I liked the early part of the book better than the second half, partly because I couldn't see how some ideas (critical thinking) fit into the concept. It almost felt as though the authors wanted to talk about it, so they put it in. It seems to me that the result of background knowledge would be critical thinking--but I wasn't sure that's how they presented it. That said, there are lots of useful ideas in the book that teachers can use, especially with students who need a little more support or scaffolding, and the authors are really good at explaining those things. I also liked the set-up of the chapters.