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Writing for Multilingual Learners:

Empowering Language Development in All Classrooms

Hosted by the ML/Title III Team

November 12, 2025

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Recording

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About Us | ML/Title III Team

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Stacy Daniel

stacy.daniel@dpi.nc.gov

Marshall

Foster

marshall.foster@dpi.nc.gov

Silvia McDonald

silvia.mcdonald@dpi.nc.gov

Walter Moore

walter.moore@dpi.nc.gov

Susan Walz

susan.walz

@dpi.nc.gov

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Special Guest I ELA Team - Catie Cohen!

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stacy.daniel

@dpi.nc.gov

mary.phillips

@dpi.nc.gov

daniel.fugazot

@dpi.nc.gov

john.davis

@dpi.nc.gov

catie.cohen

@dpi.nc.gov

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Session Objectives

Understand ML Writing Development: Explore how MLs progress in their writing skills over time

Integrate Writing Across Content: Discover methods for embedding writing practice in various subject areas

Apply Scaffolds Effectively: Share strategies that support writing development in diverse classrooms

Provide Meaningful Feedback: Gain insights on giving constructive feedback that enhances student writing and understanding

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ELD and Content Standard-Based

Writing

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PARKING LOT

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Writing is Essential for MLs

Academic Success: Writing is a key driver for academic achievement across all subjects

Language Development: Strong writing skills enhance language acquisition and vocabulary growth for learners.

Assessment: Writing offers valuable insights into students' understanding and learning progress.

Why Writing?

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Level 1: Uses single words and basic phrases in writing

Level 2: Writes simple sentences with limited detail and structure

Level 3: Creates paragraphs with developing ideas and some supporting details

Level 4: Composes organized essays with clear arguments and relevant information

Level 5: Produces complex writing with varied sentence structures and rich vocabulary

Understanding ACCESS Proficiency Levels Guides Effective Writing Instruction

Teach writing as a process, not a product!

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Writing in the WIDA Language Charts

Language Charts:

Collaborate with all systems
Track language progress, guide curriculum and assessment
Pair ACCESS scores to instructional tasks

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Two communication modes: Interpretive and Expressive

When students write what scaffolds help them bridge these two modes?

Expressive

Speaking

Writing

Interpretive

Reading

Listening

Representing

Viewing

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Expressive Mode: Writing

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Expressive Mode Writing

Discourse

Sentence

Word/Phrase

Organization, Cohesion, and Density of Language by Key Language Use

Grammatical Complexity of Language by Key Language Use

Precision of Language by Key Language Use

Key Language Uses

Narrate - Inform - Explain - Argue

Dimensions of Language Across all Content Areas

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Understanding Expressive Language in the WIDA Charts

Expressive Language:

how MLs use language to communicate meaning through speaking and writing.

Key Skills

Construct ideas using appropriate vocabulary, grammar, and connectors.
Adjust language for task, purpose, and audience.
Use language to reason, persuade, or explain, not just to answer.

Level	Student Language Use
Entering / Emerging	Use modeled words, phrases, or short sentences.
Developing / Expanding	Produce connected sentences to describe, explain, or compare.
Bridging / Reaching	Use cohesive devices, precise vocabulary, and disciplinary language to build full explanations or arguments.

Progression Across Proficiency Levels

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Integrating Writing

Into Content Area

Instruction

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Language Features for All Grade Bands

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Mentor Texts: Content Area Writing Instruction that Supports Emerging Writers

Selected texts should:

Be grade-level complex.
Be aligned with content standards as well as ELD standards.
Model a specific purpose: inform, narrate, explain, argue, etc.

Guiding Students to Read Like Writers

Catie The mentor text is chosen with your audience (your students) in mind. The students will read the text like writers, with the goal of emulating features (selected beforehand by you).

What is text complexity?

Quantitative: use a resource to determine what grade level the text is most suitable for

Qualitative: use a rubric, such as one developed by NCDPI, to evaluate potential texts, including looking at text structure, language features, meaning and purpose, and knowledge demands.

Reader & Task: what are three or four areas of instructional focus? Do you anticipate potential challenges? How could you support success for all learners?

You likely have your own process for determining which ELD standard(s) will form the basis for your teaching and learning objectives. As a teacher, I had a mental checklist of the standards and expectations with which I was most familiar, and sought to branch out with other standards if they were appropriate. An additional, or alternative, resource are the language charts, which have considerable potential for streamlining instructional design.

