Making Better Sentences: 3 Strategies For Speaking and Writing on WIDA ACCESS

These materials were made to help my intermediate ESL students build flexibility in sentence structure and specificity of vocabulary, especially for students who seem to be stuck at level 4 on the WIDA writing and speaking test, even though they are performing well in these areas when compared to their English-only peers!

I have found this to be an effective introduction to these strategies, but it is necessary that they practice them consistently in their own daily writing. A quick round of “How can you change my sentence?” while standing in line for lunch or in-between moments of the day can help keep them on their toes. Of course, during writing revision work or planning for a verbal presentation are also natural times continue this work, as well.

Also, stay tuned, as I am working on another set of slides to address combining sentences using the more “sophisticated” conjunctions to make writing more complex, according to the WIDA writing and speaking rubric.