Tiered sentences are necessary to introduce academic language(Bricks&Mortar words) to students in content subjects."Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding."
Stephen Krashen
Sentence stems to help students predict if an animal is nocturnal:
Beginning.
*I think this animal...
*The owl is...
*The crow is...
Intermediate.
*I think this animal is... because...
*I know it is noctunal because its color is---
*This animal eats----, so I think it is noctunal.
Advanced.
*I think nocturnal animals live in---
places, so this animal must be nocturnal.
*I think humans are --- because---
I believe we are ---
for several reasons.
DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
By Zwiers,Jeff Has Tiered Sentence Starters
