Vignette 4.4. Analyzing Complex Sentences in Science Texts
Designated ELD Instruction in Grade Three (cont.)Teacher Reflection and Next Steps
When the third-grade teachers meet the following week, they share their experiences
teaching the designated ELD lessons they had planned together to the different groups of EL
students. Mr. Franklin’s colleague, Mrs. Garcia, taught the differentiated lessons to the third-
grade EL students at the Emerging level of English language proficiency. This group of children
has been in the country for a year or less and needs substantial scaffolding to access complex
text.
Mrs. Garcia explains how she modified the designated ELD lessons by providing time at
the beginning of the week for the children to discuss and describe the illustrations of the text
as well as other pictures, using simple sentences, to help them become familiar with the new
vocabulary and syntax. This preparation appeared to support these children when they began
to tackle complex sentences. Next, she and the children chorally chanted poems containing the
subordinating conjunctions before, while, and after (e.g., Before I go to bed, I brush my teeth.
Before I go to school, I eat my breakfast.). The group then created a big book using compound
and complex sentences to describe the illustrations in From Seed to Plant.
With this differentiated instruction during designated ELD time, all of the EL students in the
third-grade classes were able to gain deeper understandings of how writers and speakers can
choose to use language in particular ways to express relationships between events in terms
of time. The teachers agree to continue developing designated ELD lessons that build their
students’ understanding of how to create different kinds of relationships between ideas. They
also concur that using the books and supplemental texts students are reading in ELA, science,
social studies, and other content areas is a useful way of helping ELS understand both the
language used in those text and the content they convey.Resource
Gibbons, Gail. 1991. From Seed to Plant. New York: Holiday House.Additional Information
Web site- The Text Project (http://www.textproject.org/) has many resources about how to support students to read
complex texts, including “7 Actions that Teachers Can Take Right Now: Text Complexity.”
Conclusion
The information and ideas in this grade-level section are provided to guide teachers in their
instructional planning. Recognizing California’s richly diverse student population is critical for
instructional and program planning and delivery. Teachers are responsible for educating a variety
of learners, including advanced learners, students with disabilities, ELs at different
English language proficiency levels, standard English learners, and other culturally and
linguistically diverse learners, as well as students experiencing difficulties with one or more
of the of the themes of ELA/literacy and ELD instruction (Meaning Making, Effective Expression,
Language Development, Content Knowledge, and Foundational Skills).
It is beyond the scope of a curriculum framework to provide guidance on meeting the learning
needs of every student because each student comes to teachers with unique needs, histories, and
circumstances. Teachers must know their students well through appropriate assessment practices
and other methods, including communication with families, in order to design effective instruction for
386 | Chapter 4 Grade 3