Put all English learners on the path to success—right from the start!
Beginning English learners are at risk of being lost in a system that doesn't know how to reach them. With more and more ELs entering U.S. schools every year, educators need to act quickly to create school- and classroom-based programs that work. Veteran educators Debbie Zacarian and Judie Haynes provide templates and tools—along with vignettes illustrating real-world challenges—to help teachers and administrators:
- Create a welcoming environment for English learners and their families who are unfamiliar with the American education system
- Reach out to students from literacy and non-literacy-oriented homes
- Engage parents to become a part of the school community
- Learn strategies for teaching beginning level ELs across the curriculum
- Develop instructional models for students with limited or interrupted formal education (SLIFE)
- Build sensitive practices for students who have experienced trauma
The Essential Guide for Educating Beginning English Learners provides a realistic and comprehensive framework for effectively reaching and teaching this growing population.
"This book provides a wonderful look at the complexities of providing newcomers with a welcoming school environment and appropriate instruction."
—Michelle DaCosta, Bilingual Resource Teacher
Framingham Public Schools, MA
"This book gets at the heart of working with beginning ELs and helps educators gain a complete understanding of these students' needs and the factors that influence them."
—Yvonne S. Freeman, Professor of Bilingual Education
The University of Texas at Brownsville