Whichever resource you use, it helps to consider the Key Language Uses more frequently found in your content area. This will help you select the most appropriate writing task.

The key language uses can be thought of as broad genres, or types of texts. ELD standards focus on four categories of academic texts: narratives, explanations, argumentative, and informative texts.

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Mentor Texts: Content Area Writing Instruction that Supports Emerging Writers

Sourcing Mentor Texts

Existing

Texts

Aligned curricular materials

Online

publications

Real-world, authentic texts

Teacher-made examples

Student

samples

Created

Texts

Content/ELD specialist

Media

specialist

Curriculum specialist

Potential Collaborators

Consider where else texts could be sourced to expose students to language-focused learning experiences.

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Mentor Texts: Content Area Writing Instruction that Supports Emerging Writers

Supporting MLs‘ Writing Development: Resource Spotlight

Annotated mentor texts for grades K, 1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12.
ELD and ELA SCOS standards alignment.
Instructional context descriptions.
Highlighted language features in informational, narrative, and argumentative texts.

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Mentor Texts: Content Area Writing Instruction that Supports Emerging Writers

Planning with Mentor Texts

Once you have selected the text and the standards to help in writing the learning objectives.

Determine what academic language/ writing traits you would like the students to emulate.

Choose a couple or a few (not all) language features that the students should practice.

Finally, determine the most appropriate writing application.

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Discourse Across Content Areas

What Expressive Communication Involves by Content Area
Language Acquisition	Science	Math	Social Studies	English Language Arts
Communicate with others about what has been read or read aloud Apply and use rules of syntax and spelling Prioritize communication of ideas Employ dialogue, narration, or description Transfer skills from native language to program language Analyze and use gestures and facial expressions in communication Use sharp listening skills	Use precise vocabulary Explore theories and phenomena Generate questions and hypotheses Share observations and predictions Corroborate information Translating text into visual form Define problems	Use precise vocabulary Ask questions Share mathematical reasoning Cite examples and explain reasons Use real world examples Present a solution Critique reasoning of others Repeated reasoning, both abstract and quantitative	Emphasis on sourcing Contextualizing sources or texts Present judgment and interpretation based on evidence Interrogate and corroborate sources and accounts Use argumentative principles Discuss what has been left out and explore what is missing Interpret events and discuss bias and context in historical accounts	Use mentor texts to aid their writing craft Pay attention to organization, details, elaboration and voice Rely on the feedback of others Avoid formulaic writing Reflect on multiple texts Ask questions of the author Consider research or others ideas Discuss ideas and themes Argue both sides of a point

Adapted from LIS in the Content Areas & ASCD

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Strategies for Supporting

Writing Across Content Areas

Juicy Sentences Protocol

Sentence Combining

Additional examples are hidden in the presentation.

Attending to word/phrase, sentence, and discourse level considerations.

For use across content areas and grade-levels to support interpretive and expressive communication.

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What It Is

A collaborative protocol in which the teacher leads students through an analysis of meaningful chunks of a target sentence from a grade-level, content-aligned complex text. The analysis includes examining syntax, vocabulary, subtext, and other language features to derive meaning.

How To Implement It

Choose one sentence worthy of study from a text related to a current topic of study.

Target syntactically complex sentences that communicate multiple pieces of information.
Target sentences that are key to understanding main ideas.

Divide the sentence into meaningful chunks and display it for students.

No set number of chunks.
No predetermined criteria for dividing the sentence.

Facilitate a chunk-by-chunk discussion of the sentence, its features, and its meaning.

Direct student attention to important features.
Record student responses for reference.

Discuss what the sentence means as a whole with students.

Can be done whole-group, small-group, or in pairs.
Provide feedback on student interpretations to guide comprehension.
Confirm understanding of the sentence’s meaning.

Adapted from Student Achievement Partners

Juicy Sentences Protocol

The Juicy Sentences protocol is a collaborative learning experience where the teacher leads students through a chunk-by-chunk analysis of a target sentence.
The goal is for students to derive meaning from each sentence chunk and gain an understanding of how the sentence works to communicate meaning.
Take a few minutes to read through the steps of this protocol.

[allow time for participants to read steps]

The lightbulbs on this slide capture some high-level considerations for this strategy. I’d like to spotlight a few before we take a look at a model of how the Juicy Sentence protocol could be used.

