Speaking Instruction, Grades K-6
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Practices
ELL Overview
This section presents six practices for speaking instruction in grades K-6. Because speaking is an integral and engaging part of the learning process, speaking instruction should be woven into reading and writing instruction. Talk is important in a classroom: Through speaking and listening to others, students refine their ability to tell stories, present information, and clarify their understanding of what they want to say. The teacher's job is to provide meaningful opportunities for discussion throughout the school day. As you read these practices, keep in mind that when students are provided opportunities to share their insights about what they read and write, their comprehension increases.
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- Teachers provide ample opportunities for students to talk about familiar topics and then demonstrate to students how talking better enables them to write.
What is it?
Stories
Research
Resources
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- Teachers have regular conversations with individual students about their writing, thereby enabling students to improve the quality of their work.
What is it?
Research
Resources
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- Teachers model how to verbalize understandings and questions about readings and then provide opportunities for students to practice these comprehension strategies.
What is it?
Stories
Research
Resources
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ELL Overview
Oral language provides the foundation for English literacy
development. English language learners (ELLs) need daily opportunities
to learn and practice oral language in order for their literacy skills
to flourish.
It is important to consider that many ELLs go through a
"silent period," during which they listen and observe more than they
speak. ELLs may speak at first in single words or short phrases. They
may speak fluently when using greetings and other basic phrases in
routine interpersonal situations, but speak haltingly when constructing
English sentences to express more complex ideas.
ELLs' speech may be ungrammatical, reflecting their lack of
experience with English word order, grammatical patterns, or word
endings. Their speech may be "accented," reflecting lack of experience
with English sounds, rhythms, and stress patterns. As a result, ELLs may
feel self-conscious about speaking, especially in large groups.
Criticism, ridicule, and public correction exacerbate these anxieties.
ELLs are likely to be more comfortable speaking in small groups.
ELLs may over-use high frequency words like nice or go until they
acquire a larger repertoire of more differentiated words, such as
beautiful, happy, entertaining, kind, generous or leave, depart, travel,
journey, race, hike, skip. While young ELLs naturally acquire the
language of play and daily life from social interaction with other
students and adults, ELLs require explicit instruction and modeling of
the more formal language used in academic settings to talk about reading
and writing.
In some cultures, discussion and story telling are filled with
personal anecdotes that are implicitly rather than explicitly connected
to the topic. Teachers may sometimes perceive these narratives as
rambling or disorganized. Writing conferences and other opportunities
for one-on-one conversations with a teacher provide great support for
the development of topic-centered narrative styles for use in academic
contexts.
In addition, use of their native language can provide ELLs with
much-needed clarification, explanation, and self-expression as they go
through the difficult process of learning to speak, read, and write in
English.
Teachers of all students will find useful insights and strategies in the sections Implications for ELLs and Strategies for Supporting ELLs below each practice under [What Is It?].
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