Reviews for Balancing Reading and Language Learning: A Resource for Teaching English Language Learners, K-5

The average rating for Balancing Reading and Language Learning: A Resource for Teaching English Language Learners, K-5 based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-12-17 00:00:00 Philippe Gagnon This was really an eye-opening book for me to read. The premise is that if the students have a place where they can put all their materials and show how they're thinking, they will value the resource, see how they've grown, and learn more deeply. Having SDAIE students this year for the first time, and being wholly unprepared for just how unprepared they are, I was constantly overestimating their abilities, even after I'd thought I'd scaffolded things fairly well. The premise behind the book is: each student has a notebook that is interactive. On the left, they have the "input," which is normally presented and marked on in a Cornell notes format. On the right, they have the "output," their thoughts, reflections, questions, etc. The authors were really helpful about the nitty-gritty, too: how to set them up step by step, where to get the funding for notebooks for all students, where/how to store them, how to grade them, and all those other little things that tend to be a nightmare when we teachers espouse a new concept/routine in our classrooms. Overall, it was a quick read, making me reflect a great deal on what I have and have not done in my classroom this year long after I'd read the last page. My only complaint is that there was too much about SDAIE teaching in general and not enough examples of ways to use interactive notebooks. I'm sure, given the time and creativity, I'll develop that myself, though.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-11-15 00:00:00 Benjamin Kuffour Focuses on not creating a dichotomy between pragmatism and participation.