Today's public schools are increasingly characterized by cultural and linguistic diversity. Studies show that about 4.4 million students nationwide lack the English skills needed to succeed academically. To help second language learners keep up in the classroom, educators must understand the challenges that bilingual students and schools face.

In this concise guide, former bilingual teacher Judith Lessow-Hurley dives right into the language debate swirling in school systems large and small. She examines the popular myths about educating students in a multilinquistic society and introduces the key issues:

* The demographics of second language learners
* The theory underlying language instruction
* Desirable qualifications for bilingual teachers
* Effective teaching methods and programs
* Language and politics
* Language and the law

By confronting common beliefs about English-only and immersion programs, basic interpersonal communication skills, the influence of culture on language, and more, Lessow-Hurley reveals how schools can successfully educate students from diverse backgrounds--without unintended prejudice. Her passionate and intelligent response in the language debate views every school as the bridge between cultures, helping all students develop academically and equally.

This is a great book for English teachers working at Kindergarten level. It includes eighty ready-to-use activities plans organized into 10 thematic units. Each daily plan covers each moment of the class: arrival, opening, craft, freeplay and closing. There are also reproducibles, letters to parents and ideas for using children’s books.

* Documents how young children in Italy are prepared, or primed, for the transition from preschool to elementary school.
* Examines how the transition relates to academic and social development, including details about the children’s school and peer cultures before, during, and after the transition.
* Includes interviews with parents, teachers, and children, engaging anecdotes, and examples of children’s art and literacy projects.
* Suggests dramatically different approaches that schools and communities can take to support children’s and families’ development and learning.