Four Nested Components
These are not English grammar standards. They describe how students use language to do things with content - broadest on the outside, most specific at the center.
ELD Standards Statements - Five broad flags - one per subject area.
Key Language Uses - Four jobs language does: Narrate, Inform, Explain, Argue.
Language Expectations - Grade-band map points between a KLU and a content standard.
Proficiency Level Descriptors - Six stages of English development.
The Can Do Philosophy: every multilingual learner brings assets, not deficits. Plan instruction around what a student can already do - every scaffold exists to help a student show what they know, not to gatekeep who participates.
Key Language Uses
Narrate - Tell what happened, in sequence. Frame: "First... then... finally..."
Inform - Give facts and characteristics. Frame: "___ is a type of ___ that has ___."
Explain - Give reasons why or how; cause and effect. Frame: "This happens because ___. As a result, ___."
Argue - Make a claim and support it with evidence. Frame: "I claim that ___ because the evidence shows ___."
The Objective Formula
Fuse language and content into one gradeable sentence. The word after "by" is your embedded assessment.
Students will be able to [Key Language Use] by [Bloom's verb + task], using [language support].
Example: Students will be able to Narrate by composing a three-sentence retelling of the water cycle, using time-order words (first, next, then, finally).
Bloom's Verb Bank
Remember: list, name, identify, label, recall, define
Understand: describe, summarize, classify, compare, paraphrase
Apply: solve, demonstrate, illustrate, implement, use
Analyze: differentiate, organize, examine, categorize, contrast
Evaluate: judge, critique, justify, defend, argue, assess
Create: compose, design, construct, generate, formulate, produce
Proficiency Level Descriptors
Six stages of English development. Across levels the content goal never changes - only the language support does.
Entering - Single words, short phrases, memorized chunks; heavy reliance on visuals and gestures. Example: "Habitat. Small. No food."
2. Emerging - General, everyday language; short simple sentences; needs word and phrase banks. Example: "The animals have less food. They move away."
3. Developing - Expanded sentences; general plus some specific academic vocabulary; needs frames. Example: "The habitat got smaller, so the animals don't have enough food."
4. Expanding - A variety of sentence types; specific and technical vocabulary; occasional errors. Example: "Because the habitat shrank, the population lost most of its food source, so many animals had to migrate."
5. Bridging - Complex sentences near grade level; technical and abstract vocabulary; near-independent. Example: "As the habitat became fragmented, the population's access to food resources declined sharply, forcing migration."
6. Reaching - Comparable to grade-level peers; full independence with content-area register. Example: matches a grade-level peer in complexity, precision, and control of scientific register.
(Sample responses shown are for Grades 6-8, explaining an ecosystem disturbance.)
Grade-Band Quick Reference
PreK (Preschool): Play-based and oral-language-heavy. Participation in routines, songs, and shared reading rather than independent writing.
Objective: Narrate by retelling a story sequence using picture cards.
Scaffold: Gestures, realia, repeated refrains, peer modeling.
K (Kindergarten): Oral language still primary; print awareness and early writing enter. Content areas begin to differentiate.
Objective: Inform by describing a shape's attributes using "This is a ___. It has ___."
Scaffold: Sentence frames on anchor charts.
1 (Grade 1): Independent writing begins in earnest - labels to simple sentences to short paragraphs.
Objective: Narrate by composing a two- to three-sentence recount using time-order words.
Scaffold: Time-order word banks posted during writing time.
2-3 (Grades 2-3): The bridge band: narrative moves toward informational and explanatory writing; vocabulary load rises sharply.
Objective: Explain by illustrating why plants need sunlight, using a diagram and "because."
Scaffold: Cause/effect frames plus a labeled diagram.
4-5 (Grades 4-5): Academic writing expectations jump: multi-paragraph responses, textual evidence, content-specific argument.
Objective: Argue by justifying a character's decision, citing one piece of text evidence.
Scaffold: Claim / evidence / reasoning organizers, color-coded by function.
6-8 (Grades 6-8): Content becomes departmentalized and abstract; synthesis across sources and extended explanation expected.
Objective: Explain by analyzing causes and effects of an ecosystem disturbance, using academic connectors.
Scaffold: Explicitly teach connectors: because, as a result, this leads to.
9-12 (Grades 9-12): Near grade-level register expected by Bridging and Reaching: extended argument, disciplinary literacy, abstract reasoning.
Objective: Argue by justifying a preferred solving method, using precise mathematical reasoning.
Scaffold: Sentence-combining and vocabulary-upgrade tasks - the gap is precision, not communication.