Division Contact Info
Email the Curriculum & Instruction Department Diane Elia Debbi Puente Adam Wade
Ellen Hickey Fax: (831) 466-5846 Division Pages
Educational Services Division
Improving Content Literacy:Leveling the Playing Field for English Learners
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Juan sits in his 9th grade Biology class trying to pay attention to what his teacher is explaining about plant cells. He listens intently to an explanation of chloroplasts. As he focuses on the image the teacher is pointing to, his mind considers the English word, searches for the Spanish word, and then applies that word to the larger concept of plant cells. Once he understands what chloroplasts are in relation to plant cells, Juan realizes that his teacher is midway through another explanation on mitochondria so he frantically scans the white board for clues. Lubia is not as fortunate. She does not have the same academic language background in Spanish as her classmate, so she relies on what she can ascertain from the teacher’s explanation and the image he is pointing to.
In school, English learners face quite a challenge. Not only must they acquire English to levels comparable to that of a native speaker of the same age and grade level, but they must also meet the same challenging grade-level standards and graduation requirements. With approximately one in every 3.5 students in Santa Cruz County being an English learner, supporting this population to excel academically is critical.
One of the instructional strategies these teachers learned is the simple, yet complex, 10-2/2. This instructional strategy emphasizes the breaking down of lectures to, at the most, 10 minute chunks. From there, teachers promote 2 minutes for students to write what they have learned then 2 minutes for students to share their learning with a peer. By breaking instruction into manageable increments, the 10-2/2 approach ensures that students are given regular opportunities to reflect and process when faced with challenging, new content.
Another outcome of this professional learning opportunity is to give teachers teaching like content areas time to examine practice and strategically plan ways to build language instruction into their content driven lessons. Processing with colleagues and learning from each other is a critical component to improving instructional practice.
