ELA/Literacy and ELD Vignettes
The following ELA/literacy and ELD vignettes illustrate how teachers might implement the CA CCSS
for ELA/Literacy and the CA ELD Standards using the framing questions and additional considerations
discussed in preceding sections. The vignettes are valuable resources for teachers to consider as they
collaboratively plan lessons, extend their professional learning, and refine their practice. The examples
in the vignettes are not intended to be prescriptive, nor are the instructional approaches limited to the
identified content areas. Rather, they are provided as tangible ideas that can be used and adapted as
needed in flexible ways in a variety of instructional contexts.
ELA/Literacy Vignette
Vignette 6.3 demonstrates how a teacher might implement the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and the
CA ELD Standards during an ELA lesson focused on close reading. Vignette 6.4 provides an example of
how designated ELD can build from and into the types of lessons outlined in vignette 6.3.
Vignette 6.3. You Are What You Eat
Close Reading of an Informational Text
Integrated ELA/Literacy and ELD Instruction in Grade SevenBackground
Mrs. Massimo is an English language arts (ELA) teacher working with an interdisciplinary
team that also includes social studies, science, and math teachers. Her team plans lessons
throughout the year that include an array of literary genres and informational texts related
to a variety of themes. For the “You Are What You Eat” thematic unit on food, nutrition,
and agribusiness, Mrs. Massimo is having her seventh-grade students read The Omnivore’s
Dilemma: The Secrets Behind What You Eat (Young Reader’s Edition) by Michael Pollan. This
nonfiction text examines how food is currently produced in the United States and explores
what alternate forms of production are available. Mrs. Massimo’s seventh-grade English class of
32 includes two students with mild learning disabilities, ten English learners at the Expanding
level of English language proficiency (most of whom have been in the United States since
the primary grades of elementary school), and two English learners at the Emerging level of
English language proficiency who have been in U.S. schools for just over a year.
Mrs. Massimo and her team know that middle school is a critical time to prepare students
for the increasingly complex texts they will encounter across the disciplines as they progress
through secondary school. Using the CA ELD Standards to ensure that they are attending to
the language learning needs of their English learners, they make strategic decisions about how
to address academic literacy.
Lesson Context
This lesson occurs during the second week of this unit. Mrs. Massimo has shown students
a documentary about processed foods, and the class has engaged in lively discussions about
the types of foods they like and/or should be eating to be healthy. In this lesson, she continues
to build students’ content knowledge of food and nutrition by focusing on the modern farming
industry. She guides them to closely read a short passage from Michael Pollan’s text and
facilitates a class discussion about it, prompting students to cite textual evidence to support
their ideas.Grade 7 Chapter 6 | 601