Unlocking Multilingual Learners’ Potential

Diane Staehr Fenner, PhD, is the president of SupportEd (SupportEd.com), a woman-owned small business located in the Washington, DC, metro area that she founded in 2011. SupportEd is dedicated to empowering multilingual learners and their educators. Dr. Staehr Fenner leads her team to provide ML professional learning, coaching, and technical assistance to school districts, states, and organizations. Prior to forming SupportEd, Dr. Staehr Fenner was an English language development (ELD) teacher, dual language assessment teacher, and ELD assessment specialist in Fairfax County Public Schools, VA. She speaks German and Spanish and has taught in Berlin, Germany, and Veracruz, Mexico. Dr. Staehr Fenner grew up on a dairy farm in central New York and is a proud first- generation college graduate. She has written nine books on ML education (and counting), including coauthoring the bestselling Unlocking Multilingual Learners’ Potential: Strategies for Making Content Accessible and Culturally Responsive Teaching for Multilingual Learners: Tools for Equity. She is a frequent keynote speaker on ML education at conferences across North America. She earned her PhD in Multilingual/Multicultural Education at George Mason University and her MAT in TESOL at the School for International Training. You can connect with her by email at Diane@SupportEd.com. Sydney Snyder, PhD, is a principal associate at SupportEd. In this role, Dr. Snyder coaches ML educators and develops and facilitates interactive professional development for teachers of MLs. She also works with the SupportEd team to offer technical assistance to school districts and educational organizations. Dr. Snyder has extensive instructional experience and has worked in the field of English language development forover 25 years. She started her teaching career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea, West Africa. This experience ignited her passion for language teaching, culturally responsive instruction, and ML advocacy. Dr. Snyder is coauthor of Culturally Responsive Teaching for Multilingual Learners: Tools for Equity and contributing author to Breaking Down the Monolingual Wall. She served as an English Teaching Fellow at Gadja Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She earned her PhD in Multilingual/ Multicultural Education at George Mason University and her MAT in TESOL at the School for International Training. You can connect with her by email at Sydney@SupportEd.com or on Twitter at @SydneySupportEd. Meghan Gregoire-Smith, MA, is a multilingual learner (ML) coach at SupportEd. In this role, Ms. Gregoire-Smith coaches ML educators and develops and facilitates interactive professional development for teachers of MLs. Ms. Gregoire-Smith began her career teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) to young adults in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Her time in Ecuador sparked her love of language teaching. She then spent over a decade supporting MLs in Anne Arundel County Public Schools, Maryland, first as an elementary English language development teacher and then as an ELD Teacher Specialist. As an ELD Teacher Specialist, Ms. Gregoire-Smith wrote the K–12 ELD curricula, planned and delivered professional development around best practices for working with MLs, and provided coaching for ELD teachers new to the profession. Ms. Gregoire-Smith’s experiences as an ELD teacher and teacher specialist led to a passion for supporting educators of MLs through high-quality professional development and coaching. She earned her Master’s in TESOL from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. You can connect with her by email at Meghan@SupportEd.com or on Twitter at @MeghanGSmith.

"Every K-12 teacher needs to be effective with multilingual learners. This practical, asset-oriented book that helps teachers put theory into action to unlock MLs’ potential!"

• Praise PagesDedicationWebsite Table of ContentsForeword by Emily FrancisAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsIntroductionChapter 1: Why You Need This Book to Support MLsChapter 2: Using a Culturally Responsive Framework to Leverage the Strengths & Meet the Needs of MLsChapter 3: Scaffolding Instruction for MLsChapter 4: Peer Learning: Fostering MLs’ Oral Language Development and Content UnderstandingChapter 5: Teaching Academic Language to MLs at the Word/Phrase LevelChapter 6: Teaching Academic Language to MLs at the Sentence and Discourse LevelChapter 7: Activating and Teaching MLs Background KnowledgeChapter 8: Engaging MLs in Reading and Writing in the Content AreasChapter 9: Formative Assessment for MLsAppendix A: Unlocking MLs’ Potential Unit Planning TemplateAppendix B: Unlocking MLs’ Potential Unit Planning Template Completed ExampleAppendix C: Classroom Checklist to Foster a Language Learning Environment for MLsAppendix D: Culturally Responsive School Checklist and Goal SettingAppendix E: Scaffolding for MLs Self-AssessmentAppendix F: Checklist for Supporting MLs’ Academic Language Development in Speaking and WritingIndex