With a Little Help from My Friends: Conversation-Based Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Classrooms - Softcover

Mellom, Paula J.; Hixon, Rebecca K.; Weber, Jodi P.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807761567 ISBN 13: 9780807761564

Publisher: Teachers College Press, 2019

Synopsis

Grounded in research-based practice, this book will help all teachers make classroom learning more interactive and conversation-based. Drawing on their work with more than 800 teachers and administrators from 29 districts and 2 countries, the authors present a pedagogical model that challenges teachers to promote emotionally safe classroom environments, activate the assets they and their students bring to the classroom, and modify the way they plan and implement their lessons to better support the linguistic, cognitive, and social–emotional development of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. The text includes teacher-tested tools for lesson planning and for scaffolding collaborative student learning activities across grade levels and content areas. With a Little Help from My Friends will be an invaluable resource for educators interested in increasing all students’ social–emotional skills while also improving their linguistic and academic development.

Book Features:

• Shows teachers how to integrate collaborative conversations to support content instruction, avoiding one-size-fits-all solutions.
• Promotes students’ development and practice of social-emotional skills while simultaneously engaging them in content learning.
• Provides teacher-tested tools and practical strategies that can be applied across grade levels and integrated within existing curricula.
• Operationalizes research showing that conversation promotes empathy.
• Includes user-friendly features such as authentic examples from the field and reflective activities that help readers apply and extend their learning.
• Offers a companion online platform complete with supplemental materials such as planning aids, sample lesson plans, videos, and downloadable resources.

About this title

From the Author:

Paula J. Mellom is the associate director of the Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education (CLASE). Rebecca K. Hixon is a postdoctoral research and teaching associate for CLASE. Jodi P. Weber is the assistant director of professional development for CLASE. CLASE is a research and development center housed within the University of Georgia’s College of Education.

Review:

"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

“In With a Little Help from My Friends, Mellom and colleagues challenge the narrative by highlighting the learning assets that teachers and students can access, through use of a powerful framing that builds on the experiences shared by teachers and their emergent bilingual learners. Based on the authors’ multiyear study of their large-scale teacher professional development project, they describe a system of classroom practice that centers 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

“With a Little Help from My Friends offers an original approach to understanding and facilitating classroom interaction. Every step along the way, Mellom and her colleagues encourage readers to value the linguistic and cultural diversity that teachers and students inevitably bring to classroom interactions. 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

About this edition

• Publisher: Teachers College Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0807761567
• ISBN 13: 9780807761564
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208