What?language function?is essential for students to develop conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and mathematical reasoning/problem-solving within your lesson? Describe or p
Module X Discussion – Academic Language
- Include your subject/grade and the general topic in the title of your thread. (For example, “Algebra II – Quadratic Functions”). This will let others in the class know what the focus of your plan is before opening the thread.
2. Choose one of the lessons you will use in your Unit Plan. Respond to the following questions:
- What language function is essential for students to develop conceptual understanding, procedural fluency, and mathematical reasoning/problem-solving within your lesson?
- Describe or provide a copy of the learning task or activity from your lesson plan that provides students with opportunities to practice using the language function.
- What vocabulary and/or symbols are students required to understand and/or use in the task or activity described in part b?
- How will students engage in discourse in your lesson?
- How will you support students to understand, develop, and use the language demands described above? For example, what strategies will you utilize to promote their understanding and use of vocabulary? How will you structure activities to support students to engage in discourse (e.g., use a think-pair-share strategy)?
After posting your response: In your response, provide feedback on the following questions:
- Is the description of the language demands clear? Does it match the definitions/examples offered in the resources? If not, how could the author adjust?
- What are other strategies that could be used to support students to understand, develop, and use the language demands? For example, are there other strategies (e.g., word walls) that could be used to promote the language demands?
AL_SEM_v01
Copyright © 2018 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. The edTPA trademarks are owned by The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Use of the edTPA trademarks is permitted only pursuant to the terms of a written license agreement. This document was authored by the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity (SCALE) with design assistance from Evaluation Systems.
Academic Language Handout: Secondary Mathematics Version 01
Candidate Support Resource
Understanding Academic Language in edTPA: Supporting Learning and Language Development
Academic language (AL) is the oral and written language used for academic purposes. AL is the "language of the discipline" used to engage students in learning and includes the means by which students develop and express content understandings.
When completing their edTPA, candidates must consider the AL (i.e., language demands) present throughout the learning segment in order to support student learning and language development. The language demands in Secondary Mathematics include function, vocabulary, discourse, syntax, and mathematical precision.
As stated in the edTPA handbook:
Candidates identify a key language function and one essential learning task within their learning segment lesson plans that allows students to practice the function (Planning Task 1, Prompts 4a/b).
Candidates are then asked to identify vocabulary and one additional language demand related to the language function and learning task (Planning Task 1, Prompt 4c).
Finally, candidates must identify and describe the instructional and/or language supports they have planned to address the language demands (Planning Task 1, Prompt 4d). Language supports are scaffolds, representations, and instructional strategies that teachers intentionally provide to help learners understand and use the language they need to learn within disciplines.
It is important to realize that not all learning tasks focus on both discourse and syntax. As candidates decide which additional language demands (i.e., syntax and/or discourse) are relevant to their identified function, they should examine the language understandings and use that are most relevant to the learning task they have chosen. Then, teacher candidates should plan to provide appropriate and targeted language supports for students to learn and practice the language demands within the chosen learning task.
This AL handout provides definitions and a few examples of language demands and supports to help teacher candidates and educator preparation programs understand edTPA Rubrics 4 and 14. See the edTPA Secondary Mathematics Assessment Handbook glossary and the Understanding Rubric Level Progressions for Secondary Mathematics for additional examples of language demands.
Another valuable resource is the website of Understanding Language, the center that recently merged with SCALE. This website has a number of papers on academic language for all students, archived webinars (listed under "Events"), and periodic MOOC offerings. The most relevant resources for teacher candidates are the teaching resources in English/language arts (with an example based on history/social science texts) and mathematics, with materials forthcoming in science. These teaching resources are explained and annotated to illustrate how to combine academic language development and content pedagogy for all students, including English learners.
Academic Language Handout: Secondary Mathematics Candidate Support Resource
Copyright © 2018 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 2 of 3 All rights reserved.
Language Demands
I. Functions
Definition Examples (bolded and underlined within learning objectives)
Purposes for which language is used.