Important to this protocol is the selection of a grade-level appropriate sentence from a text students are already reading or will read in the near future.
The chosen sentence should be complex enough to provide models of several language features.
Chunks can be the segments of sentences authors indicate with punctuation, but they don’t have to be. There is no set number of chunks, so teachers will need to divide sentences intentionally to focus on specific language features.
With each chunk both what is communicated by the author and how it is communicated is the focus. Think: What does this mean? Which language features communicate meaning?
Provide time for students to digest the sentence: this can be done whole group, small-group, or in pairs.
Ensure that feedback is given to students as they interpret meaning from the topic sentence.

[advance to next slide]

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Juicy Sentences Protocol

Model

From “The Secret Communication of Wolves”

Anonymous 9th Grade Student | Informative/Explanatory Writing

Juicy Sentence Analysis

Secondary Example

Because of the cooperation of the group, when it comes to hunting, the pack usually ends up victorious, and they have enough food for a couple of days.

Adapted from Supporting Multilingual Learners‘ Writing Development

Because of the cooperation of the group, when it comes to hunting, the pack usually ends up victorious, and they have enough food for a couple of days.

subordinating conjunction

connecting word to show reason

co ● op ● er ● a ● tion

Cognate: cooperación

How does the group work?

Because of the cooperation of the group, when it comes to hunting, the pack usually ends up victorious, and they have enough food for a couple of days.

subordinating conjunction

connecting word showing time relationship

What activity is the group participating in?

Commas connecting sequence of introductory phrases/clauses.

Because of the cooperation of the group, when it comes to hunting, the pack usually ends up victorious, and they have enough food for a couple of days.

Lexical chain: who is “the pack” referring to?

What does usually mean?

vic ● tor● i● ous

Because of the cooperation of the group, when it comes to hunting, the pack usually ends up victorious, and they have enough food for a couple of days.

comma and coordinating conjunction connecting two ideas

Lexical chain: who is “they”?

Because of the cooperation of the group, when it comes to hunting, the pack usually ends up victorious, and they have enough food for a couple of days.

“couple of” means “two” or “a few”

Let’s take a look at a model sentence. This Juicy Sentence comes from the Supporting MLs‘ Writing Development resource that Walter pointed out earlier! We’ll be breaking this target sentence down as a model; think of the examples on this slide as a menu of options a teacher might choose to highlight when engaging students in this protocol.

[speaker reads sentence aloud]

To help students break down this sentence, a teacher might first choose to focus on the opening phrase all the way to the first comma.

[click to advance animation]

Here, a teacher could choose to point out [click to advance animation] the subordinating conjunction “because” or [click to advance animation] refer to it as a “connecting word that shows cause” depending how familiar students are (or the teacher is) with names of formal grammatical structures.
A teacher could point out the syllabication of the word cooperation and [click to advance animation] identify it as [click to advance animation] a cognate to build connections between English and other languages.
A teacher could also pose a comprehension question like [click to advance animation] “how does the group work?”

[click to advance animation]

In the second chunk, a similar focus on [click to advance animation] the subordinating conjunction “when” could be helpful, but so would be [click to advance animation] a focus on it as connecting word showing time.
A teacher might [click to advance animation] ask a question to confirm student understanding of the activity the group participates in and to provide feedback on student understanding.

[slowly click through remain animations while speaker speaks: 10 more clicks total]

As the sentence analysis continues, teachers can point out the use of punctuation to connect or separate ideas, lexical chains that show connections between phrases that refer to the same subject, break down multisyllabic words to aid with pronunciation, etc.
The point is not to necessarily point out every possible language feature but to call attention to those that

are repeated in the target sentence;
contribute heavily to comprehension of meaning; and/or
provide exposure to new or reinforcement of previously taught skills.

Keep in mind, for newcomers, a side-by-side translation of the target sentence can support access to the big ideas within the target sentence.

[advance to next slide]

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Juicy Sentences Protocol

Model

Target Text: “The Secret Communication of Wolves”

Secondary Example

Sentence Chunk	Notes on Syntax & Meaning	Important Vocabulary
Because of the cooperation of the group,	This chunk of the sentence is an adverbial phrase that names a reason for successful hunting by wolves. Since the group works together	cooperation → co●op●er●a●tion “co-” means “with, together” “operate” means “to do work” “-tion” makes a word a noun Spanish cognate: cooperación
when it comes to hunting,	This chunk of the sentence is a dependent clause clarifying when cooperation takes place. while they are hunting,	“when it comes to” is an idiomatic phrase that means “with regard to”
the pack usually ends up victorious,	This chunk of the sentence is an the main clause that states the outcome of the cooperation. wolves tend to have successful hunts,	victorious → vic●tor●i●ous “victor” means “one who wins/conquers” “-ious” means “having the qualities of”

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Juicy Sentences Protocol

Model

Secondary Example

Original Sentence

Because of the cooperation of the group, when it comes to hunting, the pack usually ends up victorious, and they have enough food for a couple of days.

