Integrating Language Activities with Content Teaching

My previous blog shared one feature of academic language. In this blog, we’ll take a look at the other feature of academic language: Nominal Groups, as well as some language activities useful to integrate within the content.

             A Nominal Group is an extended group of words referring to a noun. An easy way to recognize a nominal group is if a group of words is easily identifiable as a pronoun, such as it, she, he, they, etc.  For example, a beast, is extended to a fearsome beast is extended to a fearsome beast with a beak…then…a fearsome beast with an 18cm beak…then…a fearsome beast with an 18cm beak, powerful wings, and a chunky neck. Etc. etc. Nominal groups create very dense pieces of language. The combination of nomianilization and nominal groups create very dense language for students.

            It’s important to help students understand and master these two features of language because:

1)   They create abstract and technical terms

2)   They “condense” information in texts thus making the information more condense and concise

3)   Allow us to talk about a general concept or phenomenon rather than the individual people and processes around an event.

By helping students to move from their “everyday” language towards becoming more literate in more complex and bigger ideas, we help students master the complexity of language.

            With that information, we can now move into classroom activities  that engage students in academic literacies. Here are some important points to remember:

·      Explicit teaching of academic language and literacy, when modeled and practiced enhances learning.

·      ELLs and other students learn best when the organization of the class includes a mix of direct instruction as well as varios groupings, like pairs, small group work, individual and student-centered work.

·      Find out what students already know and have experienced (prior knowledge).

·      Move towards complex text, don’t begin with them (as mentioned earlier).

·      Model appropriate academic language in your teaching and responses. For example, when a student says, “…it doesn’t’ stick, but when we turned the other one around, it sticks together.” You respond, “So when the magnets were facing one way, you felt the magnets attract and stick together. When you turned one of the magnets around you felt it repelling, or pushing away.”

·      Develop a metalanguage with students. (You should know this one- where students use language to talk about language.)

·      Integrate language activities with content teaching, like specific language activities within context of using language.

Here are a couple of activities that can be integrated into regular content teaching:

1)   Progressive brainstorm- a way for students to show what they already know about a topic at the beginning of a unit. It also helps build shared knowledge. Divide class into 4-5 groups. Each group has a different colored pen. Give a large piece of paper with a statement written in a circle in the middle of the paper. As a group, work together to form a semantic web. After a few minutes, rotate groups.  After rotation is complete, students should discuss what’s now written on their original paper. Each group briefly reports out. Display papers on wall for future access.

2)   Wallpapering- another way of brainstorming. Form groups of students. Give each group small pieces of paper to write one thing they know about the given topic. Papers are anonymous. Hang papers on wall. Students walk around and read and evaluate one another’s ideas. Students find at least 3 papers to comment on. Later, they share out to whole group.  

Stay tuned for my next blog with even more ideas on how to integrate language ideas into teaching content.