Response to investigate
The coast is warmer because the sea makes everything warm.
Practical disciplinary literacy
Geography: disciplinary literacy in practice
Read units and spatial patterns, note exceptions and separate description from causal explanation.
The task students are answering
Material to use
Give this illustrative table: coastal lowland station 12°C; inland lowland station 8°C; inland highland station 4°C; sheltered inland station 11°C. Measurements are reported for the same time. No altitude, exposure or longer-term data are provided.
Ask students
What temperature pattern appears in these data? Name one exception, then explain why distance from the sea alone is not enough to establish the cause.
Expected response
Three connected statements: the pattern with values and units; the exception; and one additional variable or dataset needed to test an explanation.
What to look for
- Uses actual values and °C accurately.
- Identifies the sheltered inland station as an exception to a simple coastal/inland contrast.
- Separates a described pattern from a proven cause.
How a response can develop
The model and sample responses below address the question above. Reveal the teaching interpretation after discussing what is clearer in the improved response.
Describe
Illustrative data: coastal lowland 12°C; inland lowland 8°C; inland highland 4°C; sheltered inland 11°C.
Notice
The inland stations are generally cooler, but the sheltered inland station is an exception.
Investigate
Distance from sea alone does not explain every value. Compare altitude, exposure and measurement conditions.
More precise response
The coastal station is warmer than two inland stations, but the sheltered inland station is only 1°C cooler. Altitude and exposure should also be considered before attributing the pattern to distance from sea.
Reveal the teaching interpretation
The response overgeneralises. Return to the actual values and exception before teaching language for a qualified explanation.
These are invented teaching samples. One response alone does not establish proficiency, attainment or a learning difficulty.
Teacher preparation and teaching sequence
Prepare the material described in Visual model. Read the exact student question aloud and show the expected response before modelling. For Music and PE, supply the recording or demonstration first.
- Read or observe: introduce the task: Describe and explain an illustrative temperature distribution across four stations.
- Model: think aloud through the three-part model, connecting each decision to the evidence.
- Notice: compare the two sample responses. Identify one meaning difference, not just a difference in length.
- Rehearse: Plot the four values, describe a pattern and exception, then propose evidence needed to test an explanation.
- Transfer: Interpret a new distribution: include units, one exception and a justified next investigation.
Useful language to notice
The coastal station is warmer than two inland stations, but the sheltered inland station is only 1°C cooler. Altitude and exposure should also be considered before attributing the pattern to distance from sea.
Highlight words that connect evidence, explanation and qualification. Choose a small useful phrase set rather than asking learners to memorise the entire model.
Use the task with your class
Student instructions
What temperature pattern appears in these data? Name one exception, then explain why distance from the sea alone is not enough to establish the cause.
Produce: Three connected statements: the pattern with values and units; the exception; and one additional variable or dataset needed to test an explanation.
Independent follow-up
Use a new teacher-selected station dataset. Describe a pattern and exception, then state what further evidence is needed before explaining the cause.
Use the fresh task after practice. Record what the learner achieves and which supports remain necessary.
Adapt and keep your resource
Edit these fields for your class or department. Drafts stay in this browser; use anonymised evidence. Download an editable text copy to keep it elsewhere.
Model the decisions, then invite a response
“Which value challenges the general pattern?”
“What evidence supports that connection?”
“Which condition, exception or limitation matters here?”
Respond to the sample
The response overgeneralises. Return to the actual values and exception before teaching language for a qualified explanation.
First establish the learner’s subject meaning through talk, a sketch or a familiar-language response. Then address one English choice that helps communicate that meaning.
Access, independence and department use
Access: introduce essential terms with a representation; allow bilingual notes, partner rehearsal and a brief sentence frame. Keep the subject reasoning.
Independence: use fresh content and remove the full model. Retain required access arrangements and record any prompts.
Department pilot: use this routine in one unit. Collect a small anonymised sample before and after teaching, note the support provided and review with an EAL colleague.
Plan a manageable pilotGeography: disciplinary literacy in practice
Everyday communication and academic language
BICS is a useful shorthand for interpersonal communication; CALP draws attention to the language demands of academic learning. They are not two learner categories or a direct WIDA/CEFR conversion. Familiar conversation can conceal difficulty with a dense text or an unfamiliar subject explanation. Look at the task, context, support and individual language domains.
Plan from what learners can do
WIDA’s Key Uses provide a useful way to identify the communicative purpose: recount, explain, argue or discuss. Use the grade-band descriptors with the learner’s domain-specific evidence and choose support that keeps the subject thinking intact.
- Recount: Describe changes shown in a sequence of maps or photographs.
- Explain: Explain a coastal process using a labelled diagram.
- Argue: Recommend a flood-management option using case evidence and one trade-off.
- Discuss: Compare how different groups might experience a proposed land-use change.
Open the subject language planner
Original teaching examples informed by WIDA Can Do Descriptors. They are not official descriptors or predicted assessment outcomes.