Effective Expression (writing)- Explicitly teaching strategies for planning, revising, and/or editing has a strong impact on the
quality of students’ writing and is especially effective for students experiencing difficulty writing
(Graham and Perin 2007). - Setting specific reachable product goals, such as adding more ideas to a paper when revising or
including certain structural elements, positively impacts writing quality of all students, including
(tentatively) those experiencing difficulty (Graham and Perin 2007). - Use of word-processing technologies is especially effective in enhancing the quality of texts of
students experiencing difficulty with writing (Graham and Perin 2007).
Foundational Skills (word level reading) [from a summary by Curtis 2004] - Systematic, explicit, and direct instruction produces the best results in word level reading.
Instruction should target needs, be brief and multisensory, and applied. - Instruction should emphasize high frequency spelling-sound relationships and emphasis should
be placed on assisting students in identification of common syllables found within multisyllabic
words. - Instruction should focus on patterns and generalizations, not memorization of rules.
- Opportunities to practice identification of words in context should be frequent. Oral reading
should occur in a setting in which teens are comfortable taking risks. - Fluent reading should be modeled and students should have numerous opportunities to
practice. - Students should have opportunities to read independently.
- Study of word structure (e.g., affixes) and word origin (e.g., Latin) enhances students’ ability to
recognize words and access word meanings.
Support is provided on the basis of ongoing assessment. In other words, students receive the
instruction they need; their time is not wasted with instruction in skills they already possess. Time is of
the essence: assistance should be provided swiftly, be fast paced to accelerate learning, and address
what is needed. Collaboration among all teachers is paramount for serving students experiencing
difficulties. Special education teachers, reading specialists, ELD teachers, and content-area teachers
should coordinate instruction; co-teaching and co-planning should be regular practices.
Each of the supports for students should be provided in a warm, inviting, and respectful
environment that provides access to appropriate high-interest materials and educators committed to
advancing the literacy of all students (Carnegie Council on Advancing Adolescent Literacy 2010).
English Language Development in Middle School
As EL adolescents leave their elementary years and
progress through middle school, the content they encounter
and the language they are expected to understand and
produce in school become increasingly complex. The key
content understandings and instructional practices described
in previous sections of this chapter are important for all
middle school students. However, for ELs’ development of
content knowledge and academic English, it is critical for
teachers to create the intellectually rich, interactive, and
inclusive types of learning environments called for in the CA
CCSS for ELA/Literacy and the CA ELD Standards. School
may be the only place where ELs have the opportunity to
All EL middle school students
can engage meaningfully
in complex, cognitively
demanding, content-rich tasks
requiring the use of academic
English, as long as they receive
appropriately scaffolded
instruction to do so.Grades 6 to 8 Chapter 6 | 543