Weekly ELD Strategy #3

Week 3: September 26, 2018

ELD Strategy 3: How to Write Language Objectives When You are Stuck

When writing Language Objectives, there is a lot to think about, including the language skills necessary for students to accomplish the lesson, grammar or language structures common in the content area, the tasks the students need to complete and the language embedded in those assignments, and any language learning strategies necessary to the topic of the lesson.  All of these considerations can be totally overwhelming! So when you are struggling to write a language objective, this strategy can present a great way to start.

First, determine which macro function of language you want the students to focus on for the lesson: Recount, Explain, Argue, Discuss. (Just remember the acronym READ)

Then look at the Can Do Descriptors Key Uses Edition. This is a document from WIDA that provides examples of what ELs can do at each WIDA level. It is organized by the key uses (Recount p.4-5, Explain p.6-7, Argue p.8-9 and Discuss p.10) and by the language domain (reading, writing, speaking, listening.)

The columns are arranged by "ELP Level," which stands for "English Language Proficiency Level." If you have a class with a majority of Wida 3's, you can look at ELP Level 3 or ELP Level 4, and use those can do descriptors to phrase your language objectives.

Example,

• Students will recount by reading the text and identifying topic sentences, main ideas, and details in paragraphs
• Students will explain by stating why events occur, phenomena exist, or some things happen
• Students will  argue by crafting persuasive pieces (e.g., editorials) with a series of substantiated content-related claims
• Students will discuss by  answering Wh- questions in conversations     

(Note: These can-do descriptors are intentionally written broadly, so they can be rephrased for your specific content)

It is also important to include a tag of how students will demonstrate that they have met the objective, like "orally" or "in writing" or "by completing a graphic organizer."

*Please also reference Fuller's guidelines for Writing Effective Learning Objectives

*To learn more, check out this article: Language Objectives: The Key to Effective Content Area Instruction for English Learners.

*The DESE provides a really helpful framework for writing focus language goals called Collaboration Tool, and while the purpose of this document is designed for writing unit-level goals, it can easily be adopted for writing language objectives.   

**As always, all of the ELD Weekly Strategies can be found here, for your reference. If you have any questions about this ELD strategy or any other strategy, please let me know.