What is it?
Word banks and sentence starters provide visible language that learners can draw from while composing written responses. Word banks might include topic-specific vocabulary, descriptive words, transition words, or commonly used academic language, while sentence starters provide an initial structure that learners can complete or expand. These supports can be presented on paper, digitally, with symbols or images, or within writing software.
How to use it?
Select words and sentence structures that support the purpose of the writing task without determining the learner's entire response. Make supports available during authentic writing and explicitly model how they can be used, combined, changed, or ignored. Offer different levels of support when appropriate—for example, some learners may benefit from a vocabulary bank while others need an initial sentence frame. Encourage learners to add their own words and move beyond provided structures as they become ready.
Why use it?
Generating language while simultaneously managing ideas, vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and organization can create substantial cognitive demands. Word banks and sentence starters make some of that language visible and available, reducing demands on memory and language retrieval. When used flexibly rather than as fill-in-the-blank requirements, they can help learners get started, expand their language, and participate more independently in academic writing.
