Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning

Book excerpt: The bestselling Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning helped tens of thousands of mainstream elementary teachers ensure that their English language learners became full members of the school community with the language and content skills they needed for success. In the highly anticipated Second Edition, Pauline Gibbons updates her classic text with a multitude of practical ideas for the classroom, supported by the latest research in the field of ELL/ESL. With clear directions and classroom tested strategies for supporting students' academic progress, Gibbons shows how the teaching of language can be integrated seamlessly with the teaching of content, and how academic achievement can be boosted without sacrificing our own vision of education to the dictates of knee-jerk accountability. Rich examples of classroom discourse illustrate exactly how the scaffolding process works, while activities to facilitate conversation and higher-level thinking put the latest research on second language learning into action.