Re-wording After Analysis

Since the group works together while hunting, wolves tend to have successful hunts that provide enough food to last a few days.

While students discuss the overall meaning of the sentence and reword it, provide feedback on their understanding!

Target Text: “The Secret Communication of Wolves”

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Juicy Sentences Protocol

Model

From Chrysanthemum

Kevin Henkes (1991)

Target Text: Chrysanthemum

Juicy Sentence Analysis

Elementary Example

Chrysanthemum felt much better after her favorite dinner (macaroni and cheese with ketchup) and an evening filled with hugs and kisses and Parcheesi.

name of main character

subject of the sentence

Chrysanthemum felt much better after her favorite dinner (macaroni and cheese with ketchup) and an evening filled with hugs and kisses and Parcheesi.

describes how the character felt

Chrysanthemum felt much better after her favorite dinner (macaroni and cheese with ketchup) and an evening filled with hugs and kisses and Parcheesi.

Who is “her” referring to?

time/sequence word

Chrysanthemum felt much better after her favorite dinner (macaroni and cheese with ketchup) and an evening filled with hugs and kisses and Parcheesi.

parentheses interrupting the sentence

What did the character eat for dinner?

Chrysanthemum felt much better after her favorite dinner (macaroni and cheese with ketchup) and an evening filled with hugs and kisses and Parcheesi.

What is being

connected by “and”?

Chrysanthemum felt much better after her favorite dinner (macaroni and cheese with ketchup) and an evening filled with hugs and kisses and Parcheesi.

describing time (setting)

Chrysanthemum felt much better after her favorite dinner (macaroni and cheese with ketchup) and an evening filled with hugs and kisses and Parcheesi.

prepositional phrase starting with “with”

connecting word

joining the activities

proper noun naming a specific game

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Juicy Sentences Protocol

Model

Target Text: Chrysanthemum

Elementary Example

Sentence Chunk	Notes on Syntax & Meaning	Important Vocabulary
Chrysanthemum	Proper noun, capitalized because it names a specific person. Is the subject of the sentence. Chrysanthemum	chrysanthemum → chrys ● an ● the ● mum A chrysanthemum is a type of flower.
felt much better	Verb phrase stating how the subject felt. Shows a change in attitude or outlook. was happier than she was earlier in the day	better → bet ● ter
after her favorite dinner	Sequence word “after” tells when the subject felt better. once she had eaten	favorite → fav ● or ● ite

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Juicy Sentences Protocol

Target Text: Chrysanthemum

Elementary Example

Model

Original Sentence

Chrysanthemum felt much better after her favorite dinner (macaroni and cheese with ketchup) and an evening filled with hugs and kisses and Parcheesi.

Re-wording After Analysis

Chrysanthemum was happier than she was earlier in the day once she had eaten specific foods she liked and spent an evening with her family playing games.

While students discuss the overall meaning of the sentence and reword it, provide feedback on their understanding!

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Juicy Sentences Protocol

Your Turn!

Examine the target sentence below.

On a scrap sheet of paper or on the task slide, choose two sequential chunks from the sentence.

Then, interpret each chunk and note any grammatical, vocabulary, subtextual –or other– language features.

Target Sentence

When using the pincer attack, the pack splits in two groups and surround the prey (mostly deer, sheep, and other medium-sized mammals).

Secondary Example

Target Text: “The Secret Communication of Wolves”

Let’s try this out! On your copy of the presentation, access slide #__ if you aren’t there already!
Review the target sentence below.
Either on a scrap sheet of paper, a blank Doc, or the linked task slide, choose two sequential “chunks” from the sentence.
Record your interpretation of each chunk in a table and note any language features you might point out to students in a Juicy Sentences protocol.
If you’d prefer to work with an elementary example, see slide #__.

[provide time for participants to complete task]

Let’s debrief! Who can come off mute and share or drop in the chat a reflection about this experience?

How did it feel to read and interpret a sentence this way?
How might Juicy Sentences support language acquisition and written expression for MLs?
What did you notice?

