State Board of Education-Adopted Chapter 7 Page 1 of 180 Chapter 7 Content and Pedagogy: Grades Nine Through Twelve Chapter at a Glance Overview of the Span An Integrated and Interdisciplinary Approach Key Themes of ELA/Literacy and ELD Instruction Meaning Making Meaning Making with Complex Text Language Development Vocabulary Syntax Effective Expression Writing Discussing Presenting Using Language Conventions Content Knowledge Understanding Disciplinary Literacy Engaging with Literature and Informational Text Engaging in Research Planning for Wide Reading Foundational Skills Foundational Skills for English Learners Supporting Students Strategically English Language Development Integrated and Designated ELD Grades Nine and Ten Key Themes of ELA/Literacy and ELD Instruction Meaning Making Language Development Effective Expression Writing Discussing Presenting Using Language Conventions Content Knowledge Foundational Skills English Language Development ELA/Literacy and ELD in Action Conclusion The ELA/ELD Framework was adopted by the California State Board of Education on July 9, 2014. The ELA/ELD Framework has not been edited for publication. © 2014 by the California Department of Education. State Board of Education-Adopted Chapter 7 Page 2 of 180 Grades Eleven and Twelve Key Themes of ELA/Literacy and ELD Instruction Meaning Making Language Development Effective Expression Writing Discussing Presenting Using Language Conventions Content Knowledge Foundational Skills English Language Development ELA/Literacy and ELD in Action Conclusion Works Cited The ELA/ELD Framework was adopted by the California State Board of Education on July 9, 2014. The ELA/ELD Framework has not been edited for publication. © 2014 by the California Department of Education. State Board of Education-Adopted Chapter 7 Page 3 of 180 Overview of the Span As students enter grade nine they embark on the last phase of their journey through elementary and secondary education. Students’ progress through the high school years will see many cognitive, physical, emotional, and social changes as these emerging adults contemplate their future and their place in the world around them. Adolescent brain development continues apace, and teen brains change and become more powerful every day (Galvan 2013). While intellectual functioning nears adult levels in older adolescents, higher-level cognitive or executive functioning, such as planning ahead, weighing risks and rewards, and making complicated decisions, develops more slowly. This is the result of changes in brain structure (myelination in the prefrontal cortex) that are often not complete until early adulthood (Steinberg 2012). Brain systems that support self-regulation and emotional control (networking of multiple brain regions) also develop during adolescence and into adulthood. Galvan’s research (2013) also shows adolescents have heightened sensitivity to anticipated rewards that may lead to impulsive or risky behavior. She argues, however, that this sensitivity also primes young adults for independence, exploration, novelty, and flexibility. This constellation of developmental factors makes these students ripe for new intellectual adventures and ready to exercise their language and literacy muscles by engaging with interesting inquiries, inspirational literature, and the deep questions of humanity. These adolescents are set to turn their developing competencies to tasks that engage with real issues of the day (and yesterday). They are motivated by teachers, settings, and tasks that expect adolescents to challenge their own and others’ thinking and that honor their emerging stances and arguments. High school students are also motivated by peer groups and signals of their increasing degrees of independence. Earning a driver’s license, dating, and participating in sports and clubs all point to new-found freedoms and identities. Teens’ expectations for acceptance and academic and extracurricular success can sometimes lead to disappointments and sharply felt emotions. At the same time these young adults are planning for college and other postsecondary training and attempting to make the right choices about majors, schools, jobs, and more. Maintaining students’ positive The ELA/ELD Framework was adopted by the California State Board of Education on July 9, 2014. The ELA/ELD Framework has not been edited for publication. © 2014 by the California Department of Education. State Board of Education-Adopted Chapter 7 Page 4 of 180 engagement with school is critical for all students—even more so for students who feel alienated or unsuccessful. Helping students develop a growth mind-set, in which they believe that through effort and instruction their intellectual ability can grow (Dweck 2010), is essential as well. Although they feign nonchalance, students in high school are particularly sensitive to teacher attitudes and dispositions toward students; disparaging comments and bias regarding group affiliation or student intelligence are deeply felt. (See Chapter 2 for suggestions regarding student motivation and engagement and culturally and linguistically responsive approaches.) Navigating the highs and lows of adolescence, thoughtful and perceptive teachers help students expand their world views beyond the confines of the school and community. Introducing students to literature that reflects their lives and their languages and speaks to their personal struggles can be affirming and motivating. Whether contemporary or canonical, literature can bring forth themes that resonate with young adults and invite new perspectives. In addition, inquiry-based units, interdisciplinary projects, service learning opportunities, and multi-modal projects (e.g., video, photography, web site development, theater) are ways to engage students actively in their learning. Using technology to facilitate student collaboration across city, state, and national boundaries is an exciting way for students to interact with others. Building bridges between literacies that young adults employ outside of school on a regular basis and literacies in school can be accomplished by sensitively incorporating them into instruction. Creating awareness of the multiple literacies that adults and young people use in their daily lives and that scientists, historians, artists, novelists, playwrights, poets, mathematicians, and others use to create knowledge and other works builds a shared vision of literacy. The framework goal, developing the readiness for college, career, and civic life, takes on special meaning as high school students make tangible moves to apply for college or technical school or start a career search and, as their eighteenth birthday arrives, to register to vote. By the end of grade twelve the intent is for every student to have established his or her own literate identity drawing on the knowledge, skills, and confidence developed over thirteen to fourteen years of prior schooling and to have attained the second goal—the capacities of literate individuals (demonstrating The ELA/ELD Framework was adopted by the California State Board of Education on July 9, 2014. The ELA/ELD Framework has not been edited for publication. © 2014 by the California Department of Education. State Board of Education-Adopted Chapter 7 Page 5 of 180 independence; building strong content knowledge; responding to varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline; comprehending as well as critiquing; valuing evidence; using technology and digital media strategically and capably; and coming to understand other perspectives and cultures). Students’ years of schooling also culminate in having accomplished the goal of becoming broadly literate having read and viewed widely across a range of genres and disciplines for both pleasure and knowledge. So too do students’ interactions with a range of technology and digital media, instructional modes (including inquiry based, collaborative, and direct), and global cultures and perspectives prepare them for the goal of successfully navigating life in the 21st Century. Taken together, all four goals position graduating seniors to meet the rigors of postsecondary education and future jobs and to pursue a path of lifelong fulfillment and informed citizenry. Further progress on each of these goals will occur over the course of graduates’ lives. The CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/finalelaccssstandards.pdf) for grades nine through twelve represent increasingly sophisticated expectations for students as they move from middle school to high school. The standards at this grade span prompt students to think and operate at levels that result in the achievement of the CCR Anchor Standards in Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening1, and Language by the end of grade twelve. (See Chapter 1 for the list of Anchor Standards.) Consistent with the growing cognitive capacities of adolescents, these expectations challenge students to think deeply and critically. For example, students at grades nine through twelve are expected to analyze, evaluate, and address multiple authors (RH.9-12.6); sources (RI.9- 12.7); motivations (RL.9-10.3); representations (RL.9-10.7); perspectives and points of view (SL.9-10.1; SL.11-12.1, 4; W.9-12.3a); themes and ideas (RL/RI.11-12.2); and interpretations (RL.11-12.7). They are expected to identify the best explanations (RH.11-12.3) and address what is most significant (W.11-12.2b; W.9-12.5). They are asked to resolve ambiguities (RL/RI.11-12.1; RH.11-12.3) and analyze the impact