Module 5 Discussion: Language Acquisition in Content Areas

When teaching students, especially those students learning a second language, it is very important to integrate subjects and topics as much as possible.  This allows for the best use of time during the school day, and to deepen the student’s understanding of a certain topic.  Some strategies that teachers can employ include:

Writing a Morning Message and/or the Essential Questions on the board daily.  Students could be responsible for copying the messages and questions into their notebooks which would reinforce written language goals including syntax and grammar standards.  

Creating Word Walls in the classroom - Word walls are a visual collection of words that are decoded and defined in the classroom.  While these word walls should include conversational vocabulary, it would also be an excellent spot to showcase academic vocabulary as well.  Students could also be invited to create a collection of words that they find in the reading that they do not know the definition for.  In this sense, the class would create a large collection of interdisciplinary words to review together.

Read Alouds - Teachers should read to students frequently and choose books carefully to integrate other academic subjects.  For instance, as a reading and social studies teacher, I always choose class novel studies from a list of books that highlight our social studies standards.  Books, and class read alouds, are also a great way to integrate social and emotional learning into our curriculum.