[allow time for responses/debriefing thoughts]

Thanks for those insights! Let’s take a look at Sentence Combining to continue support ML students written expression.

[advance to next slide]

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Juicy Sentences Protocol Task Slide

Target Sentence

When using the pincer attack, the pack splits in two groups and surround the prey (mostly deer, sheep, and other medium-sized mammals).

Sentence Chunk	Notes on Syntax & Meaning	Important Vocabulary
[replace this text with one chunk of the target sentence]
[replace this text with an additional chunk of the target sentence]

Secondary Example

Target Text: “The Secret Communication of Wolves”

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Juicy Sentences Protocol

Your Turn!

Examine the target sentence below.

On a scrap sheet of paper or on the task slide, choose two sequential chunks from the sentence.

Then, interpret each chunk and note any grammatical, vocabulary, subtextual –or other– language features.

Target Sentence

And when she was old enough to appreciate it, Chrysanthemum loved her name.

Target Text: Chrysanthemum

Elementary Example

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Juicy Sentences Protocol Task Slide

Target Sentence

And when she was old enough to appreciate it, Chrysanthemum loved her name.

Target Text: Chrysanthemum

Sentence Chunk	Notes on Syntax & Meaning	Important Vocabulary
[replace this text with one chunk of the target sentence]
[replace this text with an additional chunk of the target sentence]

Elementary Example

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Sentence Combining

What It Is

A grammar-teaching strategy that involves students combining a series of short, simple sentences into longer, more complex sentence structures. Students develop awareness of various grammatical techniques for communicating multiple ideas in a single sentence with clarity.

How To Implement It

Create or source a series of a few topically related sentences.

Start with two or three sentences and gradually increase the number.
Align the content of the sentences with texts/topics currently under study.

Model one technique for combining ideas within a single sentence at a time.

Focus on common methods: coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, pronoun references, and embedded phrases.
Emphasize that exact words do not have to be used but that ideas should remain consistent after combining sentences.
Use previously studied sentences as mentor texts.

Provide time for students to work collaboratively and experiment with ways to combine sentences.

Circulate and provide feedback, as needed.
Have student pairs/groups share their combinations.

Provide time for students to independently combine sentences.

Encourage students to apply sentence combining to their own writing.

The Sentence Combining strategy involves providing students with a few simple sentences, explicitly teaching methods for combining them, and providing opportunities for students to practice with ample feedback.
The goal is for students to recognize that one sentence can communicate multiple ideas and various grammatical methods exist and can be used to combine sentences.
Take a few minutes to read through the steps of this protocol.

[allow time for participants to read steps]

Let’s spotlight a few consideration for this strategy before taking a look at a model.

Start with only two or three simple sentences to start; as students become more familiar, the number can be increased.
Just like with Juicy Sentences, sourced or created sentences should reinforce content learning and/or be related to texts students are reading or will read. Contextualized language lessons get more bang for their buck!
Choose common methods of sentence combining to model for students. Several examples are helpful, and even if a teacher’s “grammar knowledge” has gaps, they can still speak to combining methods in student-friendly language. Think: coordinating conjunction vs. connector word. The idea is to focus on function.
Previously studied sentences, such as those used during Juicy Sentences, can be used as models to save time and increase alignment in instruction.
When students are combining, feedback is essential. So is the opportunity for students to share their combinations with peers to see additional ways of achieving a similar outcome.

[advance to next slide]

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Sentence Combining

Developing Student Awareness of Complexity

Because of the cooperation of the group, when it comes to hunting, the pack usually ends up victorious, and they have enough food for a couple of days.

From “The Secret Communication of Wolves”

Anonymous 9th Grade Student | Informative/Explanatory Writing

Wolf packs cooperate with each other when they hunt.
Wolf packs tend to have successful hunts because of cooperation.
Successful hunts mean there is enough food.
Successful hunts mean food lasts for a couple of days.

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Sentence Combining

Model

Wolf packs cooperate when hunting.
Cooperation leads to successful hunts.
Successful hunts mean there is enough food.

Provided Simple Sentences

What is the relationship between these ideas?
What key ideas need to be included in the new sentence?
What combining technique can I use to combine these sentences?

Combination with Coordinating Conjunctions (FANBOYS)

Cooperation in wolf packs when hunting leads to successful hunts, so there is enough food for the pack.

Combination with Subordinating Conjunctions (AWUBIS)

Because wolf packs cooperate while hunting, they experience success and have enough food.