Content and language focus of learning tasks often represented by the active verbs within the learning outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to compare the lengths of various objects in the classroom.
Students will be able to explain what strategy(ies) they used to solve a problem.
Students will be able to describe the specific attributes of a parallelogram.
II. Vocabulary—Includes words, phrases, and symbols used within disciplines
Definition Examples
Words and phrases with subject-specific meanings that differ from meanings used in everyday life
table, ruler, square, face, chord, digit, times, set
General academic vocabulary used across disciplines compare, analyze, evaluate, describe, sequence, classify
Subject-specific words and/or symbols defined for use in the discipline
exponent, numerator, denominator, equilateral, multiple, ÷, ≥, × (symbols)
III. Discourse
Definition Examples
How members of the discipline talk, write, and participate in knowledge construction, using the structures of written and oral language
Discipline-specific discourse has distinctive features or ways of structuring oral or written language (text structures) or representing knowledge visually.
Constructing an argument (two-column proof)
Interpreting graphic representations (e.g., graphs, diagrams)
Making and supporting a conjecture
Academic Language Handout: Secondary Mathematics Candidate Support Resource
Copyright © 2018 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 3 of 3 All rights reserved.
IV. Syntax
Definition Examples
The rules for organizing words or symbols together into phrases, clauses, sentences, or visual representations
One of the main functions of syntax is to organize language in order to convey meaning.
Mathematical sentences (using words or symbols) including
o 6 ≥ 4
o There are 5 times as many apples as oranges.
Long or elaborate noun phrases
o Write an inequality that, when solved, will give the amount of sales Mandy needs to cover her planned expenses.
Conditional sentences
o If 50% of a number is 25, what is 75% of the number?
V. Mathematical Precision
Definition Examples
Being precise and accurate with definitions and symbols in labeling, measurement, and numerical answers
Correctly labeling the axes of a graph
Specifying units of measure during calculations
Calculating accurately and expressing numeric answers with appropriate precision for context of problem
Example of Planned Language Supports
To help programs and candidates begin to develop their understanding of language supports, start by examining a key standard or learning objective.
The chart below identifies sample language demands with related examples of supports based on one selected learning objective in mathematics.
Example learning objective: Students will interpret a word problem to find the part or whole prior to setting up and solving the problem.
Identified Language Demands Planned Language Supports
Interpret (Function) Model interpreting a word problem
Part, whole (Vocabulary) Review vocabulary and word chart and discuss meanings in the context of the word problems modeled
Word problem (Syntax) Break down sentences within word problems with the whole class to identify essential information and paths to solution
,
AL_SEM_v01
Copyright © 2018 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. The edTPA trademarks are owned by The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. Use of the edTPA trademarks is permitted only pursuant to the terms of a written license agreement. This document was authored by the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity (SCALE) with design assistance from Evaluation Systems.
Academic Language Handout: Secondary Mathematics Version 01
Candidate Support Resource
Understanding Academic Language in edTPA: Supporting Learning and Language Development
Academic language (AL) is the oral and written language used for academic purposes. AL is the "language of the discipline" used to engage students in learning and includes the means by which students develop and express content understandings.
When completing their edTPA, candidates must consider the AL (i.e., language demands) present throughout the learning segment in order to support student learning and language development. The language demands in Secondary Mathematics include function, vocabulary, discourse, syntax, and mathematical precision.
As stated in the edTPA handbook:
Candidates identify a key language function and one essential learning task within their learning segment lesson plans that allows students to practice the function (Planning Task 1, Prompts 4a/b).
Candidates are then asked to identify vocabulary and one additional language demand related to the language function and learning task (Planning Task 1, Prompt 4c).
Finally, candidates must identify and describe the instructional and/or language supports they have planned to address the language demands (Planning Task 1, Prompt 4d). Language supports are scaffolds, representations, and instructional strategies that teachers intentionally provide to help learners understand and use the language they need to learn within disciplines.
