Languages and Children--Making the Match: New Languages for Young Learners, Grades K-8

Provides the rationale, strategies and activities for developing early language literacy, helping teachers make the connection between first and second language literacy and encouraging them to integrate the written word even at early points in language development. Offers strategies for interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes of communication as well as helpful ideas about classroom activities, assessment, and thematic planning that will revitalize their teaching.

Languages and Children: Making the Match, Third Edition,

With a focus on communicative language teaching as it reflects cognitive and second language acquisition theory, this classic in the field provides a wealth of strategies and activities ready to use in the K-8 classroom. Languages and Children: Making the Match, Third Edition, has been thoroughly revised and updated. Standards-based planning and instruction are the guiding principles throughout the book. This long-awaited third edition provides extensive new information that is not easily accessible to the field. Publishing this information in one source provides a tremendous service to methods instructors and teachers, as well as to students.

Features:

• Provides guidance in implementing cultural practices, products, and perspectives as part of integrated thematic planning to help teachers integrate culture into their unit and lesson planning (Ch. 10).
• Includes an in-depth picture of immersion programs and their implications for instruction in other models of early language programs (Ch. 12).
• Describes learner differences in terms of learning styles and multiple intelligences to help students meet the needs of individual learners in their classes (Ch. 1).
• Provides theory and process for thematic planning to guide students in planning effective curriculum, units, and lessons (Ch. 7).
• Outlines characteristics of various program models used in early language instruction and the benefits and drawbacks of each to help program planners to make informed decisions about choice of program model (Ch. 18).
• Includes applications to middle school throughout.
• Offers practical suggestions for traveling teachers who have to choose and organize a cart (Ch. 9).

“ Languages and Childrenis the only foreign language text I use for grades K-8, and it is an essential resource for any foreign language elementary school teacher.&148;
Professor Mary Lynn Redmond, Wake Forest University

“Languages and Children provides the most useable information available in the field...it clarifies how to effectively teach a foreign language...The authors are masters at providing teachers the knowledge and skills they need and inspiring a passion for teaching foreign languages to young learners.”
Professor Marcia H. Rosenbusch, Iowa State University

“The major strength of Languages and Children is that it is a very comprehensive overview of the essential ingredients of a first-rate K-8 foreign language program.”,
Professor Ruta Couet, South Carolina Department of Education

Author Bio:

Helena Curtain is director of the ESOL and Foreign Language K-12 teacher certification program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Previously she was Foreign Language and ESL Curriculum Specialist in the Milwaukee Public Schools, and coordinated these programs district-wide. She has taught at the elementary, middle school, high school and university levels. She has won several national awards and is the author of a variety of publications. She has broad experience teaching and conducting workshops throughout the United States and internationally.

Carol Ann Dahlberg is Professor emeritus from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, where she taught methods classes for K-12 foreign languages. Her experience includes elementary, middle, and high school teaching, as well as college and graduate levels. In addition to Languages and Children editions 1-3, she has authored numerous articles in professional journals. She works nationally and internationally as a consultant and workshop leader for early language learning, and has received national awards from ACTFL and AATG for leadership and teaching.