Combination with Conjunctive Adverbs

Wolf packs cooperate during hunts and experience success; therefore, there is enough food.

Secondary Example

Wolf packs cooperate when hunting.
Cooperation leads to successful hunts.
Successful hunts mean there is enough food.

Causal

Relationship

When modeling sentence combining, teachers should focus broadly on three areas: the important ideas in each sentence, the relationship between them, and a specific technique for combining them.
Let’s take a look at these three sentences. [click to advance animation] A teacher could think aloud in response to these questions to model for students. [speaker reads three questions aloud]

[click to advance animation]

In this model a teacher would underline “wolf packs: as an important subject, as well as the ideas relating to the activity of hunting since they are repeated in each sentence. A teacher would also need to point out that these sentences share a causal (or cause/effect) relationship.
It’s helpful for students to hear teachers think aloud about what ideas needs to be communicated and how they might be connected. These two considerations inform how sentences might best be combined, so thinking aloud helps frame the thinking students will ultimately need to do.

For newcomers, a translated set of notes of the think aloud can be a helpful scaffold to accessing modeled thinking.

Lastly, a teacher would need to choose one method of combination and model it for students. Let’s see what some options could look like.

[click to advance animation]

Coordinating conjunctions are a common method to produce compound sentences. Since these sentences share a cause/effect relationship, the word “so” can bring the ideas together.

[click to advance animation]

Subordinating conjunctions are used to produce complex sentences. Since these sentences share a cause/effect relationship, the word “Because” can bring the ideas together.

[click to advance animation]

Conjunctive adverbs with a semicolon are also used to create compound sentences. Since these sentences share a cause/effect relationship, the word “therefore” can bring the ideas together.
These and other methods of combining can be found in the Sample Language Features resource Walter pointed out earlier. Keep in mind to model one method of combining at a time and to provide ample time for practice and feedback prior to introducing additional techniques.

[advance to next slide]

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Sentence Combining

Model

Chrysanthemum felt much better.
Chrysanthemum played Parcheesi.
Chrysanthemum spent time with her family.

Provided Simple Sentences

What is the relationship between these ideas?
What key ideas need to be included in the new sentence?
What combining strategy can I use to combine these sentences?

Chrysanthemum felt much better.
Chrysanthemum played Parcheesi.
Chrysanthemum spent time with her family.

Complementary

Relationship

Combination with Coordinating Conjunctions (FANBOYS)

Chrysanthemum played Parcheesi and spent time with her family, and she felt much better.

Combination with Subordinating Conjunctions (AWUBIS)

Chrysanthemum felt much better after she played Parcheesi and spent time with her family.

Combination with Subordinating Conjunctions & Pronoun References

After she played Parcheesi and spent time with her family, she felt much better.

Elementary Example

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Sentence Combining

Your Turn!

Review the simple sentences below.

On a scrap sheet of paper or on the task slide, combine the ideas in the sentences into one sentence.

We’ll invite you to share your approach to your combination.

Sentences to Combine

The pincer attack is sometimes used by wolves.
The pincer attack involves surrounding medium-sized prey.
Medium-sized prey include deer and sheep.

Secondary Example

Let’s try Sentence Combining out! On your copy of the presentation, access slide #__ if you aren’t there already!
Review the sentences to combine at the bottom of the slide.
Either on a scrap sheet of paper, a blank Doc, or the linked task slide, combine the ideas in the sentences into one sentence.

Experiment with different ways of combining if you have time!

If you’d prefer to work with an elementary example, see slide #__.

[provide time for participants to complete task]

Let’s debrief! Who can come off mute and share or drop in the chat a way they combined the ideas?

How did it feel to combine these ideas?
How could Sentence Combining support language acquisition for MLs and written expression?
What did you notice?

[allow time for responses/debriefing thoughts]

Thanks for those insights! Let’s level set before moving on.

[advance to next slide]

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Sentence Combining

Sentences to Combine

The pincer attack is sometimes used by wolves.
The pincer attack involves surrounding medium-sized prey.
Medium-sized prey include deer and sheep.

Combining Workspace
[replace this text with your sentence combination]

Secondary Example

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Sentence Combining

Your Turn!

Review the simple sentences below.

On a scrap sheet of paper or on the task slide, combine the ideas in the sentences into one sentence.

Be prepared to share your approach to your combination.

