A primary goal of US college and career readiness initiatives is to ensure K-12 scholars develop the verbal skills to communicate effectively in diverse academic settings. Integrating routine classroom interactions that significantly improve students’ language and literacy skills is both a science and an art. Simply providing text-dependent questions and opportunities to collaborate with peers will not yield impressive linguistic results. Students at every age and reading level serve to gain from instructional guidance in targeted language to achieve a range of communicative goals within lesson interactions, from articulating and justifying claims to restating and comparing. Drawing on extensive experience teaching elementary and secondary English learners and developing readers, Dr. Kinsella details the language demands posed by text-based classroom collaboration and discussion and provides practical guidance and resources to help all students become more agile and confident communicators.

Participants will learn effective ways to:

• Implement interaction instructional routines using classroom-tested tools
• Integrate and meaningfully address advanced social and academic language
• Engage learners at every English proficiency level in academic discussions
• Set up and monitor productive student collaboration including language targets
• Design and assign response frames that model and scaffold competent communication
• Encourage thoughtful elaboration and justification during lesson discussions
• Guide students in constructing brief written responses using academic register
• Address critical language functions for secondary school, college and career readiness
• Integrate accountable listening tasks with relevant language targets
• Monitor language production during student interactions and class discussions
• Explicitly teach high-utility words linked to academic speaking and writing competencies
• Write effective language objectives addressing academic interaction and writing demands

Lunch will be provided.