In chapter 7 the topic is on planning talk for learning and literacy. Talking with students is very important and correcting is also a process so that the students do not feel embarrassed of using the new language.  Language usage in the classroom is critical and it should be done without criticism.  ELLs need a lot of encouragement and they will continue using the new language if the environment is positive. 
Students need to use "Comprehensible Input" and "Comprehensible Output". Input is what is understood by use of a variety of literacy.  Input can include the use of the first language, body language, pictures, using prior knowledge and many others so the students understand what is being taught. Output is the language that is being used to get the information out.  The students need to use language that is understandable and makes sense so the output will make the students think about language use. "Using language that is beyond the learner's comfort zone us necessary at times if there is to be new learning." (p. 134)
There are five ways to support ELLs in talking.

1. Classroom Talk
2. Extending initiation response feedback exchange
3. Giving students time to think 
4. Borrowing and reformulating student language
5. Building a bridge to written language

 Giving students time to talk that is supported with academic language is important.  talk can takes place between the teacher and students or students to students.  Discussions gives students the opportunity to understand the lesson and text being used.

This chapter is about scaffolding so students are successful writer.  It give different strategies as well to help ELLs to start writing.
 First it gives characteristics of effective writers such as:

• understanding the purpose of writing
• understand what to do with the language 
• understand organization and structure of writing
• be aware that speech and writing are different
• Use models writing
• know about the subject or topic
• Confident about writing

So looking at these characteristics, our ELL are not at this level so we have to help our students become writers by first introducing "genre". Genres have their own characteristics like the purpose and the use of language. Next is that it has its own structure and organization. The language also goes with the genre. "Genre is shared by members of teh same culture and is recognized by them..."(p.108)
The two genre used in schools include narratives and arguments and these "have key aspects: social purpose, organization, and specific language features."(p.109)

Gibbons lists the "teaching and learning cycle" like so:

• Stage 1: Building the Field - knowledge of the topic
• Stage 2: Modeling teh Genre
• Stage 3: Joint Construction - teacher and students write together
• Stage 4: Independent Writing

These stages will scaffold on one another and if needed repeated until the students become independent writers. It is recommended that written feedback is given by pointing out the strengths and weakness of the writing.  Feedback will give students what is expected and it gives them an idea of what needs some work and it give the teacher an idea of what to work on. The teaching and learning cycle encourages listening, speaking, and reading skills.

Supporting Academic Reading

Gibbons moves onto strategies to deal with Before, During, and After-Reading Activities to promote understanding for ELLs.

Before-Reading Activities prepares students to read the text: (p. 88-92)

• Prediction from Pictures, Diagrams, or Other Visuals
• Prediction from Key Words, the Title, or the First Sentence
•  Personal Narratives
• Semantic Web
• Reader Questions
• Sequencing Illustrations
• Skeleton Text
• Previewing the Text

During-Reading Activities helps the students "focus" their attention on the text: (p. 93-99)

• Scanning for Information
• Pause and Predict
• Margin Questions
• Scaffolding a Detailed Reading
• Identifying Paragraph Parts
• Read Critically by questioning the text and analyzing language

After -Reading Activities will help the students understand the text deeper; (p. 100-104)

• True/False Statements
• Graphic Outlines
• Summarizing the Text
• Cloze Activities
• Sentence Reconstruction
• Jumbled  words
• Innovating on the Text
• Cartoon/ Cartoon Strips
• Reader's Theatre

These are just some strategies to help ELLs to understand, interact, and comprehend complex text. After reading this section of the book, I come to realize that there are strategies that I need to try to help my students. 
The next chapter focuses on Writing and I can't wait because I have a difficult time teaching writing. 

Chapter Five

Building Bridges to Text

This chapter is about reading activities that teachers can use to teach reading to ELLs.

3 Types of activites:

•  Traditional/ Bottom-up Approach - This approach is phonics based and it is mostly decoding and segmenting words but does not concentrate on meaning of the text. Students learn to read by using individual sounds and letters to make simple words and move onto reading simple sentences. However, ELL are unfamiliar with the sounds of letters because the sounds do not match their first language.
• Whole Language/ Top Down Approach - "Reading for Meaning"     Fluent readers use different knowledges to get the meaning of a text.                                      Semantic Knowledge - knowledge about the world around them                    Syntactic Knowledge - knowledge about the structure of the English                    language                                                                                                      Graphophonic Knowledge - Knowledge of sound and letter                                 recognition

• Critical and Social Approach - Students need to critique and question text depending on their experiences and events. Interaction with reading depends on the students' experiences and knowledge. 

Teachers need to figure out what works for her students and try a variety of strategies to teach ELLs to read and comprehend. Once the students become fluent readers they will need to take on the 4 roles:

1. Reader as a code breaker
2. Reader as a text participant
3. Reader as a text user
4. Reader as text analyst 

One thing that Gibbons focuses on is call "nominalization". "This is the process of changing verbs into nouns" (Gibbons 2009), for example, destroy becomes destruction, pollute become pollution and extinct becomes extinction. Students will use only simple words and teachers need to teach students to nominalize when writing.  Many people do not learn to use nominalization and so our writing seems "wordy" or "less sophisticated". However, using examples of nominalization will reinforce usage but students will not learn to get the gist of it until 12 or 13 years of age.

Now back to Gibbon's strategies she suggested to use when teaching ELLs so they are exposed to different use of language:

• Progressive Brainstorm - Students share what they know in small groups and write them on paper with one color. Then students switch to another group and add their ideas with another color. The group continues to switch until they get back to their own paper. Once the students get back the whole class discuss or share their findings.
• Wallpapering - In small groups, students write one thing that is "controversial" on paper and putting it on wall. Students do a gallery walk and comment on three items as a whole group.
• Semantic Web/ Concept Web- Collecting, recording and organizing information on paper as a whole group about the topic.
• Dictogloss - This gives students an opportunity to listen, talk, read, write, make notes, reflect on language use, clarify content, and use academic language. The teacher reads text twice while students listen. The third time the teacher reads, students write down "key points"and share with a partner. Next the students are in groups of four and write the entire text on a large paper. Text does not have to be exactly the same but should have the same meaning. Discuss as a whole group about differences for the texts.  
• Joint Construction - Teacher use this to teach writing as a whole group. Teacher gives feedback so that the sentences make sense or helping students create academic language.
• The Last Word - This is a small group work on a sentence that the students think is important in a text. In small groups, one student reads his or her sentence but does not discuss it with others. The other group members begin their comment one at a time. The next student comments for about one minute without interruption. It continues until all three make a comment then it comes back to the first student and he or she comments on the sentence he or she selected. Then the next round will start and continues until everyone in the group reads their specific sentences. 
• Thinking Sheets - Students are given a thinking sheet to work out a problem as a whole group and the talking is done through thinking aloud. Once the problem is solved as a group, it will be presented to the teacher. The teacher will ask questions and use academic language to get the students practice. 
• Split Dictation -Two versions of a text is used but with different omissions for discussion. Text should be from the lesson being used. The text will have certain parts missing and the students have to find the person who has the other half of the sentence. Discussion takes place to see if the two parts go together. 
• Barrier Crossword - Students work in pairs on crossword puzzle when the words are provided but the students have to provide the clues for the words.This is useful for vocabulary words in the lessons.
• Traditional and Specific Cloze Exercises - Text is used with some words deleted and the students will fit in words. This can be used if different ways according to teacher discretions. 
• Total Cloze - The title is the only word provided and the rest of the text is replaced with a gap representing each word. this is used at the end of the unit. The teacher writes the title, gaps and punctuation on the board and write the paragraph as a whole group. teachers need to make sure to use academic language to reinforce language.  
• Vanishing Cloze - Write a sentence on the board and start erasing a word from the sentence and students read sentence. Continue the process and erase different words and students read.  
• Word Walls - Use a bank of words on the wall for student reference
• Sentence Matching - Matching the sentences that mean the same thing but using everyday and academic language. Use one column with everyday language in a sentence and the other column use academic language and have students match them. Discuss as a whole group 
• Bilingual Dictionaries - use new words in their language

This is a long list but they are great ideas to try with our students. 

Strategies

"What is important is that the task and the classroom grouping are the most effective for the particular teaching focus at that point." (Gibbons p.59)

At this point the book gives some strategies to use to work with ELLs when teaching in a content area.

Planning lessons, use of materials and classroom organization are important for ELLs.  According to Gibbons, students learn best in a mixture of whole group work, small group work, paired work, and individual work so that the students are collaborating to understand text.

The first strategy is to find out the background knowledge of all the students when introducing lessons.  It says to be open about the subject being studied and let the students use their first language to tell their "personal narratives".  While the students tell their narratives, the teacher should be doing a K-W-L chart and writing down vocabulary associated with the subject.

Next is to move toward the complex text slowly by a class discussion that includes visual aids, diagrams, graphs, vocabulary words and concrete objects.  By discussing the topic before getting to the complex text, students will have some prior knowledge and be able to tackle the text on their own.

ELLs need a lot of modeling and the teacher should be able to model the use of academic language. As teachers, we need to be aware of our language that we use in the classroom.  Students should be able to use academic language in the classrooms and use other languages with family and friends - Discourse as discussed with our readings.

The next step is the teach students about grammar using the text so they become familiar with the language. She says to follow the text being used until they understand the concept.

What is "Literacy"?

Sixty years ago it was defined as "reading means getting meaning from certain combinations of letters. Teach the child what each letter stands for and he can read. Phonics is taught to the child letter by letter and sound by sound until he knows it- and when he knows it he knows how to read" (Farr and Roser 1979, 13,referring to a definition of literacy)

If this was the case, it sure would be easy to teach children how to read by teaching them the letters and the sounds they make.  The definition is only referred to reading at the time and it has nothing to do with comprehension.  So as teachers, we have to do our best to help the student "learn to read" then transition them to "read to learn".  Comprehension is hard and complicated for ELLs becasuse they must learn the academic language first before anything else can be done with literacy.

Today literacy involves reading, speaking, and writing. It does not involve only learning phonics and segmenting but it involves understanding all text from all subjects.

We experienced the same thing that ELLs deal with on a daily basis.  We have read three articles and I for one did not understand it the first and even the second time I read them.  We found that the text were difficult and the reason is that we are not familiar with the "reading and writing in this field".  Our textbooks in the classroom are unfamiliar to our students especially ELLs.  So our students need to do what we did - "literate talk".  Have the students talk or have discussions to understand the text being used in the classroom.  We need to give our students "opportunities to read, reason, investigate, speak, and write about the overarching concepts within that discipline."

Contextual Factors need to be used for ELLs:

• Field - topic of the text
• Tenor - the relationship between speaker and listener or writer and reader
• Mode - the channel of communication, whether it is spoken or written

Students will learn to use different kinds of languages to become literate in different subjects by using prior knowledge and scaffolding.