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Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning: Teaching Second Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom
Recommended by the Ontario Ministry of Education Elementary classroom teachers with little or no specialized ESL training will learn how to integrate the teaching of English with the content areas of the regular curriculum
165 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 18, 2020
I'm SO glad we read this for ENL. Packed with applicable language scaffolds and strategies, I found my brain buzzing with ideas to ensure academic success for my emergent bilinguals. Definitely one I'll continue to pick up and refer to in all of my unit planning.
December 29, 2017
Easy, insightful, and practical read! Each section has practical ways to support ESL students in class, followed by specific, useful activities to try in class. It’s also not lengthy or verbose, which is nice because it allows more time for applying it. I hope to eventually lead a book study at my campus for this text because it is very insightful for supporting Language Learners of all grade levels, in all content areas.
October 13, 2015
I have reached the point in my studies where textbooks are less necessary for my research but more important for selecting readings for students I am fortunate enough to teach. Many of the chapters in the latest edition hit upon points that elegantly state how scaffolding works in elementary classrooms. While these chapters are brief, they cover a lot of theoretical ground, and even school me on a couple of new ideas (guess I will eventually find out who Mary Schleppegrell is and the impact of her studies on English language learners.
December 14, 2016
It is a must for any English teacher. Interesting for language teachers but also for teachers in general since it talks about language learning in the mainstrean classroom. Language is our main tool to construct thinking.
January 22, 2018
This is an amazing tool for a teacher. Great advice for teaching not only students with another first language than what they’re taught in, but also for teaching another language than the most common in a given area.
July 12, 2018
I actually prefer this to the Danish edition I've read on an earlier occation. It's as if a big chunk of information got lost in translation, so I get way more than expected when reading this edition.
April 29, 2007
This is the best book on teaching English language learners that I have ever encountered. It is a good blend of theory and practice.
September 16, 2018
Great book! I am not usually a fan of textbooks but this one is easy to read and has great ideas for the classroom!
November 9, 2019
I love how practical this book is. It has great strategies you can immediately pull and use in the classroom with ELLs.
November 28, 2019
In this book, the author explains the different aspects of language learning that should be considered for students who are in school while trying to pick up or develop skills in a second language, and describes several techniques for assisting the students in their learning of the language.
I was looking for a book to help give me ideas of how to support my international students who sometimes struggle with the language tasks in my classes, especially Statistics which is more reliant on understanding context and technical language. The book was a bit technical/theoretical at times, and I'm not sure I agreed with some of the philosophies presented, and the strategies seemed largely directed at elementary students. However, I think the best part of the book is the glossary of teaching activities at the back of the book. Just read through that and you'll get a good idea of how to add activities to your teaching to help these students.
I was looking for a book to help give me ideas of how to support my international students who sometimes struggle with the language tasks in my classes, especially Statistics which is more reliant on understanding context and technical language. The book was a bit technical/theoretical at times, and I'm not sure I agreed with some of the philosophies presented, and the strategies seemed largely directed at elementary students. However, I think the best part of the book is the glossary of teaching activities at the back of the book. Just read through that and you'll get a good idea of how to add activities to your teaching to help these students.
March 7, 2024
Read this through a book talk with colleagues and so glad someone suggested it. Wish I had read it when I first started teaching bc it has so many practical tasks that are engaging and simple to replicate. This book doesn't only speak to ELs but also all students. Great addition to an educators toolbox
December 17, 2018
Readable, practical text on teaching ESL students. Offers useful exercises.
April 25, 2019
A 3 star grad school book is like a 4.5 star regular book. So, good job Pauline.
February 3, 2020
A clear text on teaching second language learners, strongly based on the work of Cummins.
August 5, 2020
A lot of skimming. Repeated concepts from trainings I’ve had with EL Achieve and Constructing Meaning but with less depth.
April 14, 2021
A must read for any teacher of MLLs. Theory and science is presented practically and fully approachable for non-TESOL professionals. Will be keeping on my shelf for reference.
July 19, 2021
Cool theory, cool examples
December 18, 2021
Not a particularly riveting read but helpful in providing content. It’s a good textbook and accomplishes what it sets out to do.
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May 11, 2025We used this book as part of an in-service course's required reading. It gave rationale for using scaffolding for English Learners. It was an easy read with tons of activities in each chapter.
February 6, 2009
I learned a lot from this book and recommend it to anyone who teaches English Language Learners in a mainstream classroom. This concept of "scaffolding" was new to me. I had been used to making all kinds of modifications for special ed students but this idea of providing scaffolding rather than "dumbing down" material for ELL students really got me to reevaluate the kinds of tasks I give to my ELLs. Although I am currently working on an ESL endorsement and have a lot of empathy for ELLs (as I used to be one!), I felt like this book gave me much greater insights into teaching of reading, writing, listening, and the importance of discourse in the classroom.
Some of the reviews for this book say that it just restates stuff that you could read "anywhere." I disagree. I think that if you read the text and really stop and think about it (and perhaps discuss it with other teachers) you'll find that there's a lot you can take away from this short and sweet text. I read it with a study group so we discussed each chapter and talked about practical applications in our own classrooms. I got a lot out of this and gained new insight into how I can scaffold content and language learning for ELL students.
Some of the reviews for this book say that it just restates stuff that you could read "anywhere." I disagree. I think that if you read the text and really stop and think about it (and perhaps discuss it with other teachers) you'll find that there's a lot you can take away from this short and sweet text. I read it with a study group so we discussed each chapter and talked about practical applications in our own classrooms. I got a lot out of this and gained new insight into how I can scaffold content and language learning for ELL students.
August 28, 2015
This is my new "go to" book when I'm thinking about my work with English Learners. Gibbons inspired me in the first chapter with the following: "Treating EL learners as the people they can become means that we see students not in terms of what they lack--in their case, full control of academic English--but as capable and intelligent learners who, with the right kind of support, are as able to participate in learning and achieve academically as their English-speaking peers."
Gibbons' writing is clear and concise. The layout and design of the book make it easy to access concrete ideas for instruction for immediate use in the classroom AS WELL AS to increase our understanding of language development--the theoretical basis (the why) for our instructional moves.
Gibbons' writing is clear and concise. The layout and design of the book make it easy to access concrete ideas for instruction for immediate use in the classroom AS WELL AS to increase our understanding of language development--the theoretical basis (the why) for our instructional moves.
August 8, 2008
This book will assist you in scaffolding curriculum to meet the needs of ESL students and really every student in your classroom! I have really enjoyed developing lessons and using the ideas gleaned from this book!
August 29, 2008
This is a good one for activities and such. Otherwise, it's stuff you can read just about anywhere else.
November 24, 2009
ELL Methods, kind of a waste of time... seems to be "well, duh!" stuff or things I don't really need to know!
August 1, 2012
informative and fairly straight forward. It got a bit boring and tedious in the last chapter.
November 21, 2013
This book actually has a lot of great ideas about how to teach ELLs in a mainstream classroom.
April 5, 2015
A must have for EAL and home room teachers with English Language Leaners. Lots of good strategies and sound reasoning behind each strategy. A fantastic resource.
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July 25, 2016428.0071 G441s 2014
January 19, 2017
Have read and reread this book in no particular order. I know it's like blasphemy in world of EAL to say this: not a fan of her style of writing- feels like it's a little over simplistic.
December 20, 2015
Super useful and accessible for teachers of bilinguals/language learners.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews