Part 1: Effective Instructional Strategies

    In Chapter 3, Box. 3.3, an ELA teacher decides to embrace student culture. This teacher asked themselves, "'How could they be encouraged to appropriate their language to Standard English if they did not have tangible examples or models within their own cultural communities to which they could relate?'" The students were then taught to code-switch between "classroom talk" and regular talk through rap, something they could culturally relate to. By embracing the culture of the students, this teacher got through to them.

    Chapter 4 mentions another effective instructional strategy--portfolios. Portfolios allow teachers and students to monitor both learning outcomes and processes and can also lend themselves to instruction in a range of content areas. While being easily applicable, portfolios give students a sense of authorship over their work and teachers an avenue to track their progress. 

   In "8 Quick Checks for Understanding," one way to do so is through signaling. Students use a thumbs up, hand wave, or thumbs down rather than the traditional hand raise. This encourages all students to participate, rather than just the ones called on, while also indicating to the teacher if something said needs re-explaining.