Supporting English Learners in Science Instruction

There are many times when students are hesitant to participate in class, especially English learners. Supporting language development is important for all students, especially for English learners and nonstandard English speakers. PhD Science® builds teachers’ capacity to support English language development through collaborative conversations, grouping, and explicit introduction of terminology.

Collaborative Conversations

Class discussions help students make meaning of science, but English learners may hesitate to participate. Creating opportunities for all students to speak and listen to their peers in varied contexts (in pairs, in small groups, and as a class) helps English learners build their conversational and academic language skills. Opportunities can be created through instructional routines, classroom procedures that support the development of content knowledge and academic skills in an engaging and active way.

Grouping

Grouping students strategically promotes multiple means of student engagement, action, and expression. Grouping students with diverse abilities works well when students perform an open-ended task and each student has a specific role in the task (e.g., reading, recording data, note-taking). This student grouping method allows all students to participate and collaborate to complete a task, brings together students with complementary skills, and encourages a positive classroom culture. Grouping students with similar abilities or interests works well in tasks where different students read portions of the same text or apply mathematical skills to solve complex problems. This student grouping method allows students to collaboratively follow common interests or apply shared skills.

“By designing instruction in specific ways—such as attending to disciplinary language demands, tapping into background knowledge, providing visuals and graphic organizers, or grouping students by linguistic background—teachers provide students with equitable access to learning while simultaneously supporting and promoting language development” (Heineke and McTighe 2018, 26).

There are many ways to group students, and every teacher knows what works best for their class and students. When grouping students, consider the task they are to complete and allow for students to embrace choice to promote student agency. When appropriate, assign English learners to small groups of students who share the same native language.

Explicit Introduction of Terminology

Students make meaning of language when they interact with new terms through coherent, hands-on experiences in the science classroom.

Let’s take definitions, for example. Rather than simply memorizing and quickly forgetting definitions, PhD Science believes in students experiencing it.

Using an Activity Before Concept > Concept Before Terminology (ABC>CBT) approach, PhD Science engages students in activities that develop a basic understanding before a concept is presented. This gives students a point of reference when applying scientific terminology to a concept. The ABC > CBT approach helps students make meaning of language and acquire deep and lasting comprehension of scientific concepts when interacting with new terms. 

Students often develop ideas by using everyday or their own natural language before applying precise scientific language. This allows all students to clarify their ideas and deepen their reasoning. By describing scientific concepts in their own words, students internalize the more precise and scientific terminology, which leads to deeper understanding rather than rote memorization.

Terms should be introduced after students develop conceptual understanding in the context of exploring phenomena. Explicitly introducing important terms creates a strong base for students to understand these terms. The process of explicitly introducing terms may include the steps below, which teachers can customize based on the word and students’ needs.

• Oral introduction: The teacher pronounces the word aloud by breaking the word into syllables, and students repeat the word in syllables before pronouncing the full word. This strategy provides direct practice in correct pronunciation and allows students to hear the word several times.
• Morphology: The teacher or students identify Greek or Latin roots, prefixes, and/or suffixes in the term and discuss the meaning of each part. For example, for the term interact, the teacher may say, “The word interact has two parts. The prefix inter- means ‘together’ or ‘among,’ and act means ‘to do something.’”
• Cognates: If possible, the teacher provides cognates (words sharing a common origin) for terms in students’ native language. Examples of Spanish cognates include prototipo (prototype), observación (observation), and descubrir (discover).
• Alternate definitions: The teacher provides a student-friendly definition or explanation of the term. For example, for the word dam, the teacher may say, “A dam is a wall that blocks water from flowing.”
• Varying contexts: The teacher uses the word in more than one context. For example, a teacher introducing the word layer may say, “The word layer can be used in different ways. For instance, a cake can have layers. Each level of the cake is a layer. Or, if you feel cold, you may put on another layer of clothing, such as a coat or sweater.”
• Images or movements: While referring to words, providing relevant images is helpful. For example, when teaching the word canyon, the teacher may provide several pictures of canyons to help students associate the images with the word. Additionally, it may be helpful for students to connect movement with the meaning of an unfamiliar word. For example, when introducing the term orbit, the teacher may invite students to walk around their chairs.

Explicitly introducing important terms creates a strong base for students to understand these terms. Terms should be introduced after students develop conceptual understanding.

Sentence Frames and Word Banks

When asking English learners to use a new word in conversation or in writing, teachers may find it necessary to provide support beyond the explicit introduction. Sentence frames and word banks can support students as they use terms in context and develop proficiency with the structure and syntax of English. The process of introducing new sentence frames and word banks may include the steps below, which teachers can customize based on the task, terminology, and students’ needs.

• Frame: The teacher reads the sentence frame aloud, and students repeat through choral reading. The frame should include the new target word so students fill in surrounding content and not the target word itself. The frame provides a scaffold for students’ use of new terms and allows for varied responses.
• Sample sentence: The teacher uses the frame and reads a sample sentence, which the students repeat.
• Independent application: Students use the frame to write or say their own sentences. Students might confer with a partner before completing the sentence.
• Partner sharing: Students share their sentences aloud with a partner. Sharing with a partner allows all students to practice using the term orally. Creating opportunities for all students to share their ideas orally enables practice and reinforcement of academic vocabulary and syntax.
• Class sharing: Instead of asking for volunteers or calling on students randomly, the teacher selects several students to share sentences with the class, eventually hearing from all students throughout several days or a week. Giving students a question to answer in advance allows them to prepare their answers and respond confidently.

Customizing sentence frames with word banks can offer more support or a greater challenge. Teachers may create reusable sentence frames for tasks and concepts the class encounters frequently. For example, many PhD Science lessons ask students what they notice and wonder about an image or a text. Students may use sentence frames such as “I notice ...” and “I (think/wonder) because I see ...” Students can use these sentence frames every time they complete a notice and wonder task, gradually increasing their independence as they become more proficient with the language.

In Conclusion

After students learn terminology in a meaningful context, PhD Science supports language development through a variety of practices, including explicit introduction to scientific language, sentence frames, collaborative conversations, and graphic organizers. Appendix D: Domain-Specific Words, General Academic Words, and Spanish Cognates found at the end of each module’s Teach book contains a list of key terms in the module and their Spanish cognates to support English language development. In addition, many components of PhD Science are available in Spanish, including Teach books, Science Logbooks, most core texts, and more.

Below are some implementation recommendation reminders.

• Encourage students to develop conceptual understanding by using home or everyday language to explain concepts.
• Provide in-the-moment language support as needed, including modeling, demonstrations, graphic and sensory supports, and sentence frames.
• When appropriate, assign English learners to small groups of students who share the same native language.
• Consider the academic words students will use throughout each module and how those words relate to other content areas.
• Create a word wall.

No matter the academic language skills, students are encouraged to work together just like scientists and engineers do in the real world. Great Minds® believes that all students can engage meaningfully with science. To support our mission of ensuring all students have access to high-quality science materials, PhD Science is available as open educational resource (OER) PDFs at Levels K–2.

Works Cited

Heineke, A.J. & McTighe, J. 2018. "Using Understanding by Design in the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Classroom," 2018, page 26. https://books.google.com/books?id=VB9pDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&d#v=onepage&q&f=false