Content-Area Conversations: How to Plan Discussion-Based Lessons for Diverse Language Learners

Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Carol Rothenberg

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About This Book

Teachers across the country are seeking ways to make their multicultural classrooms come alive with student talk about content. Content-Area Conversations: How to Plan Discussion-Based Lessons for Diverse Language Learners is a practical, hands-on guide to creating and managing environments that spur sophisticated levels of student communication, both oral and written.

 Paying special attention to the needs of English language learners, the authors

• Detail research-based steps for designing lessons that spark student talk;
• Share real-life classroom scenarios and dialogues that bring theory to life;
• Describe easy-to-use assessments for all grade levels;
• Provide rubrics, worksheets, sentence frames, and other imaginative tools that encourage academic communication; and
• Offer guiding questions to help teachers plan instruction.

Teachers at any grade level, in any content area, will find a wide variety of strategies in this book to help students simultaneously learn English and learn in English. 

Drawing both on decades of research data and on the authors’ real-life experiences as teachers of English language learners, this book is replete with ideas for fostering real academic discourse in your classroom.

See the book's table of contents and read excerpts.

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About the Authors

DOUGLAS FISHER is a Professor of Language and Literacy Education in the Department of Teacher Education at San Diego State University (SDSU) and a classroom teacher at Health Sciences High and Middle College. He is the recipient of an International Reading Association Celebrate Literacy Award and the Farmer Award for excellence in writing from the National Council of Teachers of English, as well as a Christa McAuliffe Award for excellence in teacher education.

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NANCY FREY is Professor of Literacy in the School of Teacher Education at San Diego State University and a classroom teacher at Health Sciences High and Middle College in San Diego. Before moving to San Diego, Nancy was a special education teacher in the Broward County (FL) Public Schools, where she taught students at the elementary and middle school level. She later worked for the Florida Department of Education on a statewide project for supporting students with disabilities in general education curriculum.

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CAROL ROTHENBERG is a staff developer in the area of literacy and English language learners. Providing support and guidance to teachers across content areas and grade levels, she coaches teachers in planning, assessing, and reflecting on instruction. She has worked with elementary and secondary schools throughout the San Diego Unified School District, training teachers and administrators on effective programs and instruction for English language learners.

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