Teaching Reading to English Language Learners: Differentiated Literacies

A practical, research-based guide, Teaching Reading to English Language Learners gives ESL teachers and grade-level teachers the information and strategies they need to support second language literacy development with their Culturally Linguistically Diverse (CLD) learners, in addition to the program the school already has in place. Throughout, the authors guide teachers to modify literacy instruction to address both the assets and the needs of their English learners. Included are strategies for converting research into practical application; illustrative student samples from multiple grade levels and language backgrounds; teacher insights; a look at the sociocultural, academic, cognitive, and linguistic dimensions of the CLD student biography; and a number of helpful pedagogical aids.

Table of Contents:
1.   Literacy and the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Student 2.   Contextualizing Literacy Development for the CLD Student in the Grade-Level Classroom 3.   Rethinking Phonemic Awareness: A Cross-Linguistic Transfer Perspective    4.   Phonics: More Than the A, B, Cs of Reading            5.   Vocabulary Development: A Framework for Differentiated and Explicit Instruction      6.   Strategies-Based Comprehension Instruction: Linking the Known to the Unknown       7.   Fluency in Practice: More Than Reading the Text       8.   Implications of Culture and Language in Writing        9.   Assessment beyond the Politics of High-Stakes Tests          10.  Inclusive Literacy Instruction for CLD Students           

About the Author :
Dr. Socorro G. Herrera Dr. Herrera serves as a professor of elementary education at Kansas State University and directs the Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy (CIMA) in the College of Education. Her K–12 teaching experience includes an emphasis on literacy development. Her research focuses on literacy opportunities with culturally and linguistically diverse students, reading strategies, and teacher preparation for diversity in the classroom. Dr. Herrera has recently published two books with Allyn and Bacon: Mastering ESL and Bilingual Methods: Differentiated Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students (2005) and Assessment Accommodations for Classroom Teachers of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students (2007). Dr. Herrera has authored articles for numerous nationally known journals, such as the Bilingual Research Journal, Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, Journal of Research in Education, and the Journal of Latinos and Education.   Dr. Della R. Perez Dr. Perez serves as an assistant professor of elementary education at Kansas State University and is the Associate Director of Undergraduate Programming at the Center for Intercultural and Multilingual Advocacy (CIMA) in the College of Education. Her research has focused on literacy development and instruction for culturally and linguistically diverse students and parental involvement. Dr. Perez has published The Five Components of Reading Development: A Classroom Teacher’s Guide to Scaffolding Reading Instruction for ELL Students (2006) and ELL Literacy Interventions: Accommodations and Acceleration for Reading Success (2005). Dr. Perez also has co-authored a book chapter for Culturally Responsive Teacher Education: Language, Curriculum, and Community (2008).   Dr. Kathy Escamilla Dr. Escamilla is a professor of education at the University of Colorado, Boulder. She has been a bilingual teacher, program administrator, and professor for over 37 years. She helped to develop the Spanish reconstruction of Reading Recovery (Descubriendo la Lectura), which was published in the book Instrumento de observación de los logros de la leco-escritura inicial (Heinemann). She has done extensive research in the area of literacy for Spanish-speaking children in the United States and has authored over 40 journal articles in this area. She served two terms as the President of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) and works as a technical assistant and consultant for bilingual/ESL programs nationwide.

Review :
"...unlike many texts on second language learners, this text looks at literacy learning for second language learners from a sociopshycolinguistic perspective. Most importantly for credential students, this text provides multiple teaching strategies and ideas for teaching that are research based and connected to theory. This way student teachers can bridge their own practices and what they observe in the classroom with the language and literacy theories they are experiencing in their university courses." - Cinzia Forasiepi "The major strength of this book (and the reason I use it in my class) is its focus on teaching reading to linguistically diverse students at the elementary level. It addresses cross-linguistic transfer issues and ways to teach so that a child’s knowledge of L1 supports his or her learning in L2. This makes the book unique. I also like the strong focus on the use of multicultural children’s books to illustrate concepts being taught. The “Strategies in Practice” examples in each chapter are excellent, especially the strategies that teach ways to focus on comparing and contrasting languages." - Elizabeth Franklin, University of Northern Colorado "I enjoyed and appreciated the cultural underpinnings of the text and how it was carried out throughout." - Robert D. Leier, Auburn University