To Front-load Text or NOT to Front-load Text? That is the Question...
Last week, I was asked by a few different people about the need to pre-read/ front-load information for English Language Learners. Should we be doing it or not doing it? Should it be minimized based on Common Core recommendations?
The truth of the matter is that pre-reading or front-loading information for ELLs can allow them to be closer to the level of their EO classmates, however there is a big difference between filling in some cultural and prior knowledge gaps and telling them what the text says before they read it.
If teachers tell students what the text says time and time again before and while they are reading it, then students will rely on the teacher to always tell them ahead of time and will never make any reading/ literacy gains. Tim Shanahan likens it to "translation". If someone keeps translating what was said into your home language, then there really is no purpose in learning that new language.
In this era of the Common Core, the "way" we teach our ELLs has not changed. What has changed is the focus on the types of text and the literacy skills all students need to be successful when they leave the classroom. As teachers, we need to differentiate for our ELL and expose them to challenging text with all the necessary scaffolds including, but not limited to, explicit vocabulary instruction, multiple reading of texts, and opportunities for oral and written engagement with text.
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