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English Language Learner Supports

© 2014 Amplify Education, Inc. All trademarks and copyrights are the property of Amplify or its licensors. | 1

The Amplify ELA curriculum includes a variety of supports for ELL students and their teachers.

Differentiation Lesson Briefs

Prior to every lesson, after reviewing the lesson overview and prep, teachers may view a differentiation brief,

which includes 2-3 paragraphs of suggested modifications for that lesson -- typically, 3-4 ideas total. These

ideas are written specifically for English Language Learners. Sometimes, a single modification for a variety

of activities will be included. In other cases, all of the ideas will focus on a single activity that is crucial to the

lesson.

Here is an example from a lesson on the memoir, Red Scarf Girl:

Lesson Title: Ji-li’s Troubles Begin

Lesson Overview: The opening chapter of Red Scarf Girl starts with a thrilling opportunity for Ji-li, but

her hopes are dashed almost immediately when she finds out that her family doesn’t have the right

“class status.” By acting out a scene from this first chapter, students see how the author uses both

dialogue and actions to convey her feelings, especially her hope (or lack thereof). By graphing her level

of hopefulness in two parts of this scene, students practice making inferences about specific details in

the text.

In this lesson, students graph Ji-li’s level of hopefulness in two scenes from the first chapter. They will

continue tuning in to her level of hopefulness throughout future lessons using an App called the “Hope-

O-Meter.”

Prep:

• Be prepared to narrated a scene from “The Liberation Army Dancer.” You will also need six

volunteers to act, four of whom will have speaking parts. If possible, choose volunteers in advance

so they can practice their parts for homework.

• Prepare to project a graph on a whiteboard. If you do not have a white board on which you can

project, draw the graph on a board. The graph can be found in the Materials list, and is used in the

Hope-O-Meter activity.

Text: Red Scarf Girl, Chapter 1: “The Liberation Army Dancer”

Words to Use:

• exemplary• successors• liberate• tone• political

• troupe

Differentiation Brief:

1. Consider pairing a stronger reader with a struggling reader for the highlighting activity. This approach benefits both students. The struggling reader receives peer support and the strong

reader has an opportunity to solidify his or her skills by providing support to a classmate.

2. Hopeful/Hopeless may feel abstract and vague for some students. Consider providing images for the Hope-o-Meter activity.

3. Depending on the needs of the student, a summary may be a useful support for reading comprehension.


Look Fors

Embedded in each lesson are “look for” suggestions targeted to any student who may need in-the-moment

support. The Look For section of each lesson will include three specific examples of how students may

struggle, with examples of explicit “Say/Do” feedback teachers may provide in response to each situation.

The “Look Fors” are easily absorbed, actionable guidance for teachers. While the “Look Fors” are not targeted

specifically to English Language Learners, they will be helpful to these students.

The “Look Fors” also include information for what a teacher should expect to see from students who are “On

Track”—i.e., who are moving smoothly through the lesson and activity stack.

LOOK FORS SAY/DO

ON TRACK: Answers the question, Yes or No.

Provides evidence about bacteria, brain swelling, shock, or blood loss.

Correct answer might also include marveling at the physical facts of the injury.

“Wow, you are not easily impressed by Phineas’ survival. You must be very confident about the human ability to survive this type of brain injury—maybe you should be a doctor.”

“Finally, someone explains how remarkable it is that Phineas survived when his brain was exposed to so many bacteria. Can you read that later during sharing?”

Look For: Student is stuck. “Are you surprised that he didn’t die? Point to something in the text that makes you think he should have/could have died.”

“Exactly how would THAT (insert detail from text) cause someone to die?”

“Start writing about THAT…, right here.”

Skill: Staking a claim

Look For: Student hasn’t answered the question and IS writing about relevant evidence.

“Good evidence. I’m looking forward to seeing how you answer the question.” (Come back in two minutes to make sure the student provides a Yes/No answer.)

Skill: Staking a claim or selecting relevant evidence

Look For: Student hasn’t answered the question and is stuck or writing about irrelevant details from the text.

“Are you surprised that he didn’t die? Point to something in the text that makes you think he should have/could have died.”

“Exactly how would THAT (insert detail from text) cause someone to die?”

“Start writing on the next line about THAT, right here.” (Don’t worry about what they’ve already written.)

Skill: Describing how the evidence supports the claim

Look For: Student quotes the text without any elaboration. You can’t tell if he or she understands what could have caused Phineas to live or die.

