Language Power
Key Uses for Accessing Content
Foreword by Pauline Gibbons
Because explicit language instruction serves ALL students
Here, at last, is every K-8 teacher’s playbook on the critical role academic language plays in content learning and student achievement. What exactly is so different? Margo Gottlieb and Mariana Castro distill the complexities of language learning into four key uses through which students can probe the interplay between language and content, and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. It’s as straight-forward as that.
Best of all, Language Power is jam-packed with hands-on, replicable resources to help you seamlessly integrate academic language into your daily routines: targeted examples, activities, and templates. Along the way, you’ll learn how to
- Identify, plan, assess, and implement academic language instruction using the Discuss, Argue, Recount, and Explain conceptual tool
- Utilize language within and across domains and content areas
- Apply the inquiry cycle to the theme of academic language use
- Expand stakeholders to include students other families
No matter who your students are, no matter which discipline you teach, the research reads the same: school achievement depends upon effective communication. Read Language Power, implement its resources, and soon see for yourself what a powerful tool language is in realizing this goal.
“This thought-provoking and very practical book will be welcomed by all educators who are striving to provide a more equitable curriculum for students. As Gottlieb and Castro suggest, this endeavor requires classroom teachers to think critically about the language they use with students, and develop the knowledge and skills to provide students with explicit and well-planned support for the development of academic language. Language Power will assist educators to make these endeavors a reality.”Pauline Gibbons, Author of Scaffolding Language,
Scaffolding Learning, Second Edition
Sample Materials & Chapters
Chapter 1: Examining Key Uses of Academic Language
Figure 1.3: Typical Language Features and Example Tasks Related to Key Uses
Resource 2.1: Identifying Key Uses of Academic Language in Content Standards and
Resource 2.1: Identifying Key Uses of Academic Language in Content Standards and
Resource 2.4: A Needs Assessment for Teachers of 21st Century Classrooms
Resource 2.4: A Needs Assessment for Teachers of 21st Century Classrooms (Blank)
Resource 2.10: Representation of Key Uses of Academic Language in Curricular Res
Resource 2.10: Representation of Key Uses of Academic Language in Curricular Res
Figure 3.3: Key Uses of Academic Language Assessment/Success