Page 42 - Scaffolding for English Language Learners

made the waters run into a reservoir so that after the rains stopped, there would be water for drinking or for watering crops. Once this was done, people could stay in one place near the river and make that place better and better until finally we had....”
“Babylon!” exclaimed Iddin. “Our king, Hammurabi, must be the best king of all, Father.” Warad agreed. “He is, indeed, a great king. And
now I think it is time for us to head home, my son.”
Supplementary Questions
39. What did they dig? [ALL]
Theydug ________________________________________________.[EN,EM,TR] [ditches]
40. Where did the water flow? [ALL]
It flowed to _______________________________________________ . [EN,EM,TR] [areas of the city farther from the river]
41. How did the canals help the farmers? [ALL]
They could _______________________________________________ . [EN,EM,TR] [grow crops even where the river didn’t flow]
42. What was King Hammurabi’s and his helpers’ ancient way to collect rain water? [ALL] They made the rain water ___________________________________ . [EN,EM,TR] [run into a reservoir]
43. When the rains stopped, what was the reservoir water used for?[ALL]
It was used for ____________________________________________ .[EN,EM,TR] [drinking or watering crops]
44. What happened when people could stay in one place? [ALL] The city of ___________________ developed. [EN,EM,TR] [Babylon]
3. Discussing the Read-Aloud
Comprehension Questions
Core Knowledge Teacher and Student Actions
Teachers ask additional comprehension questions. If students have difficulty answering comprehension questions, teachers reread pertinent passages of the text and refer to specific images. Students answer the comprehension questions in complete sentences by restating the questions in their responses. The teacher expands on students’ responses using richer language. Students engage in a pair share in which partners ask each other questions. The teacher asks the class if they have any remaining questions about the text.
AIR Additional Supports
ELLs should have an easier time managing these questions because of the supplementary questions that were used in the initial reading of the text. However, asking questions closer to the portions of text where the answers can be found and using sentence starters for ELLs with lower levels of English proficiency will make it easier for ELLs to answer these questions. (See the earlier example in
American Institutes for Research Scaffolding Instruction for ELLs: Resource Guide for ELA–38