This is a quick-start manual for teachers who are working with bilingual learners for the first time or who want a refresher course. The book is practical, jargon free, easy to navigate, and it contains strategies that teachers can implement immediately and without fuss. The book is not tied to state-specific immersion programmes but instead offers strategies that can be used in all bilingual settings to cover such topics as:
} teaching methods and materials (“your toolbox”)
} working with the learner’s native language and culture
} working within the context of the community’s language and culture
} working with school administrators, speech therapists, and volunteers
} essential skills: vocabulary, grammar, listening, speaking, reading, writing, content classes, including “sheltered” content lessons
} grading, testing, self-assessments, and preparing students for standardized tests
} placements in bilingual/ESL programmes and exiting back to regular classrooms
} placements in special education programmes when appropriate
· timing the students’ return to regular classrooms
} the ESL teacher’s ongoing professional development
Special features include sidebars for customizing instruction to be developmentally appropriate for younger learners; resources and recommended readings; a glossary to explain common linguistic terms and bilingual alphabet soup (TESOL, NABE, ELD, LEP, ESL, EFL, ELL); and a terrific collection of vocabulary checklists for common English words and concepts, which teachers will be able to use during first few months.
CALLA Handbook Implementing the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach