English Language Development

Key Themes of ELA/Literacy and ELD Instruction

This section discusses each of the five themes of California’s ELA/literacy and ELD instruction
described in the introduction to this framework and chapters 1 and 2 as they pertain to grades
six through eight (see figure 6.1): Meaning Making, Language Development, Effective
Expression, Content Knowledge, and Foundational Skills. Impacting each of these for ELs is
learning English as an additional language, and impacting all students is the context in which learning
occurs. Displayed in the white field of the figure are the characteristics of the context for instruction
called for by this ELA/ELD Framework. Highlighted in figure 6.2 is research on motivation and
engagement, discussed in chapter 2 of this framework. Teachers in the grade span recognize their
critical role in ensuring children’s initial steps on the exciting pathway toward ultimately achieving
the overarching goals of ELA/literacy and ELD instruction (displayed in the outer ring of figure 6.1):
students develop the readiness for college, careers, and civic life; attain the capacities of literate
individuals; become broadly literate; and acquire the skills for living and learning in the 21st century.

Figure 6.1. Circles of Implementation of ELA/Literacy and ELD Instruction

Figure 6.2. Motivation and Engagement

Educators should keep issues of motivation and engagement at the forefront of their

work to assist students in achieving the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and the CA ELD Standards.

The panel report Improving Adolescent Literacy: Effective Classroom and Intervention

Practices (Kamil, and others 2008) makes clear the importance of addressing motivation and

engagement throughout the grades and recommends the following practices in classrooms

with adolescents:

1. Establish meaningful and engaging content-learning goals around the essential ideas
   of a discipline as well as the specific learning processes students use to access those
   ideas.
   
   
   • Monitor students’ progress over time as they read for comprehension and develop
     more control over their thinking processes relevant to the discipline.
   
   
   • Provide explicit feedback to students about their progress.
   
   
   • Set learning goals. When students set their own goals, they are more apt to fully
     engage in the activities required to achieve them.
   
   
   
   

510 | Chapter 6 Grades 6 to 8