Proven Practices to Support English Learners in Making Academic Writing Strides

English learners in grades 3-12 need informed and systematic instruction that addresses their English language and composing needs. Rather than spending class time silently journaling, completing worksheets, or receiving feedback from peer editors, English learners need every teacher to serve as the over-the-shoulder writing coach their parents cannot be. Dr. Kinsella details research-informed writing instruction imperatives for educators serving English learners, including a student-friendly scoring guide for major assignments, targeted lessons on language and organizational devices for specific writing types, explicit analysis of an appropriate writing model, and frequent doses of brief, interactive, teacher-mediated writing practice to build critical competencies for longer assignments. Participants leave with classroom-tested resources to facilitate professional learning and classroom implementation.

Participants will learn effective ways to:

• Introduce and unpack a model paper exemplifying the critical elements of a writing type
• Provide a student-friendly scoring guide that serves as a productive teaching tool
• Frontload rhetorical conventions and academic language for specific writing types
• Design academic interactions that guide students in applying vocabulary, syntax and rhetorical devices they can apply in subsequent written work
• Structure routine doses of scaffolded writing to build foundational competencies for extended responses