It is important to realize that not all learning tasks focus on both discourse and syntax. As candidates decide which additional language demands (i.e., syntax and/or discourse) are relevant to their identified function, they should examine the language understandings and use that are most relevant to the learning task they have chosen. Then, teacher candidates should plan to provide appropriate and targeted language supports for students to learn and practice the language demands within the chosen learning task.
This AL handout provides definitions and a few examples of language demands and supports to help teacher candidates and educator preparation programs understand edTPA Rubrics 4 and 14. See the edTPA Secondary Mathematics Assessment Handbook glossary and the Understanding Rubric Level Progressions for Secondary Mathematics for additional examples of language demands.
Another valuable resource is the website of Understanding Language, the center that recently merged with SCALE. This website has a number of papers on academic language for all students, archived webinars (listed under "Events"), and periodic MOOC offerings. The most relevant resources for teacher candidates are the teaching resources in English/language arts (with an example based on history/social science texts) and mathematics, with materials forthcoming in science. These teaching resources are explained and annotated to illustrate how to combine academic language development and content pedagogy for all students, including English learners.
Academic Language Handout: Secondary Mathematics Candidate Support Resource
Copyright © 2018 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 2 of 3 All rights reserved.
Language Demands
I. Functions
Definition Examples (bolded and underlined within learning objectives)
Purposes for which language is used.
Content and language focus of learning tasks often represented by the active verbs within the learning outcomes.
Learning Objectives:
Students will be able to compare the lengths of various objects in the classroom.
Students will be able to explain what strategy(ies) they used to solve a problem.
Students will be able to describe the specific attributes of a parallelogram.
II. Vocabulary—Includes words, phrases, and symbols used within disciplines
Definition Examples
Words and phrases with subject-specific meanings that differ from meanings used in everyday life
table, ruler, square, face, chord, digit, times, set
General academic vocabulary used across disciplines compare, analyze, evaluate, describe, sequence, classify
Subject-specific words and/or symbols defined for use in the discipline
exponent, numerator, denominator, equilateral, multiple, ÷, ≥, × (symbols)
III. Discourse
Definition Examples
How members of the discipline talk, write, and participate in knowledge construction, using the structures of written and oral language
Discipline-specific discourse has distinctive features or ways of structuring oral or written language (text structures) or representing knowledge visually.
Constructing an argument (two-column proof)
Interpreting graphic representations (e.g., graphs, diagrams)
Making and supporting a conjecture
Academic Language Handout: Secondary Mathematics Candidate Support Resource
Copyright © 2018 Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. 3 of 3 All rights reserved.
IV. Syntax
Definition Examples
The rules for organizing words or symbols together into phrases, clauses, sentences, or visual representations
One of the main functions of syntax is to organize language in order to convey meaning.
Mathematical sentences (using words or symbols) including
o 6 ≥ 4
o There are 5 times as many apples as oranges.
Long or elaborate noun phrases
o Write an inequality that, when solved, will give the amount of sales Mandy needs to cover her planned expenses.
Conditional sentences
o If 50% of a number is 25, what is 75% of the number?
V. Mathematical Precision
Definition Examples
Being precise and accurate with definitions and symbols in labeling, measurement, and numerical answers
Correctly labeling the axes of a graph
Specifying units of measure during calculations
Calculating accurately and expressing numeric answers with appropriate precision for context of problem
Example of Planned Language Supports
To help programs and candidates begin to develop their understanding of language supports, start by examining a key standard or learning objective.
The chart below identifies sample language demands with related examples of supports based on one selected learning objective in mathematics.
Example learning objective: Students will interpret a word problem to find the part or whole prior to setting up and solving the problem.
Identified Language Demands Planned Language Supports
Interpret (Function) Model interpreting a word problem
Part, whole (Vocabulary) Review vocabulary and word chart and discuss meanings in the context of the word problems modeled
Word problem (Syntax) Break down sentences within word problems with the whole class to identify essential information and paths to solution
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