The Essential Guide for Educating Beginning English Learners

Book excerpt: 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