Actively Learn - Background Knowledge and Language Development for ML Students

Build Background Knowledge

Background or content knowledge is essential for understanding academic texts and learning new content. However, ELLs may lack prior knowledge or familiarity with an experience, person, or concept that is addressed within a text that the author assumes readers already know about. Teachers often build background knowledge by pre-teaching key concepts. Although pre-teaching takes more time, it fills knowledge gaps and encourages ELLs to build on prior learning to deepen their understanding of a text or concept. Providing visuals and written explanations that help ELLs decipher the vocabulary and implicit references within a text will help them become more effective readers and promote critical thinking.

Thinking about using Actively Learn to build background knowledge?

• Add visuals that clarify unfamiliar vocabulary and provide information that is crucial to understanding a text. Visuals (e.g., photos, maps, videos, charts, timelines, graphic organizers, etc.) can be inserted throughout the text by adding media to a question or note. Use the Extra Help feature to differentiate instruction and provide targeted support for ELLs.
• Include teacher directions to pre-teach or review vocabulary, historical context, or important concepts that students will need to understand prior to reading the text. Add notes throughout the text that explain key ideas and provide background knowledge in simple English (or a student’s native language).

Develop Academic Language & Vocabulary

Academic language is critical for both learning new content and demonstrating one's learning. Compared to their English-proficient peers, ELLS often lack general academic and domain-specific vocabulary to understand challenging content-area texts. Explicit instruction and modeling related to a text's structure, syntax, and word choice builds disciplinary thinking, language, and comprehension. Providing opportunities for students to use academic vocabulary in writing and speaking also increases students' understanding of content and supports language learning.

Use Actively Learn to teach academic language and create opportunities for students to practice using content-specific vocabulary in writing.

• Insert notes throughout a text to highlight academic vocabulary, provide definitions for words with multiple meanings, or analyze text features, syntax, and language. Before assigning a text to students, model strategies that students can use while reading to support text analysis.
• After pre-teaching vocabulary and other language or text features, add directions to assignments in Actively Learn prompting students to use key vocabulary terms or language forms in their responses to questions and notes.

Ways to Accelerate Language Development

Unfamiliar words often become barriers for students while reading. Multilingual students can use the “Define” feature to read a word’s definition in simple English, see other sentences containing the word, and view a related image. They can also translate text into over 100 different languages.

Users can now use the Google Translate Chrome Extension to translate the entire Actively Learn website and most of our free texts into another language. Check out this video to see how this extension works on our site.

Text-to-Speech

Hearing a text read aloud builds listening skills and supports language acquisition. ML students can use the “Hear It” feature to hear a word or section of text read aloud in English or translated to another language.

Extra Help

Teachers can add “Extra Help” to questions or notes to provide targeted instruction for ML students. “Extra Help” is a great place to include sentence frames, add media to support vocabulary development, and scaffold complex language and text features.

Text Chunking

For many ML students, seeing several paragraphs of dense text is intimidating. The teacher can break up the text by inserting questions that require students to respond before they can continue reading. This allows ML students to focus on smaller portions of a text -- reducing the cognitive load as they make meaning of the passage.

Support Academic Writing & Discussion

Academic writing and discussion develops critical thinking skills and deepens a student's understanding of content. For ELLS, academic discussion also builds listening and oral language skills while also promoting engagement through social interaction. If discussions are structured thoughtfully, ELLS will benefit from listening to their peers model grammatical forms, vocabulary, and discussion strategies. Providing opportunities for students to write their ideas prior to discussion allows students to practice applying new language forms and reduces anxiety ELLS may have when sharing ideas aloud.

• Use the Extra Help feature in notes and questions to give ELLS supports related to the topic and language objectives (e.g., word bank with academic vocabulary, sentence stem for arguing a claim). Gradually reduce supports over time as students begin to internalize how and when to use target language forms.
• Add notes and questions within a text that encourage students to share their ideas as they are reading. This allows ELLS to review written models from their English-proficient peers and prepare their thoughts prior to an oral discussion. After reading, provide opportunities for students to build on their written responses during pair, small group, or class discussions.