Building Academic Language: Essential Practices for Content Classrooms, Grades 5-12 1st Edition

I just completed teaching a graduate level education course titled "Teaching Bilingual Students" where I used this text as one of the base texts for the course. Nearly every class session the teachers in the course mentioned how incredibly helpful they found the text. They were impressed with how many practical ideas the chapters came packed with and how well the theory behind those practical ideas was explained. Obviously I thought it was a great, teacher friendly, usable and practical text, which is why I selected it for the course, but never before have I had teachers respond so positively to a text from a course I've taught. When I've taught this same class in the past I've felt like there were many important aspects of teaching academic language in the content areas that I just hadn't managed to help the teachers understand and internalize. Not the case this time! This book can simply not be praised enough!

Lots of good information but it is a bit wordy in the beginning. Good thoughts for ESL and Content teachers. Takes a little transferring to make it applicable to K-4, but it is definitely relevant to the primary grades. Sound, research-based instruction for today's learners.

As a reading specialist in training, Zwiers book helped to open my eyes to the absolute necessity of teaching academic language explicitly to students. As might be expected, Zwiers models what he espouses - the book navigates clearly the language terrain that students encounter in school and provides tools for teachers to raise the level of language in content-area classrooms. He explains how to scaffold academic conversation, provides tools to help teachers engage students in productive group work and explains clearly both the rationale and techniques that will help students construct knowledge that is both enduring and transferable. This book is both a call to arms and the arms themselves. This book should be required reading for any teacher whose goal is to provide students with the language they need to succeed in school. Building Academic Language was required reading in my class this semester and is one that will remain on my bookshelf for future reference.

Easy to read and full of classroom activities.

I just started reading the book. I can't seem to put it down. I'm learning so much about academic language and the need to teach students, at an early age, to understand and to use these concepts in their own languages. As a future educator, I think this book, is a MUST MUST read!

This gave me what I needed to help my students with the edTPA. Our scores were higher than the rest of the group that did not have the topics in this course.

The book arrived in perfect condition. So far, I like the book, but have only read a couple chapters. Looking forward to finishing it.

This book is a valuable compilation of contemporary research as well as a fine source of lesson ideas for the teacher who wants to improve the academic language skills of their students.