Frontloading Language in ELLs' Literacy Instruction and Interventions

Interventions should follow a sequence pretty much that we start with reading words that have a vowel and a consonant and the short vowels, and then that they have a pattern. So there's like six different syllable types in the English language, but more importantly, I want to absolutely see what kind of supports are in the intervention for oral language, for exploring the meaning, for exploring the function of words, for exploring the use of the words, for exploring that ability to express and summarize. All of that needs to be in there and some frontloading: “As you prepare to read this, let me make sure that you have some conceptualization about this. Let's have a discussion.”

And then that way, I'm monitoring what do they know? And I'm adding to it so that as they read, they're going to be successful. They're going to be successful with that because I gave them some extra supports, some extra information, extra concepts, extra oral language supports, right?

And then I'm looking to see too, are the materials that we have culturally and linguistically responsive? In other words, do they actually have topics that are of interest to me that I can relate to or build upon and relate to? So that's very, very important. And then also making sure, if I'm in third grade or fourth grade, I'm responsible for teaching you the content no matter if you're just at an early stage, just a beginner, an emerging, being bilingual. So how can I make sure that you're getting the deep content, but also I'm scaffolding for where you are in that language continuum or where you are in that literacy continuum.

And I know that you have to, at the end of the year, be on level, how am I going to get you there? Let me break some things apart. Let me give you some of these strategies to use, these routines, and now let's build, build, and build. And our students who need that extra support that needs to be done and implemented, and we talk about implementation science, we want to see that each and every day they get that extra support, that extra time on task, that extra ability to learn not only how to read, but reading to get to that deep comprehension.

So as we look at our interventions, what's important is that we have enough practice activities to solidify. So it's not just me learning this new concept today. I need lots of practice with that new concept. And what I have to have is building, building, building, being not only explicit and systematic, but cumulative and getting that additional practice. Not only the practice in the lesson that I'm doing with the student right now in intervention, but also the practice at home, right? Practicing reading and extra activities that will help the student really solidify their learning, but also thinking about where they are in that oral language development. So it might be that I have to add some scaffolds for the vocabulary, for those visuals, showing them really about the multiple meanings. All of that is so very important.

And so understanding where my students are in that oral language development, are they at a beginning stage, more intermediate, getting too advanced, and really knowing that it's not a language disorder, it's the matter of learning an additional language and making sure that I'm giving enough practice, not only for that actual reading and learning how to read, but also getting meaning from what I'm reading.