Secondary Constructing Meaning

Secondary English learners face a daunting task. To meet grade-appropriate content standards and perform well on required local and statewide assessments, students must master the conventions of standard English while also acquiring the discipline-specific language of multiple content areas. Content area teachers can support secondary English learners in meeting this challenge by incorporating academic language instruction into their content area instruction.

Constructing Meaning: Explicit Language for Secondary Content Instruction offers teachers the process and the tools to identify specific, content-driven language objectives and design instruction to address those objectives. A backward design approach is fused with the principles of second language acquisition to create student-centered classrooms in which rigorous academic teaching includes explicit language instruction.

Elementary Constructing Meaning

E. L. Achieve is proud to announce a new professional development initiative titled Constructing Meaning: Explicit Language for Elementary Literacy Instruction.

While Systematic ELD addresses a vertical slice of the instructional day (as represented on the Blueprint for English Learner Instruction), Constructing Meaning equips teachers to provide explicit language support for content learning throughout the instructional day - the horizontal slice of the Blueprint.

The 20-hour Elementary Constructing Meaning institute incorporates presentation and collaborative learning to equip K-6 teachers with the process and tools to:

• Identify language demands of instructional materials for reading comprehension.
• Identify language demands of standards-based oral and written production tasks.
• Identify specific, content-driven language objectives.
• Design instruction for more productive reading and oral or written language.

E.L. Achieve invites districts interested in providing professional development for

Constructing Meaning to attend a one-day Leadership Overview and Planning session. These events are opportunities for districts to learn more about E.L. Achieve's professional development offerings and to begin developing a District Implementation Plan.

Once there is a commitment to a capacity-building plan that includes both training and implementation support, we can begin to work with districts.

We encourage training that is phased in to address identified priorities and develop potential district leadership. After participating in a Constructing Meaning institute and beginning to implement, a district can build its own capacity to offer institutes by sending a leadership team to a New Presenter Seminar. For details, see application on the Events page. As districts take over their own Constructing Meaning training, we offer ongoing support through presenter coaching and technical assistance for implementation.

Click here for District Capacity Building Model overview and District Institute Preparation Checklist, Materials and Set-up information. Please review the website to get a better sense of what we offer. And don't hesitate to e-mail,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , if you have further questions.

E.L. Achieve