ELL ELL Reading and Writing Skills 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which reading strategy helps ELL students activate background knowledge before reading a text?
- Silent independent reading
- KWL chart (Know, Want to know, Learned) (Correct answer)
- Round-robin oral reading
- Timed reading for fluency
Correct answer: KWL chart (Know, Want to know, Learned)
A KWL chart activates ELLs' prior knowledge by having them articulate what they already know and want to learn, connecting new text content to existing schemata.
Question 2: What is 'scaffolded writing' in ELL instruction?
- Writing without any teacher support
- Providing structured supports (frames, models, graphic organizers) to help ELLs complete writing tasks (Correct answer)
- Correcting every grammar error in student writing
- Requiring ELLs to write in their home language only
Correct answer: Providing structured supports (frames, models, graphic organizers) to help ELLs complete writing tasks
Scaffolded writing provides temporary supports like sentence frames, writing models, and graphic organizers that allow ELLs to engage in writing tasks at or beyond their current English level.
Question 3: What is a 'sentence frame' and how does it support ELL writing development?
- A grammar punishment tool
- A partially completed sentence that provides a linguistic structure for ELLs to express ideas (Correct answer)
- A rubric for grading writing
- A list of banned sentence patterns
Correct answer: A partially completed sentence that provides a linguistic structure for ELLs to express ideas
Sentence frames (e.g., 'The author argues that ___ because ___') give ELLs a syntactic structure to express academic ideas before they can independently produce complex sentences.
Question 4: Which reading comprehension strategy is particularly beneficial for ELLs because it makes thinking visible?
- Speed reading
- Think-aloud modeling by the teacher (Correct answer)
- Oral reading contests
- Independent reading without discussion
Correct answer: Think-aloud modeling by the teacher
Think-aloud modeling makes the teacher's metacognitive reading strategies explicit and visible, giving ELLs a concrete model of how proficient readers monitor their own comprehension.
Question 5: What is the purpose of pre-reading activities for ELL students?
- To test students before they read
- To build vocabulary, background knowledge, and purpose for reading before engaging with a text (Correct answer)
- To punish unprepared students
- To replace reading altogether
Correct answer: To build vocabulary, background knowledge, and purpose for reading before engaging with a text
Pre-reading activities build the vocabulary and background knowledge that ELLs need to make meaning from a text, reducing the cognitive load during reading.
Question 6: Which writing approach is most appropriate for beginning ELL students who are not yet independently writing in English?
- Requiring five-paragraph essays immediately
- Language Experience Approach (LEA) where students dictate and teacher transcribes (Correct answer)
- Penalizing for grammar errors only
- Requiring independent journaling without support
Correct answer: Language Experience Approach (LEA) where students dictate and teacher transcribes
The Language Experience Approach allows beginning ELLs to share their ideas orally while the teacher or peers transcribe them, creating personalized, meaningful texts for reading and writing instruction.
ELL ELL Reading and Writing Skills 1
Which reading strategy helps ELL students activate background knowledge before reading a text?