Embedded supports and lesson scaffolding help students find literacy success
The National Education Association predicts that by 2025, one in four U.S. students will be English Language Learners (ELL).
At Lakewood Middle School in Lakewood, NJ, that one in four statistic is already a reality as 25% of their students are identified as Multilingual Learners. Recently the school has seen an increase in end-of-year test scores for their entire student body, including their MLLs. One factor that is aiding in the growth of proficiency at Lakewood is their adoption of CommonLit 360, a full-year ELA curriculum. Kevin Walters, Supervisor of ELA, Music, and Fine Arts for Grades 3-12 in Lakewood, has seen the difference and says, “Students are definitely more engaged in the discussion. They’re much livelier. And the students are definitely more invested and interested in what they're reading.”
Alicia Intromasso, 7th grade ELA teacher and Special Education Coordinator at Lakewood MS, agrees and says, “Students are not just sitting there and listening or reading a text. They're talking about it. They're interacting. They know they're going to write about it...It doesn't get boring because they're always moving and grooving.”
CommonLit 360 lessons include engaging instruction with intentionally embedded, research aligned, best practices that support all students, especially MLLs. In addition, CommonLit's tech platform includes tools that are particularly helpful for MLLs.
CommonLit 360 and the WIDA Standards Framework
When looking specifically at the needs of Multilingual Learners, the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards Framework provides four Big Ideas to keep in mind:
- Equity of Opportunity and Access
- Integration of Content and Language
- Collaboration among Stakeholders
- Functional Approach to Language Development.
In this article, we’ll explore how CommonLit 360 supports the first two of the Big Ideas in tangible and cohesive ways.
Equity of Opportunity and Access
Accessing grade-level work is instrumental in helping all students build proficiency, and CommonLit 360 simplifies this access for Multilingual Learners by providing built-in scaffolding with each lesson. Not only are the lessons in CommonLit 360 units engaging and relatable for students, they also have supportive features embedded into the lessons to help increase their skills and confidence. These include:
Editable introductory decks for each reading lesson that provide a preview of the lesson, build intentional background knowledge and supply vocabulary support to better ground students’ learning before reading. This preview, background knowledge, and vocabulary exposure ensure that all students are on equal footing before they read the text. By allowing for customization, these decks also let educators add their own flair and additional information when needed.
For example, in 9th Grade Unit 3 "Speak Up, Speak Out: Speech and Rhetoric" students read Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Prior to reading, they are prompted to engage in a Turn & Talk about their own dreams for the future. Then, they learn important historical context about the speaker and time period, and see an image of the occasion. Finally, the deck highlights unit vocabulary students will encounter in the speech. By helping MLL students contextualize the speech and visualize the occasion prior to reading, the subsequent text has more context and is more understandable for them.
Scaffolded in-text reading questions are designed to help students monitor their comprehension and give teachers the opportunity to check for understanding. By prompting students to stop and process what they’re reading in smaller chunks, these questions help all students access and comprehend grade-level text.
Built-in suggested reading modalities prompt teachers to transition reading between whole class, partner, and independent reading. This gradual release model helps ensure a good foundation and immersion in the lesson before students are reading on their own.
Multiple opportunities for informal discussion including brief turn and talk moments during reading and student-led post reading discussion questions. Lessons feature sentence stems that hark back to the unit’s Discussion Skill Lesson to support students in academic discussion. Holding these discussions in partnerships or small groups and making strong use of each unit's sentence starters can make discussion less intimidating for MLL students while developing their oral language skills.
Lessons designed with high leverage, repeatable reading structures and routines ensure teachers and students know what to expect from a 360 reading lesson. Clear, concise directions and strong routines foster a safe, predictable learning environment and ensure that MLL students focus their learning on the academic content and language within a reading lesson.
Translation and read aloud tools offer translation of texts and questions in over 40 languages, allowing ELL students to choose their language of origin and check their understanding of the original text with a side-by-side translation.
The design of the reading lessons in CommonLit 360, along with the supportive literacy tools available with them, increases ELL students' access to grade-level work and helps them to gain skills and confidence in class.
Integration of Content and Language
Multilingual students who are learning content in a new language develop their content and language skills concurrently. To assist in this acquisition, the lessons in CommonLit 360 feature ways to increase students’ reading comprehension and support their engagement with the lessons and with their classmates. Some helpful resources include:
Student reference sheets and anchor charts that reinforce the academic content inherent in each lesson and provide concrete assistance with literary and academic terms from the lesson. Across the curriculum, students are able to build strong academic language skills while engaging with the content of the texts. Each unit’s introductory lesson has a “key terms glossary,” and many reading and writing lessons feature reference sheets or anchor charts that further develop academic language.
For example, in 6th Grade Unit 1, students have to determine the theme of a literary text. By working through concrete steps provided in the lesson, students develop their general understanding of theme as well as explore specific themes found in unit texts. The accompanying reference sheet and anchor chart reinforce the academic content of the lesson and provide a resource for future lessons.
Graphic organizers are specifically designed to unit content and support comprehension of each unit’s specific academic content and knowledge building. For example, in 10th Grade U4 Ed2.0, Voting Rights: Then and Now, students are prompted to pause at strategic points throughout the unit to add information to their unit-wide graphic organizer, designed as a Voting Rights Timeline. This design supports comprehension of a complex topic by supporting students in organizing information chronologically and offering them a place to synthesize key information.
Visuals aids breakdown complex academic content. Providing graphics offers a chance for MLLs to leverage their viewing skills to build conceptual understanding. For example, in 9th Grade Unit 4 Ed2.0, Journalism and Society, students are introduced to the research process through a visual aid. This graphic provides structure for a complex process and enables students to visualize where they are at each step. It also supports development of academic vocabulary around the research process. In each research-focused lesson, students revisit the graphic to visualize where they are in the process and see how academic skills build upon one another throughout a research unit.
Related Media Explorations provide multimodal outlets of learning and feature helpful videos, podcasts, and visual images to reinforce content and develop content and language skills concurrently. These engaging lessons are positioned in strategic spots throughout each unit to provide the most impactful presentation of the information, and they feature opportunities for discussion in small groups or partners which are beneficial for MLL students.
For example, in the 8th grade Unit 4 Related Media Exploration, students watch multiple portions of videos near the beginning of the unit about how football culture has changed due to scientific discoveries about brain injuries. This then sets the stage for later readings on the subject, and it gives students additional background knowledge and language to better grasp themes and main ideas in reading lessons.
Culminating Tasks offer opportunities for students to develop and exhibit their language and literacy skills beyond traditional essays. These end-of-unit assignments include presentations, podcasts, ad campaigns and more. With reading and writing lessons throughout each unit that build towards the Culminating Task, students are able to experience lessons that focus on discrete writing skills that lead to a cohesive final product.
For example, in the 9th Grade Unit 4 Ed2.0 Culminating Task, students are tasked with researching an example of a time when investigative journalism caused change and then presenting about it. Writing lessons in the unit, give students explicit instruction on key research skills, and show them how to plan and use visuals for an effective Culminating Task presentation. Writing lessons that build towards the Culminating Task in this and all 360 units include multiple opportunities for peer learning such as small group brainstorming and partner review.
CommonLit 360 Supports Multilingual Learners
As classrooms become more and more diverse, having the tools to reach and support all learners becomes increasingly vital. CommonLit 360 is a research-based and cohesive literacy curriculum that provides this support in an inclusive and high-interest way.
Additionally, our high-quality curriculum also received an all-green rating from EdReports for grades 6-8. Connect with our team to learn more about how to bring CommonLit 360 to your school or district.
