Mary Amanda Stewart

This book introduces a set of pedagogical practices designed to assist adolescent English learners in developing their English skills in a way that honors and leverages their native language(s) and cultures. Responding to the linguistic and educational diversity of adolescents, the R.E.A.L. (Relevant, Engaging, and Affirming Literacy) method offers teachers a range of scalable activities, reading lists, and other resources, along with numerous suggestions on how to adapt them for students’ particular needs. By sharing experiences from actual secondary English classes, the author presents diverse learners making meaningful connections to texts and responding through writing, speaking, and other artistic means. These students are developing high levels of literacy, English language skills, and even biliteracy through R.E.A.L. instruction that all English teachers can use with their students.

This book names and confounds the mono-mainstream assumption that invisibly frames much research, the ideologies that normalize monolingualism, monoculturalism, monoliteracy, mononationalism, and/or monomodal ways of knowing. In its place, the authors propose multi- and trans- lenses of these phenomena steeped in a raciolinguistic perspective on Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology to move toward a more accurate, multidimensional view of racialized peoples’ literacy and language practices. To achieve this, they first engage in a comprehensive review of literacies, languaging, and a critical sociocultural framework. Then, the distinct testimonios of four women underscore this framework in practice, followed by action steps for research, policy, and pedagogy. This book will be of particular interest to literacy and language education researchers.

Secondary ELA teachers, be excited: here at last is that crash course in utilizing the best of what we already know about teaching reading, writing, and language to ensure our English learners thrive. Take Penny Kittle and Donalyn Miller’s reader’s workshops. Take Kylene Beers and Robert Probst’s "signposts." Take the best writing techniques advanced by the National Writing Project. Take Jim Burke’s essential questions for life. Award-winning EL authorities Mandy Stewart and Holly Genova describe immediate adaptations you can put in place to simultaneously build your ELs’ language and literacy, while affirming their languages, cultures, and unique lived experiences. A rare blend of the humane and practical, But Does This Work with English Learners? is a book on how to leverage our ELs’ full linguistic repertoires in the ELA classroom, while remaining sensitive to those barriers that could restrict learning. With this book as your guide, you’ll learn how to: Look beyond the labels, and better understand the diversity of ELs, English language proficiency levels, and sociopolitical influencesTeach and assess through reader’s workshop, recognizing where comprehensible input fits in and adapting recurring features like support, choice, conferencing, and academic conversationsTeach and assess through writer’s workshops, including modifications to quick-writes, minilessons, conferencing, sharing, and moreTeach through structures and community with classroom schedules and behavior norms, and activities like All About Me Paragraphs and Six Things You Need to Know About Me ListiclesEmbrace identity in inquiry cycles via research and family interviews, mentor texts and essays, pictorial autobiographies, memory paragraphs, and moreAnswer your own FAQs such as How do I teach students if I don’t know their language? What about grammar? How do I teach the grade-level ELA standards while I teach the language? "As you read this book," Mandy and Holly write, "our hope is that you will begin to see your students as multilinguals—people who already have language as well as a wealth of knowledge and are just adding English to that great repertoire." If you have even a single English learner in your classroom, we urge you to read this book and institute its practices. Right away! "Mandy Stewart and Holly Genova have given us a primer for the evolving complexities of our classroom melting pots, a map for navigating the murky waters of regulations, and most importantly, a recipe for opening our arms to children from all over the world. They welcome them with thoughts like ‘A foreign accent is a sign of bravery.’" ~Gretchen Bernabei, Coauthor of Fun-Sized Academic Writing for Serious Learning "After reading this book, I was left with the feeling that I learned something new on every page--something that I had previously either wondered about or struggled to understand. Mandy Stewart and Holly Genova are the guides we all need to help us understand and better address the needs of our English learners." ~Jim Burke, Author of The English Teacher’s Companion

This book names and confounds the mono-mainstream assumption that invisibly frames much research, the ideologies that normalize monolingualism, monoculturalism, monoliteracy, mononationalism, and/or monomodal ways of knowing. In its place, the authors propose multi- and trans- lenses of these phenomena steeped in a raciolinguistic perspective on Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology to move toward a more accurate, multidimensional view of racialized peoples’ literacy and language practices. To achieve this, they first engage in a comprehensive review of literacies, languaging, and a critical sociocultural framework. Then, the distinct testimonios of four women underscore this framework in practice, followed by action steps for research, policy, and pedagogy. This book will be of particular interest to literacy and language education researchers.

As the immigrant population grows in countries such as the United States, so does the number of newcomer immigrant students in middle and high schools. Many scholars have noted that the education immigrant adolescents receive has a great bearing on the future of the nation. Understanding Adolescent Immigrants: Moving toward an Extraordinary Discourse for Extraordinary Youth highlights the voices of these young people by sharing the stories of seven newcomer youths aged 13 to 20 years in U.S. high schools. By learning their histories, present situations, and dreams for the future, we can understand both these students’ unique contribution to their new country and their schools’ roles in helping them achieve success.

As the immigrant population grows in countries such as the United States, so does the number of newcomer immigrant students in middle and high schools. Many scholars have noted that the education immigrant adolescents receive has a great bearing on the future of the nation. Understanding Adolescent Immigrants: Moving toward an Extraordinary Discourse for Extraordinary Youth highlights the voices of these young people by sharing the stories of seven newcomer youths aged 13 to 20 years in U.S. high schools. By learning their histories, present situations, and dreams for the future, we can understand both these students’ unique contribution to their new country and their schools’ roles in helping them achieve success.