Academic Language Development (ALD) Network
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The Academic Language Development Network (ALD Network) is a collaborative project focused on the academic success of all students who need to improve their abilities to use language in school. The Network focuses on research-based teaching and assessment practices for developing the complex academic language, literacy, and thinking skills that support the learning of the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, ELD, and other new standards.
Frames of Essential Teaching Practices for Developing Complex Academic Language Development --> video
Fostering Academic Interaction
Fortifying Complex Output
Using Complex Texts
Exemplar Units, Lesson Plans, and Tools
Tools and Activities - provides all of this site's tools and activities for developing complex language and literacy in a wide range of subjects and grade levels.
FOSTERING ACADEMIC INTERACTIONS
Constructive Conversation Skills Poster (PDF)
This tool shows four important conversation skills, their icons, and sentence starters to help students engage in purposeful and extended interactions.
Math Constructive Conversation Skills Poster (PDF)
This tool helps students build four key conversation skills for working together on math ideas and problems.
Math Paired Conversation Protocol (PDF)
This tool guides pairs through an effective conversation to collaboratively solve complex math problems.
Argumentation Activities
This set of activities helps students practice their abilities to build and challenge ideas using evidence-based reasoning.
Argument and Evidence Scale Visual Organizer 2D (2D PDF) (3D version)
This visual helps students to evaluate and weigh the evidence for and against two different positions
Comprehension Target
This visual helps students to evaluate the usefulness of thoughts that emerge during reading and listening.
Causes & Effects Visual Organizer
This visual helps students to engage in cause and effect thinking and assign values to their ideas.
FORTIFYING ORAL OUTPUT
Stronger & Clearer Activity Template (for Interview Grid, Opinion Cards, Successive Conversations, etc.)
This template is a scaffold for students who share ideas and interact with more than one student in succession.
Opinion Formation Cards: (Online Classes) (Courage) (Cell phones in school ) (Chemical Weapons in WWII)
This activity provides students with an opportunity to build language as they talk with successive partners to strengthen their opinions on an issue.
A-B Information Gap Cards
This activity requires students to take a side of an issue, use evidence, and use new vocabulary and syntax to argue and negotiate with a partner.
Think-Pair-Share Tips
This set of tips helps both teacher and students to maximize the value of pair-shares.
USING COMPLEX TEXTS
Anticipation Guides
These visuals help students to predict and justify their predictions for reading.
Figure out the Figuratives
This visual helps students to see the connections between the figurative expression and what it is describing.
Theme Organizer
This visual helps students to see ways in which to generate and support multiple themes from different types of texts.
Narrative Structure Map
This visual helps students to organize events in a typical narrative.
Strength of Evidence Bar Graph
These visuals help students to evaluate the strength of evidence that they use to support a claim.
ACADEMIC LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT & ELD
Complex Academic Language Dimensions, Features, and Skills Chart
This visual helps us to see the different dimensions of language and emphasize the message/discourse dimensions.
Visual tool for identifying language demands to create language objectives
This visual helps us to identify the most pressing language demands needed for a lesson.
Communicativeness Design and Observation Tool
This tool helps teachers to use three features of communicativeness to improve language development activities.
BUILDING SYSTEMS OF SUPPORT FOR ACADEMIC LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Inquiry Cycle Visual
This visual tool shows the reflection cycle with a backward-planned inquiry in the center.
Communicativeness Design & Observation Tool
This tool helps you to apply three features of communicativeness to fortify language-based activities.
WEOPT Conversation Organizer
This simple tool helps support providers to organize ideas for efficient and effective conversations with teachers after observing a lesson.
Frames of Essential Teaching Practices for Developing Complex Academic Language Development --> video
Fostering Academic Interaction
Fortifying Complex Output
Using Complex Texts
Exemplar Units, Lesson Plans, and Tools
Tools and Activities - provides all of this site's tools and activities for developing complex language and literacy in a wide range of subjects and grade levels.
FOSTERING ACADEMIC INTERACTIONS
Constructive Conversation Skills Poster (PDF)
This tool shows four important conversation skills, their icons, and sentence starters to help students engage in purposeful and extended interactions.
Math Constructive Conversation Skills Poster (PDF)
This tool helps students build four key conversation skills for working together on math ideas and problems.
Math Paired Conversation Protocol (PDF)
This tool guides pairs through an effective conversation to collaboratively solve complex math problems.
Argumentation Activities
This set of activities helps students practice their abilities to build and challenge ideas using evidence-based reasoning.
Argument and Evidence Scale Visual Organizer 2D (2D PDF) (3D version)
This visual helps students to evaluate and weigh the evidence for and against two different positions
Comprehension Target
This visual helps students to evaluate the usefulness of thoughts that emerge during reading and listening.
Causes & Effects Visual Organizer
This visual helps students to engage in cause and effect thinking and assign values to their ideas.
FORTIFYING ORAL OUTPUT
Stronger & Clearer Activity Template (for Interview Grid, Opinion Cards, Successive Conversations, etc.)
This template is a scaffold for students who share ideas and interact with more than one student in succession.
Opinion Formation Cards: (Online Classes) (Courage) (Cell phones in school ) (Chemical Weapons in WWII)
This activity provides students with an opportunity to build language as they talk with successive partners to strengthen their opinions on an issue.
A-B Information Gap Cards
This activity requires students to take a side of an issue, use evidence, and use new vocabulary and syntax to argue and negotiate with a partner.
Think-Pair-Share Tips
This set of tips helps both teacher and students to maximize the value of pair-shares.
USING COMPLEX TEXTS
Anticipation Guides
These visuals help students to predict and justify their predictions for reading.
Figure out the Figuratives
This visual helps students to see the connections between the figurative expression and what it is describing.
Theme Organizer
This visual helps students to see ways in which to generate and support multiple themes from different types of texts.
Narrative Structure Map
This visual helps students to organize events in a typical narrative.
Strength of Evidence Bar Graph
These visuals help students to evaluate the strength of evidence that they use to support a claim.
ACADEMIC LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT & ELD
Complex Academic Language Dimensions, Features, and Skills Chart
This visual helps us to see the different dimensions of language and emphasize the message/discourse dimensions.
Visual tool for identifying language demands to create language objectives
This visual helps us to identify the most pressing language demands needed for a lesson.
Communicativeness Design and Observation Tool
This tool helps teachers to use three features of communicativeness to improve language development activities.
BUILDING SYSTEMS OF SUPPORT FOR ACADEMIC LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Inquiry Cycle Visual
This visual tool shows the reflection cycle with a backward-planned inquiry in the center.
Communicativeness Design & Observation Tool
This tool helps you to apply three features of communicativeness to fortify language-based activities.
WEOPT Conversation Organizer
This simple tool helps support providers to organize ideas for efficient and effective conversations with teachers after observing a lesson.