Access to Academics: Planning Instruction for K-12 Classrooms with ELLs takes a different look at language than most other books – it addresses it as something students must use constantly, in a variety of school venues and in different ways depending on the context. The book shows language as vital to content access and thereby academic achievement, but, more importantly, it also provides step-by-step instructions explaining how to help students acquire the language they need. Although the main emphasis is on English language learners (ELLs), the term “diverse learners” used throughout also encompasses the great variety in any classroom of student backgrounds, abilities, needs, and interests.

This classroom-ready resource provides teachers in grades K-8 with specific assessments that can be administered to English language learners within the regular classroom.

Long overdue and with a focus on the needs of English language learners (ELLs) within the classroom, Instructional Assessment of English Language Learners is a unique book designed to teach readers the basic concepts of assessing English. Today's education courses place an increasing emphasis on the regular classroom teacher to instruct and assess English language learners. Yet, classroom teachers have few resources available to them in regard to assessing ELLs within their classrooms. This book helps readers master the assessments to be administered to English learners and cover a range of literacy skills deemed necessary for English language acquisition and reproduction, while also assessing the student’s literacy skills in their primary language.

The overarching goal of this book is to enable teachers to acquire a deep understanding of the value of instructional assessment for ELLs and the importance of evaluating the results to provide the students with immediate, appropriate and meaningful instruction. The book addresses the specific areas of language arts related to the development, acquisition, and reproduction of the English language: oral language development and vocabulary; concepts of print and the alphabetic strategies; word recognition and word identification strategies; reading fluency; reading comprehension; written language development and spelling; content area literacy; procedural knowledge; and problem-solving strategies. The strategies presented in this text are research-based and are known to increase reading comprehension for ELLs.

Everything educators need to know to enhance learning for ESL students

This unique teacher time-saver includes scores of helpful, practical lists that may be reproduced for classroom use or referred to in the development of instructional materials and lessons. The material contained in this book helps K-12 teachers reinforce and enhance the learning of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and writing skills in ESL students of all ability levels. For easy use and quick access, the lists are printed in a format that can be photocopied as many times as required. A complete, thoroughly updated glossary at the end provides an indispensable guide to the specialized language of ESL instruction.

Scott Foresman Reading Street ©2007

Grade 2

Scientifically research-based program supports state standards in literacy, science, mathematics, social studies, art and music to prepare children for Kindergarten. Teacher's Guides help build and assess children's cognitive skills, alphabet knowledge, and social-emotional development. Interactive charts with songs and activities inspire class discussion and build oral vocabulary. Big Books, Trade Books, and Little Books provide shared reading experiences and develop children's concepts of print.   

Provides clear answers to the most frequently asked questions about literacy instruction. Literacy coaches and administrators will also find the book an indispensable resource for professional development workshops, newsletters, and grant applications. This time-saving, comprehensive desktop essential is well-organized, easy to read, and packed with relevant quotes for newsletters, workshops, and grant applications. For use with Grades K–8.

The ability to comprehend and to respond meaningfully to text is a skill students need every day not just on test day. That s a GREAT Answer! provides complete and ready-to-go support to help teachers get great answers to open-ended comprehension questions from the students who need help the most elementary students, struggling older readers, and English language learners.

In this revised second edition, Nancy Boyles now includes new Common Core State Standards-based objectives, step-by-step lesson sequences, collaborative tasks that link teaching to learning, insightful new teaching tips, updated and enhanced bibliographies, and student targets on the CD that specify how to meet each objective and answer a particular comprehension question.

Her ready-to-go student scaffolds then break comprehension objectives into fifty-three specific, measurable, open-ended questions divided among four thinking strands. A chart shows the correlation between all objectives and the Common Core State Standards for comprehension easily aligned to the literacy objectives of any state curriculum.

Each open-ended question includes: * a step-by-step lesson sequence * a template for a related oral collaborative task * teaching tips * a bibliography of fiction and nonfiction picture books aligned with the question * a template instructing students how to find key evidence for the objective before writing their response * an answer frame scaffold for initial response practice that helps students at any grade level organize and elaborate * a target on the CD that specifies for students how to meet each objective and answer a particular comprehension question

The included CD provides all of the answer frames and targets for the open-ended questions, as well as rubrics, criteria charts, planners, and an extensive master bibliography that matches key fiction and nonfiction literature models with appropriate objectives.

From setting a foundation with great standards, books, and instruction through guidelines for assessment, That s a GREAT Answer offers a (now more) complete, great answer for teachers who want to empower their students to respond well to open-ended questions.

Scott Foresman Reading Street ©2007

Grade 3

Scientifically research-based program supports state standards in literacy, science, mathematics, social studies, art and music to prepare children for Kindergarten. Teacher's Guides help build and assess children's cognitive skills, alphabet knowledge, and social-emotional development. Interactive charts with songs and activities inspire class discussion and build oral vocabulary. Big Books, Trade Books, and Little Books provide shared reading experiences and develop children's concepts of print.   

Award-winning brain research expert David A. Sousa explains current research on how the brain learns language and provides strategies for teaching English language learners.

"Powerful examples from real schools, students, and their families provide a background for the research-based and theoretically sound suggestions Soltero provides to help teachers and administrators implement best practices with their second language students."
-David and Yvonne Freeman, authors of Between Worlds, Third Edition

The make-up of students in K-12 classrooms across the U.S. have become increasingly diverse and a multi-pronged and multi-level approach is needed to address the education challenges faced by today's ELLs, their teachers, and the school leaders who guide them. Sonia Soltero can help with:

• real-life examples of students, parents, teachers, school leaders, and community organizers that illustrate schoolwide challenges and successes
• identification of 9 common myths surrounding second language acquisition and best practices for overcoming them
• schoolwide curricular planning and program design for a holistic and integrative approach including needs assessment and implementation
• effective classroom instruction and learning practices that best help ELLs' develop strong foundations in language, literacy, and content learning
• leadership and advocacy recommendations to improve ELL educational equity and access.
  
  A shared schoolwide responsibility for educating ELLs directly contributes to their academic success or failure. Take the necessary steps to better serve ELLs in your school with Schoolwide Approaches to Educating ELLs.