Repeated Reading (Script Writing and Readers Theatre)

ELPS Reading:
4(G) demonstrate comprehension of increasingly complex English by participating in shared
reading, retelling or summarizing material, responding to questions, and taking notes
commensurate with content area and grade level needs;
ELPS Writing:
5(G) narrate, describe, and explain with increasing specificity and detail to fulfill content area
writing needs as more English is acquired.
Description:
Choose a book and read aloud in class. Stop to make note of key vocabulary or ideas
students should be aware of. After this, explain how to write a dialogue or script from the story.
The teacher should model this using a particular scene in the book. They should emphasize that
the exact words in the book do not need to be used. Allow students to work in pairs to write
dialogue. Pair strong English speakers and writers with ELLs. Students should practice reading
the script aloud, and then perform for others.
Rationale:
This is a both an productive and receptive strategy, as students are reading, writing, and
speaking. A key concept in writing dialogue from a story is the importance of creating meaning
from the written words. Students have to decide what tone to use for their characters, which
forces them to analyze and truly comprehend what the characters in the story are saying and
thinking. It develops writing skills by allowing the readers to rewrite a story. By having the
basis for the story, ELLs do not need to be fully developed writers in order to write readable
Running Head: LITERACY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES 1
dialogue. It is also a fun interactive activity that allows students to work together in a anxiety-
free environment.
Sentence Shortening
ELPS Writing:
5(F) write using a variety of grade-appropriate sentence lengths, patterns, and connecting words
to combine phrases, clauses, and sentences in increasingly accurate ways as more English is
acquired;
Description:
The teacher should start by discussing the importance of concise sentences. While some
sentences may use a lot of descriptive words, others may ramble and use too many words, which
takes aware from the meaning of the sentence. This should be demonstrated by displaying a long
sentence and rewriting it into a shorter sentence, while explaining what makes the shorter
sentence more effective. The teacher can then write long, wordy sentences on the board or
overhead and have students rewrite the sentence on their own or in pairs. Students should write
the sentence to be as short as possible without losing meaning. The teacher can choose to make
it a competition by having students compete for the shortest sentence.
Rationale:
This writing strategy allows students to develop style in their writing. Students can learn
that sentences look different -- they can be long or short, they can be written in different ways
without losing meaning. Students are also able to work with each other to create shorter
sentences, which makes it fun as a competition and increases their oral skills. According the the
SIOP model, the teacher is creating a useful sheltered lesson by building background on different
Running Head: LITERACY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES 2
types of sentences, providing comprehensible input though explanation of shortening sentences,
modeling how it is done, and allowing time for practice and interaction with other students.
Journals (Personal and Dialogue)
ELPS Writing:
5(C) spell familiar English words with increasing accuracy, and employ English spelling patterns
and rules with increasing accuracy as more English is acquired;
5(E) employ increasingly complex grammatical structures in content area writing commensurate
with grade-level expectations, such as: (i) using correct verbs, tenses, and pronouns/antecedents;
(ii) using possessive case (apostrophe s) correctly; and (iii) using negatives and contractions
correctly;
Description:
Journals are a wonderful resource in the Language Arts classroom. They can be used
every day as a way of allowing students to simply write their personal thoughts. The teacher
may choose to allow students to write about anything they are currently thinking about or
provide a daily prompt. In my classroom, I would choose to utilize a daily prompt and have
students respond to it. This allows correlation with the content while encouraging writing, which
is an important part of the ELA classroom as well.
Rationale:
The wonderful thing about using journals in the classroom is that they help students
develop fluency in their writing. Fluency deals with being able to write easily, but it comes with
practice. In addition to fluency, ELLs develop automaticity, which is also a great skill to
develop. The Language Arts classroom is the perfect way to practice regularly, and journals are
Running Head: LITERACY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES 3
a wonderful way to do it. Personal journals are non-threatening, but help ELLs develop the
fluency needed. Dialogue journals are a great tool because they allow the teacher to respond to
the content of what students are writing, which continues to encourage students to write with
more freedom. As they do this, they will write with increasingly complex sentence patterns and
structures. It is okay if these are not correct just yet, because it is developing the ELLs comfort
in writing them.
Resources
Peregoy, S.F., & Boyle, O.F. (2013). Reading, writing, and learning in ESL: A resource book for
teaching K-12 English learners (6th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Trevino, E. (2014). Sheltered instruction and the SIOP model. [PDF Document]. Retrieved
from http://hbu.learninghouse.com/file.php/34/5304_04_Lecture12_ShelteredInst.pdf
Running Head: LITERACY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES 4