With a Little Help from My Friends

This conversation-based approach accelerates language acquisition for EL students and advances academics and social–emotional learning for all. The authors present a research-based pedagogical model to help K–12 teachers modify the way they plan and implement their lessons to better support the linguistic, cognitive, and social–emotional development of culturally and linguistically diverse students.

“The authors remind us that we are working too hard in our roles as providers of knowledge and literacy. Rather, a focus on collaborative interactions among students better enables their autonomy, mutual learning, and self-directed paths to meaning and knowledge. The teacher onus is reduced, yet students’ ownership and confidence are bolstered in more socioconstructive and effectual ways. This work is a must read for all educators!”
—Socorro G. Herrera, Kansas State University and author of Accelerating Literacy for Diverse Learners

“Describes a system of classroom practice that centers on discourse-rich pedagogies. This book makes an important contribution to the growing field of culturally and linguistically sustaining instructional strategies.”
—Cory Buxton, College of Education, Oregon State University

“The authors’ detailed model for achieving ‘joint productive activity’ transforms the mysterious alchemy of ‘great teaching’ into a thoughtful, collaborative, and mindful process all teachers can use to engage students in learning.”
—Betsy R. Rymes, Penn Graduate School of Education