Elaborated Text

(based on Enlarged, Adapted Text from

99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model, p. 11)

Directions:

1. Select a passage from a text (around 300 words) that contains key vocabulary, grammatical, or syntactical structures (relative clauses, appositives, etc.) that you believe will be challenging to your students.
2. Type the text so you can easily add definitions or restatements. Consider using larger font.
3. Once you’ve identified challenging words, phrases, and structures, add annotations to elaborate on the meaning without removing the more complex vocabulary and structures.
4. Another format to consider is adding notes about highlighted words in a sidebar or two-column format (see example linked below). This option leaves the original text intact but provides easy access to an explanation of word meanings when needed.

When & How to Use Elaborated Text

• Before reading: Students can scan the elaborated text paying particular attention to where words are defined or phrases are explained. This provides a preview for them of parts of the text that may be challenging.
• During reading: Encourage students to interact with the text, underlining words or phrases they may need to come back to for further study. They could also draw an illustration of a concept or use other note-taking strategies (e.g. the Insert Method).
• After reading: Have students review the text again, this time focusing on the key content concepts in the text (main idea & essential details). If they use a vocabulary notebook, have them add new words from this reading to their notebooks.
• Group Size: This activity works with any group size. The only concern is preparing enough copies of the text (or sharing it out electronically) with all students in the class.
• Appropriate Ages/Grades/ELP Levels: This activity works for most ages/grade levels and content areas as long as you select appropriate text. Since the text is elaborated, it can be slightly above a student’s instructional level due to the added layers of support. The one limitation of this activity is that students need to be able to read at a basic level, so it is not appropriate for non-readers (including students at an ELDA level 1 & 2 who can only read simple words and phrases).

Materials Needed

• Text to be adapted (recommend 300 words or fewer)
• Learner-friendly definitions (e.g. Longman Study Dictionary, Longman Advanced American Dictionary, Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, or Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
• Other reference books as needed
• Website to simplify text http://rewordify.com (NOTE: Use Inline Display or Vocabulary Column Display to provide elaborated text rather than merely simplifying text.) Go to http://bit.ly/rewordify to see an example of text display options using Rewordify

Reference: Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J. (2008). 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model. Boston: Pearson Education.