The Language Lens for Content Classrooms: A Guide for K-12 Educators of English and Academic Language Learners

by Sarah Ottow

Every teacher is a language teacher, every student is a language learner, and every classroom needs a Language Lens.Sarah Ottow has spent 20 years helping schools and organizations develop a Language Lens—a cultural and linguistic responsiveness that improves the learning experience and achievement of every language learner. The Language Lens for Content A Guide for K-12 Educators of Academic and English Language Learners is the starting point for any general education or content teacher English Language students who are learning English as a second (or more!) language, and who may not speak English at home.Academic Language students who are learning the language necessary to access the curriculum—the nuanced language needed to process and apply content standards, skills, and knowledge that differ for every subject—who may or may not be ELLs.It doesn’t matter if you teach Chemistry, Gym, or Language Arts; any student can be a language learner, so this guide is for every K-12 instructor who is looking to be more effective, inclusive, and responsive in their teaching.

Genres: Education

116 pages, Paperback

Published March 18, 2019

Reviews

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick and worthwhile read that I would recommend to any teacher, especially those who aren't necessarily language specialists. Most of the things the author brought up are things my team has been working on in our school for a while, so many things were reinforcements of what we're already doing, but there were lots of helpful resources & reminders of strategies and approaches I haven't used in a while.

(I will say, I wish they had gotten a better editor. There were several mistakes that could have easily been caught before publication and I found some of them distracting.)

[Carol Salva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am loving this resource by Sarah Ottow. It has so many practical ideas for supporting language development with a great focus on ASSETS! Ottow offers so many ways to raise the rigor and stay in what she calls the "Challenge Zone" for English learners. The activities and scaffolds presented give concrete examples of how to differentiate for all levels including native English speakers. I really love all the charts and frames offered so that teachers can use the techniques right away.

[Ryan Dash · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. A lot of this book is common sense, or stuff I already know from being a longtime teacher of multiple language learners, but there are a number of good tips sprinkled throughout. There’s some fluff, but not much.

[Jamey Badger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent text to gain insight into the role of language across content areas.

[Hilary Ledford · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Language Lens for Content Classrooms: A Guide for K-12 Educators of English and Academic Language Learners is the second of my two picks for this quarter's book study series hosted by my district. I was interested in reading this since it's a primary area of growth for me- making my teaching and the expression of learning more accessible to all students, but specifically linguistically. Plus, I love learning about learning about languages- say that five times fast! Anyway, this laid a good foundation for all educators as far as understanding the learning process through a linguistic lens and also offered some concrete examples aimed at improvement. I'd rate it higher if it focused less on setting the foundation and more on the specific strategies themselves. 3☆

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