English learners require instructional approaches that change as students develop greater proficiency and become independent learners. To properly implement selected practices, teachers, coaches and site administrators should be provided with adequate professional development, establish inter-rater reliability and a developed rubric for each practice....
Experts have been debating the best way to teach reading for over fifty years. In reality, there is no single method that will teach all students to read and write successfully. Over the years, various approaches have come in and out of favor in an effort to raise achievement. These include: tighter curricula specifications, prescribing structures for literacy blocks, providing scripts for teaching and increasing accountability, all resulting in minimal impact on the learning outcomes for students (Boykin & Noguera, 2011)....
By the time young children enter school they are already well along the pathway to becoming literate. From birth children are learning how to learn: they respond to their environment and the reactions of others. This making sense of experience is an ongoing, recursive process. We have known for a long time that “reading and writing float on a sea of talk” (Britton 1970). It is through talking about events as they happen and discussing their ideas that children construct knowledge and acquire the language to make sense of their experiences....