“Ah, there’s something about the blood-brain barrier. I had to read that three times in order to understand it. Explain to me exactly what the blood-brain barrier has to do with Phineas living or dying.


Vocabulary Strand for ELLs

At the start of each lesson, teachers may direct ELL students to participate in a vocabulary activity that

introduces words essential to text comprehension. For each of 5-8 words per day, for a total of roughly

75 words per unit, students work with each word in four ways. Students see the word in the middle of the

screen. They then must identify the right image from four choices, three of which are incorrect distractors.

They must find the correct Spanish translation of the word, again from four choices. They see four sample

contextual sentences and must decide which is the correct one in which to place the target word. And

they must identify the correct English definition. Because students can tap-and-click on each of these four

activities for each word in the order of their choice and may try again as long, and as often, as necessary,

learning can be both fun and efficient.

ELL Vocab: Multiple-Choice Activities

CONTEXT SENTENCE

True! – nervous – very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?

DEFINITION

worried& afraid

SPANISH TRANSLATION

nervioso

nervousESP

This pane shows a mock-up of the screen for a set of ELL vocabulary activities around the target word, “nervous,” and each of the four

activities with which ELL/Spanish-speaking students will engage. Clockwise from top left: identifying an image that illustrates the

word; selecting the correct Spanish translation for the word; defining the word in English; and finding the right usage of the word in a

contextual sentence.


nervousCONTEXT SENTENCE

IMAGE

DEFINITION

SPANISH TRANSLATION

nerviosoIn this activity, students

view four images, one of

which depicts the target

word (e.g., “nervous”).

If a student clicks on the

wrong image, he or she

gets to try again.

In this activity, also

shown as a design mock-

up, students select the

correct Spanish synonym

for the target word (e.g.,

“nervous”) from four

choices. If student selects

the wrong choice, he or

she may gets to try again.


nervousCONTEXT SENTENCE

IMAGE

DEFINITION

SPANISH TRANSLATION

nervioso

He had the eye of a a pale blue eye, with a film over it.

True! very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?

You me mad. Madmen know nothing

Presently I heard a slight , and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain

In this activity, students

see four sentences, and

the target word makes

sense in only one of

them. If the student

chooses incorrectly, he or

she may try again.

In this activity, students

see four English words,

only one of which is the

correct translation of the

target word. If a student

selects the wrong word,

he or she may try again.

nervous

nervioso

CONTEXT SENTENCE

IMAGE

DEFINITION

SPANISH TRANSLATION

mother orfather

worriedand afraid

from moderntimes

to not believe


ELL Vocab: Designs for Four Words

This screen and the three that follow display another layer of student interaction available through the Amplify

ELL program. Before students engage with the multiple-choice activities described above, they move through the

icons in black in the middle of each screen. All of the words in these demonstration screens are from the text, Red Scarf Girl, the anchor text for Unit 8A/Personal Narrative.

Left to right: Tapping on the first black icon displays the correct image to align with the target word (e.g.,

“parents). Tapping on the book reveals the correct contextual usage in a sentence. The puzzle piece displays the

correct English definition; and the key shows the correct Spanish translation of the word.


Professional Audio Reads for Core Texts

Most core texts are married to an audio reading of the text, a superb fluency support for students learning

English. Students may stop and start the audio at any point as they read at home or, with headphones, as

they read in class. The readings go well beyond the text-to-speech computer voice that is embedded in

tablets and computers. Professional actors read for each of the core texts. The read-aloud is available when

students activate a “microphone” icon both on a digital device during classwork or in the virtual library

(eReader).

The Reveal Tool

The Reveal tool for all core texts, whether inside of lessons or in the Virtual Library, enables students to

“reveal” short, contextual definitions of some 1,500 words in the course of a single Amplify ELA year. Each

word “revealed” is captured in the Personal Glossary of that student’s Virtual Library. This support is suited

to all students but offers student-driven, differentiated support especially meaningful for struggling readers.

When a student taps on a word that displays small circles above it, a short in-context definition appears. Each of these words also will

be included in a student’s Personal Glossary, to which he or she can return for reminders of the meaning of unfamiliar words.

Above, the student has Revealed the meaning of the word “flourishing” to expose the definition “doing well.” The student has not yet

Revealed the in-context definition for the word, “jaunty.”

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