Sentence Navigators and Sentence Builders
Larry Ferlazzo, Katie Hull Sypnieski · 2018
This chapter presents thirteenth innovative and research-based instructional strategy (sentence navigators and sentence builders) which teachers can use to support all levels of English Language Learners. It describes this strategy by explaining what it is; why teachers like it; what research it supports, its common core connections, and its applications; and what could go wrong about it and its technology connections in more detail. Sentence navigators, also called sentence builders, are puzzle-like structures that challenge students to choose words and put them in order to construct a sentence. They must “navigate” through a grid of multiple words to pick the correct ones. Sentence navigators were created by Jason Renshaw, a former English teacher, who has given the permission to discuss and reproduce them in this chapter. Sentence navigators support many of the Language Standards. They particularly encourage students to understand and apply language conventions and acquire and reinforce vocabulary.