During instruction, teachers model how to read text closely by thinking aloud about their reading
strategies while they read. Teachers also provide guided practice for students to read complex texts,
with appropriate levels of scaffolding. Importantly, especially for ELs, and in fact for all students,
teachers focus on meaning making but also draw attention to language, including the ways in
which different text types are structured and the particular language resources used in these texts
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