Sentences to Combine

Being a good citizen means respecting others’ differences.
Being a good citizen means being responsible.

Elementary Example

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Sentence Combining

Sentences to Combine

Being a good citizen means respecting others.
Being a good citizen means being responsible.

Combining Workspace
[replace this text with your sentence combination]

Elementary Example

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Level Setting the Strategies

Interpretive Communication to Learn Language Features

Expressive Communication to Use Language Features

Juicy Sentences

Explicit instruction in language features.
Feedback on comprehension.

Sentence Combining

Explicit instruction in language features.
Feedback on sentence construction.

Explicit instruction in language features.
Feedback on comprehension.

Explicit instruction in language features.
Feedback on sentence construction.

Mentor Texts

To level set these strategies, consider how mentor texts play a role in both Juicy Sentences and Sentence Combining.
With both strategies, model sentences play a role in developing students’ awareness and use of language features.
Time spent with grade-level, content area texts is essential to building ML students’ awareness of language use across content areas.

[click to advance animation]

And, keep in mind that both of these strategies rely heavily on explicit instruction and feedback to students.
Combined with mentor text use, explicit instruction and feedback while learning and using new language features contribute to a language-rich learning environment.
Questions?
I’m going to turn it back over to Walter to chat about how a focus on sentence composition supports strong writing outcomes for MLs.

[advance to next slide]

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From Sentences to Strong Writing: Using WIDA Tools to Guide Growth

The WIDA Language Charts and Writing Rubrics work together to show how multilingual learners develop written language — from forming simple sentences to creating connected, meaningful texts.

Language Charts Help Us See…

What linguistic features students can produce at each proficiency level.
How students use language features (vocabulary, syntax, cohesion) to express meaning.

Writing Rubrics Help Us Evaluate…

Organization: how ideas connect and flow.
Language Use: range and precision of vocabulary and grammar.
Cohesion: use of linking words, transitions, and sentence variety.

Sentences to Strong Writing

Use these tools to set writing goals.

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Students began by writing individual sentences, then combined them into short paragraphs and full writing pieces — each stage supported by the Language Charts.

Connections :

Use the Language Charts to highlight the features students used (e.g., expanded noun phrases, connectors).
Use the Writing Rubrics to give feedback on how those features impact clarity and organization.
Celebrate growth in moving from isolated ideas → connected reasoning → organized writing.

Building Writing, One Sentence at a Time

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Putting It All Together

In the Chat | Reflection

Choose one or both of the following prompts, and respond in the chat:

What connections do you see between mentor texts, the juicy sentences protocol, and sentence combining and word/phrase, sentence, and discourse considerations for MLs?
Look back at your writing — what language features helped you connect your ideas and expand your writing?

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Feedback

Writing provides visible evidence of how students are using language to process and express content.

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Scaffolding Writing Through the “Teaching and Learning Cycle”

As with effective early reading instruction, corrective feedback that is specific, constructive, and followed by further opportunities for practice is likely to foster students’ writing development.

Gomez, Parker, Lara-Alecio, and Gomez (1996),

Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners: A Guide for K–12 Settings

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With a Rubric!

A writing rubric can clarify expectations for the students, and provide guardrails when evaluating work

Feedback is most effective when it is based on current objectives - focus on the main objective rather than spelling, grammar, or punctuation

Where Does Feedback Begin?

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Creating an authentic audience

Building language skills as students can practise academic language to give/receive feedback

Encouraging reflection—reviewing peers’ work helps students recognize strengths and needs in their own writing

Fostering collaboration and confidence through supportive feedback from classmates

Providing immediate input to complement teacher feedback

Peer review turns feedback into a shared learning experience that supports both writing growth and language development for MLs

Peer Review Strengthens the

Writing Process

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Example of Providing Feedback Based on a Rubric

Source

Writing Conventions and spelling feedback should be aligned to the proficiency level of student.

Providing Feedback

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Before Providing Feedback

Understanding Cross-Linguistic Features

Mandarin speaking students may write "I have pencil," leaving out the indefinite article, since articles are not used the same way in Mandarin as they are used in English.

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Consider Using the Contrastive Analysis Charts to Provide Feedback

What is it?

Charts to assist teachers in understanding the difficulties the English language can pose for native speakers of other languages.

The charts highlight predictable difficulties in phonology and grammar between English and a students’ first language.

Where can I find it?

Phonology Contrastive Analysis:

LETRS Volume 2 Appendix H: Contrastive Analysis

(p. B22-B30)

and

Language and Usage Contrastive Analysis:

(p. B31-B38)

When do I use it?

