For information on teaching foundational skills to middle school students who need it, see the
overview of this chapter, especially the section on supporting students strategically. See also chapter 9
on access and equity in this ELA/ELD Framework.
English Language Development in Grade Eight
The instructional program for EL students, including
designated ELD, should anticipate and prepare students for
the linguistic and academic challenges of the grade-eight
curricula. An intensive focus on language, in ways that build
into and from content instruction, supports students’ ability
to use English effectively in a range of disciplines, raises
their awareness of how English works in those disciplines,
and enhances their understanding of content knowledge.
In content instruction with integrated ELD, all teachers
with ELs in their classrooms use the CA ELD Standards to
augment the instruction they provide. English learners at the
Emerging level of English language proficiency, particularly
ELs who are new to the U.S. and to English, engage in the
same cognitively and linguistically demanding coursework
as their non-EL peers. However, teachers provide support to
newcomer ELs that is responsive to their particular needs.
If students are asked to write an argument in history, teachers support ELs at the Emerging level
by providing many opportunities for them to read and discuss texts containing the evidence they will
need to cite in their arguments. Some of this reading can occur in the students’ primary language, if
possible. In addition, teachers appropriately scaffold reading in English to facilitate students’ ability to
interpret the texts and engage in meaningful conversations about them. Teachers also use some of
these texts as mentor texts and explicitly show students how they are organized, specific information
typically included in arguments (e.g., evidence from credible sources), and particular language
useful for this text type (e.g., particular persuasive wording, modal verbs and adverbs for tempering
statements). Teachers also provide students with sentence or paragraph frames to use in their
arguments and templates for writing to help them structure their texts appropriately. They might also
provide bilingual dictionaries and thesauruses, so students can include precise vocabulary and new
grammatical structures to convey their knowledge of the topic.
Students at the Expanding and Bridging levels of English language proficiency likely do not need
all of these scaffolding techniques or such an intensive level of support. As they progress in their
understandings of English and their abilities to use English to convey meanings, ELs are able to
write longer texts independently that meet the expectations of particular text types. However, all EL
students need varying levels of scaffolding depending on the task, the text, and their familiarity with
the content and the language required to understand and engage in discussion. Figure 6.30 presents
a section of the CA ELD Standards that teachers can use, in tandem with the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy
and other content standards, to plan instructional support differentiated by proficiency level and need
for scaffolding.
An intensive focus on
language, in ways that
build into and from content
instruction, supports students’
ability to use English effectively
in a range of disciplines, raises
their awareness of how English
works in those disciplines, and
enhances their understanding
of content knowledge.Grade 8 Chapter 6 | 635