Description

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Copublished with TESOL Press

Newcomers need to draw on all their resources—intellectual, linguistic, cultural—as they make sense of new content and a new language.

In this much-needed book, the authors marshal research and several decades of their own experience to provide instructional practices and activities that will help teachers develop newcomers as readers and writers of English and engage them in content learning across the curriculum. Equally important, they show how teachers can advocate for these vulnerable students, many of whom have experienced multiple challenges in their home countries or in the United States, including poverty, violence, and political persecution.

With chapters on assessment and second-language acquisition as well as reading, writing, speaking, and content learning, their book is a timely and comprehensive guide for any K–8 educator whose classroom or school includes newcomer students.

About the Author

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Katharine Davies Samway, professor emerita at San José State University, has spent most of her adult life working with and on behalf of English learners, first as a teacher, then as a teacher educator/staff developer and researcher. All of her books focus on English learners, and topics include myths and realities surrounding English learners, linking writing research and practice, strategies for teaching ELs in grades K-8, and cross-age tutoring.

Lucinda Pease-Alvarez, professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she was also Director of Teacher Education. She has worked with prospective and practicing teachers, parents, and teacher educators on projects devoted to enhancing the learning opportunities available to multilingual and immigrant children in schools and communities.

Laura Alvarez has spent 20 years as a teacher, researcher, and professional development provider focused on supporting bilingual and immigrant students. She currently teaches middle school newcomer students in Oakland, CA and has taught all subjects in grades 4-8 in transitional bilingual, dual language, and sheltered English programs.

Praise For…

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This is an outstanding book. It provides essential information about newcomers, their backgrounds, their needs, and their strengths; and it includes a step-by-step guide for supporting these youngsters in the classroom in today's uncertain world. Examples of how to teach both language and content are detailed, time-tested, accessible, and anchored in the wisdom of practice. It is a must-read for teacher educators, practicing teachers, and all future teachers.
— Guadalupe Valdés, Ph.D., Bonnie Katz Tenenbaum Professor of Education, Stanford University

In Supporting Newcomer Students the authors provide readers with a wealth of important and practical information using specific examples to show how to work success-fully, meaningfully, and equitably with students of different language and cultural backgrounds in a variety of classroom settings. Chapters contrast common myths and realities about teaching newcomers and include multiple resources for teachers as they identify, assess, welcome, and teach language and content to their students and, at the same time, implement strategies to effectively advocate for them.

— David and Yvonne Freeman, authors and Professors Emeriti, The University of Texas Río Grande Valley

This book offers a wealth of instructional practices designed to support newcomer students, but it does so much more than that. As readers, we gain a deeper understanding of who these children are, the social, emotional, and economic supports they and their families need, and the rich diversity they bring to our classrooms. The authors cultivate within us the moral obligation to be these children's advocates as well as their teachers.
— Dr. Elizabeth Jaeger, Department of Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies, University of Arizona

This book is a much-needed resource that speaks holistically to the needs of new-comer students. Grounded in the most current research, the authors write for both the teacher practitioner, providing concrete and actionable guidance on responsive instructional practice, and for the teacher advocate, with useful information and tools to promote the educational and immigration rights of students and families. Supporting Newcomer Students will undoubtedly become one of OUSD’s core professional texts.

— Nicole Knight, Executive Director of the Office for English Language Learner and Multilingual Achievement, Oakland Unified School District