Use it to analyze data (observational, diagnostic, formative) to determine what might be causing difficulties in speaking, listening, reading, and/or writing.

Use it to inform planning.

Why do I use it?

It describes frequent phonological and grammatical divergences between English and other languages.

Differentiating instruction for MLs in this way supports making connections between their home language and English.

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Explore the Contrastive Analysis

Click Here for Contrastive Analysis

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Providing Feedback

Language Transfer Resources

Linguistic Similarities and Differences: This resource includes useful qualitative descriptions of how some languages differ in phonetics, syntax, and morphology from English. Includes: Spanish, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Korean, and the languages of China.

Language Transfers Handbook: This reproducible resource includes a contrastive analysis of the phonics and grammar forms of Spanish, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Hmong, Korean, and Khmer. Additional support is provided for Haitian Creole. Includes some guidance on providing writing feedback. There is also a glossary of Spanish-English cognates.

Spanish Phonemic Inventory: Two-page resource with more detail about Spanish phonology.

Linguistic Features of Mandarin: One-page resource includes grammatical and syntactical differences.

Mandarin Phoneme Chart: One-page resource comparing/contrasting Mandarin and English phonemic production.

Chinese Language Features: Manual, includes phonological, morphological, syntactic, pragmatic, and semantic features; also language transfer issues.

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Feedback Stems For MLs

Highlighting Strengths:

One strong part of your writing is ___.
One strong part of your writing is the way you used descriptive words to help the reader visualize your point.

Guiding Next Steps:

You could make this sentence stronger by ___.
You could make this sentence stronger by adding a transition word to connect your ideas smoothly.

Encouraging Revision:

Look at this sentence — how might you add more detail?
Reread this paragraph — where could you include an example or fact to support your opinion?

Focusing on Language Development:

I noticed you tried ___ — now try adding ___ to expand your idea.
You explained the cause. Can you add the effect using ‘as a result?

Celebrating Growth:

You used new vocabulary words we learned this week — excellent!
One strong part of your writing is the way you used descriptive words to help the reader visualize your point.

Worth the watch! Writing Excellence: Elevating Standards Through Collaborative Writing Practices

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For your review:

Writing Strategies

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The Writing Guidebook

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Guidance for supporting compositional writing across content areas K-12

Four recommendations with supportive strategies and resources

Anticipated roadblocks and suggested approaches

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Portfolios

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I see:	I think:

The Three Steps of Evidence-Based Writing: Noting Facts, Making Claims, and Explaining the Why

Step 1: Noting Facts (“What Do I See?”)

Step 2: Stating Opinions (“What Do I Think?”)

Step 3:Explaining the Why (“How Can I Explain?”)

Level 1 and 2 Writing Supports

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Anchor Charts

These are a proven strategy for keeping important information visible and accessible in the classroom.

Once the learning target has been identified, the teacher can co-create the chart with the students, asking questions about a recent lesson to guide recall. This is an excellent opportunity to review new material.

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What the research says

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Collaborative Story Slides

Create & Share: Make a Google Slides deck with one blank slide per student.� Share it with “Anyone with the link can edit.”�
Claim a Slide: Each student adds their name in the title or speaker notes of their slide.�
Start Writing or Drawing: Students write or create an image on their own slide.� (Give them a time limit or a sentence goal.)�
Add to Others’ Slides: When time’s up, students move to the next slide and continue the story.�
Keep Rotating: Repeat until time runs out or everyone has added to several slides.�
Return & Reflect: Students go back to their original slide to see how their story grew!

Optional Extensions:

Highlight favorite parts and comment on why they stand out.
Write a new ending or prompt based on how you’d finish the story.

From Ditch that textbook

Add and Pass with Google Slides

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Double the Impact: Two Great Tools

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Academic Discourse Playbook

Guidance for defining and supporting spoken and written discourse across content areas K-12

Three recommendations with supportive strategies and resources

Editable templates for customization of resources

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Final Thoughts

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Reflection

One move I will make to improve collaboration

One ML strategy I’ll use

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One way I’ll keep learning

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Webinars

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Effective Content Instruction for ML Students in Speaking and Listening

January 21, 2025

What’s Ahead …

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DL/I and WL Spanish Speaking Educator PD

Please register and share

Note: Available only to NC Educators

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Questions?

Your feedback matters!

Survey

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