Key Use of Recount

According to WIDA, which is what we use in Kentucky to guide instruction for ELLs, there are 4 key uses of language which must be addressed when planning instruction for ELLs. These key uses are: recount, explain, argue, and discuss. Each of the key uses tells things that students at proficiency levels 1-5 should be able to do for each of the 4 domains: listening, reading, writing, speaking.

The key use of recount tells what a student can do when it comes to displaying knowledge or narrating experiences or events. When using recount, we expect students to be able to tell us something or understand something which has been told to them. So according to the WIDA Can Do Descriptors grades 6-8, a student with a proficiency level of 3, in the domain of writing, can recount by producing short paragraphs with main idea and some details. This means that a student with a level 3 English proficiency level in a science class could describe an experiment using a topic sentence and two supporting details describing how the experiment was done and what the out come was.

For more information, view the following documents and the Can Do Descriptors

Expectations for ELLs in Writing

Narratives: Key Use-Recount

Can Do Descriptors Grade K

Can Do Descriptors Grade 1

Can Do Descriptors Grade 2-3

Can Do Descriptors Grade 4-5