#ELLSAPD Event : March 6th 2021. 11AM (GMT+8 / China Standard Time)
Theme: Modifying texts - Amplify NOT simplify

Welcome to the 8th #ELLSAPD event and our first since March 2020. It's great to be back! Our theme today is Modifying Texts - Amplify, not Simplify, and I'm sure this will create plenty of exciting discussions and sharing of great ideas! This event has 3 #ELLSAPD Learning Cycles. You can contribute to & follow the #ELLSAPD event on Twitter from wherever you are.
Thanks to Justin Garcia (@kruu_justin), Kanako Suwa (@kanakosuwa), Alis Gorcea (@MsAlis_class), and Tony Qureshi (@tonyqureshi1) for collaborating to curate the resources for this event. We hope you have a positive, social and meaningful learning experience as you engage with the thinking prompts and ideas shared.
Thanks to Justin Garcia (@kruu_justin), Kanako Suwa (@kanakosuwa), Alis Gorcea (@MsAlis_class), and Tony Qureshi (@tonyqureshi1) for collaborating to curate the resources for this event. We hope you have a positive, social and meaningful learning experience as you engage with the thinking prompts and ideas shared.
WELCOME & TUNE-IN @ 11:00 - 11:15 (GMT+8 / China Standard Time)
15 mins
WELCOME to #ELLSAPD
Are you new to Twitter? You're here because you're a learner. One of the aims of #ELLSAPD events is to show how we can connect to and benefit from a #PLN (professional learning network) to enhance our teaching practice. |
Cycle 1 @ 11:15 (GMT+8 / China Standard Time)
![]() 5mins - stimulus
In the past, many educators tended to simplify texts so that ELs could read them with little assistance. This involved the laborious rewriting of texts and resulted in the unintentional removal of complex but rich language, contextual clues, and even many cognates. Today’s research advocates for the combination of using complex text with English learners and supporting their access to the text with strategies such as amplification of language (Gibbons, 2002; Walqui, 2006; Van Lier & Walqui, 2010; Billings & Walqui, 2014). Source: https://getsupported.net/makingtextaccessible |

5mins - think & discuss
- To what extent do you agree or disagree with these statements?
- What does amplification of language mean to you?

5mins - post on Twitter & engage
Tweet at #ELLSAPD with your thoughts & ideas!
You can tag the ELLSA account (@ellsachat) too.
Tweet at #ELLSAPD with your thoughts & ideas!
You can tag the ELLSA account (@ellsachat) too.

5mins - engage & respond on Twitter
Read others' Tweets, replies and responses. Comment, Re-Tweet (with a comment), Tweet any other ideas or experience that you might have and Bookmark Tweets that you want to come back to!
Read others' Tweets, replies and responses. Comment, Re-Tweet (with a comment), Tweet any other ideas or experience that you might have and Bookmark Tweets that you want to come back to!
Cycle 2 @ 11:35 (GMT+8 / China Standard Time)
![]() 5mins - stimulus
Graphic Scaffolds: Read this short post from Tan Huynh which highlights how he uses google docs to modify texts. Taken from a more in depth discussion on different ways to make texts more comprehensible. |

5mins - think & discuss
- Is this a strategy that you use?
- What other strategies do you use to amplify the language in texts?
- How would you use a learner’s first language as a way of amplifying the text? What are your thoughts on this?

5mins - post on Twitter & engage
Tweet at #ELLSAPD with your thoughts & ideas!
You can tag the ELLSA account (@ellsachat) too.
Tweet at #ELLSAPD with your thoughts & ideas!
You can tag the ELLSA account (@ellsachat) too.

5mins - engage & respond on Twitter
Read others' Tweets, replies and responses. Comment, Re-Tweet (with a comment), Tweet any other ideas or experience that you might have and Bookmark Tweets that you want to come back to!
Read others' Tweets, replies and responses. Comment, Re-Tweet (with a comment), Tweet any other ideas or experience that you might have and Bookmark Tweets that you want to come back to!
Cycle 3 @ 12:00 (GMT+8 / China Standard Time)

5mins - think & discuss
- What are ways in which you modify texts for your learners in order to make them more comprehensible?
- How can we ensure that we are amplifying texts for your EAL learners?
- Share some experiences of when you and a content teacher collaborated to modify a text without simplifying the text.

5mins - post on Twitter & engage
Tweet at #ELLSAPD with your thoughts & ideas!
You can tag the ELLSA account (@ellsachat) too.
Tweet at #ELLSAPD with your thoughts & ideas!
You can tag the ELLSA account (@ellsachat) too.

5mins - engage & respond on Twitter
Read others' Tweets, replies and responses. Comment, Re-Tweet (with a comment), Tweet any other ideas or experience that you might have and Bookmark Tweets that you want to come back to!
Read others' Tweets, replies and responses. Comment, Re-Tweet (with a comment), Tweet any other ideas or experience that you might have and Bookmark Tweets that you want to come back to!
Additional Resources
- 6 steps at making texts accessible for learners by Jill Kester April 24th 2019
- Tools & Ideas for Scaffolding Distance Learning Tasks by Ready, Set, Co-teach @readysetcoteach
- InsertLearn - a Google Chrome extension
- Rewordify
- Tween Tribune (articles from the Smithsonian at differentiated levels
- ReadWorks
- NewsELA
Using video clips as a way of amplifying texts. Video clips can be a great tool to assist students in gaining that deeper understanding of content.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-video-content-amplify-learning