Fifty Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners by Adrienne L. Herrell, Michael Jordan, Michael Jordan

From the Publisher

This practical, hands-on book provides fifty carefully-chosen strategies to help ELL pupils understand content materials while perfecting their skill at speaking, reading, writing, and listening in English. Each strategy is accompanied by a definition, rationale, and step-by-step implementation instructions; and, all are specifically tied to the most current ELL standards. Included use of current Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) standards ensures future teachers learn strategies that support TESOL's three goals, nine standards, and three grade-level groupings—supports teachers' documentation of standards-based planning and teaching, as well as monitoring and individualization of instruction for ELL. Organized into five sections which flow easily from theory and planning, through learner involvement and vocabulary building, to increasing comprehension. Numerous strategies in the theoretical overview section, plus suggestions for assessment integrated into many strategies in other sections. Provides a repertoire of non-traditional assessment ideas such as anecdotal records, performance samples, and portfolios. Integrates material on the use of educational technology such as the internet, visual aids, etc. Includes thorough, concise summary of relevant research from Krashen, Cummins, Terrell, Swain, Asher, and others.

Booknews

Focusing on K-12 English language learners, Herrell (reading/language arts, California State U., Fresno) describes the theoretical basis, implementation, and application of strategies that have been tested in multilingual classrooms and found to support student learning. The 23 strategies covered include academic language scaffolding, advance organizers, anecdotal records, attribute charting, bilingual books and labels, cloze activities, cohesion links, collaborative reading, communication games, cooperative learning, culture studies, dictoglos, free voluntary reading, GIST, guided reading, imaging, and integrated curriculum projects. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Forewords & Introductions

Table of Contents

Forewords & Introductions

The United States becomes more ethnically and linguistically diverse every year. More than 90 percent of new residents come from non-English-speaking countries. The number of students with non-English-speaking backgrounds represents the fastest growing group of this population. In the last decade, the total student enrollment in public schools increased by only 14 percent, while the number of English learners grew 70 percent and is projected to grow even more (National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, 1999). The 2000 U.S. Census identified 20 percent of school-age children as non-native English speakers (Jamieson, Curry, & Martinez, 2001).

Teachers everywhere are faced with enormous challenges in their classrooms. They are expected to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population each year. There is more content to teach each year, as well. Teachers are now expected to integrate technology and teach to myriad standards, and they are judged by the standardized test scores achieved by their students, with no excuses tolerated and little understanding of the challenges they face daily in the classroom.

This second edition of Fifty Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners includes a number of features to support teachers in meeting some of the more daunting challenges of the 21^st century classroom.

WHAT'S NEW IN THE SECOND EDITION?

Organization

This edition is organized to serve as a resource book, not just a text. The book is arranged in five sections.

Section I: Theoretical Overview supports the teacher in understanding the basic principles of teaching and assessingEnglish learners.

Section II: Strategies for Enhancing Instruction through Planning gives suggestions of ways to integrate the basic principles addressed in Section I into effective classroom lessons. This section focuses on the adaptations necessary in making ordinary lessons extraordinary in helping ELL students understand the content being taught and acquire the English necessary for successful participation in English-only classrooms. The last three sections in the book address specific learning goals.

Section III: Strategies for Supporting Student Involvement supports the teacher in ensuring active participation by all students. This is an important factor in enhancing the success of English learners in the classroom.

Section IV: Strategies for Building Vocabulary and Fluency gives a number of vocabulary and fluency-building approaches.

Section V: Strategies for Building Comprehension completes the text by providing active-learning approaches to helping students make sense of the instruction and readings they encounter. Each section begins with easy-to-implement strategies and progresses to more involved approaches. It should be noted that all 50 strategies have been thoroughly field-tested in highly diverse classrooms in California, Florida, and Alaska.

Standards Base

The national TESOL (Teachers of English to Students of Other Languages) Standards are used as the standards base for this text (TESOL, 1997). A matrix of the TESOL Standards and the 50 strategies in the text demonstrates the standards supported by each strategy (see Standards Matrix in Table P.1 on page xii). At the beginning of each strategy there is a list of the TESOL Standards supported by that strategy. In addition, there are examples of the outcome behaviors that could be expected as a result of the teaching strategy listed for each of the three grade-level ranges (pre-K-3, 4--8, and 9-12) of the TESOL Standards at the conclusion of each strategy. These are included to help teachers visualize the type of student behaviors they should begin to see in their English learners as a result of lessons planned to enhance both content knowledge and English development.

Assessment

In addition to the assessment strategies explained in the theoretical overview in Section I, suggestions for assessment are integrated into many of the strategies in this edition. Teachers are encouraged to use anecdotal records, performance samples, and portfolios in an ongoing way with English learners since the more traditional evaluation methods are often primarily language-based and prove difficult for English learners to use in demonstrating their growing skills.

Technology

Suggestions for integrating technology and using it to enhance learning are also integrated into the strategies. Technology can serve as an enormous support to students and teachers alike because of easy access to the Internet and resources such as visuals and even bilingual teaching materials.

New Strategies

Several new strategies are included in this edition. The authors are actively involved in diverse classrooms on a weekly basis and are continually discovering new approaches and enhancing old ones. These discoveries and redefined approaches are included in this edition. There is an increased emphasis on vocabulary development in the strategies due to an ongoing research study we have been conducting, which is providing convincing evidence of the importance of this focus in supporting the success of English learners in the classroom.

HOW TO USE THIS TEXT

Reading and understanding the theoretical overview (Section I) is vital to understanding the basic principles of instructing and assessing English learners. This should be approached first. The other sections can be approached one strategy at a time, but one or two strategies from each section should be tried first before working through each section. Strategies that are the easiest to implement are listed first in each category. It makes sense for student or beginning teachers to build their repertoire of strategies gradually, sampling from all five sections. After that, the text can easily be used as a resource book.

When you notice a need in your students, look for a strategy to meet that need. Keep in mind the basic principles of teaching English learners. You must support their understanding with realia, visuals, and contextualized language. It is vital to emphasize vocabulary, fluency, and building background knowledge for comprehension. Students must be actively engaged to benefit fully from instruction. They must be given opportunities to demonstrate their growing skills in authentic tasks and in a nonstressful environment. We recognize the complexity of teaching in effective ways and have written this text with the goal of providing this type of classroom for all students.

ESL STANDARDS AND THIS TEXT

This second edition of Fifty Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners has been aligned with ESL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students published by Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The TESOL publication is organized around three overarching goals: the development of (a) social language, (b) academic language, and (c) sociocultural knowledge. Each goal supports three standards, the attainment of which means that students will become proficient English speakers, writers, and readers.

The TESOL standards are divided into three grade-level groupings: pre-K-3, 4-8, and 9-12. These grade-level groupings and the nine standards—three for each overarching goal—are aligned in Table P. 1 with the 50 strategies explained in this book. In addition to this matrix of strategies and standards, each strategy begins with a graphic that indicates the standards and grade levels for which it is appropriate. In the current emphasis on standards-based education, this addition to the second edition will support teachers in their documentation of standards-based planning and teaching as well as the monitoring and individualization of instruction for English language learners.

The ESL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students is available to read or order online at . (To read, click on "standards and initiatives" under "advancing the profession of TESOL." To order a copy, click on "publications and products.")