Summer Reading List
Summer is the perfect time to wind down and relax, but it can also be a great opportunity to learn more about teaching and expand your teaching toolkit of strategies.
After doing some research, I found several great books that I want to read.
Below is a list of books I want to read and books that I have already read and highly recommend for teachers of multilingual learners.
Books I Want to Read
Advocating for Multilingual Learners (2nd edition) - This book will be released on August, 2026 and it is available to pre-order. It is about advocating for Multilingual learners (MLs) so that we can avoid some barriers that stand in their way. The authors talk about instruction, assessments, and family partnerships, and other topics in their five-step advocacy framework. Click here to learn more about this book.
Social Emotional Learning for Multilingual Learners -This books gives SEL tools that focus on multilingual learners. It includes tools and strategies to apply with MLs, examples of how these strategies have been successful, and more. This book has a rating of 5/5 on Amazon reviews. To learn more about this book click here.
Welcome to Teaching Multilingual Learners -This books talks about the challenges and opportunities in being a teaching of multilingual learners. It is divided into three parts, the why, the how, and the what of teaching MLs. This book has a rating of 4.4/5 on Amazon reviews. To learn more about this book, click here.
Unlocking Multilingual Learners Potential- This book shares research-based strategies that every teacher of multilingual learner teacher could use with their students. It includes more on the topics people liked from the first edition. It includes topics on newcomers (SLIFE), scaffolding instruction, a unit planning template and more. It has a 4.7/5 stars on Amazon. To learn more about what his book is about click here.
The Scaffolding Effect -This book explores the research behind scaffolding and adaptive teaching while debunking the myths and misconceptions behind this approach. It has a rating of 4.7/5 on Amazon.
To read more about this book click here.
Book Recommendations for teachers of MLs
The K-3 Guide to Academic Conversations: Practices, Scaffolds, and Activities 1st Edition - This is one of my favorite books. I’ve been using it since I started teaching ELD/ESOL, and not just with K–3 students. The strategies in this book can be used across all grade levels. The authors have also published a version for upper grade levels and updated strategies (click here). The book includes sample lesson plans, anchor charts, rubrics, and many other resources designed to get students talking and using academic language. It also helps students develop important conversation skills such as active listening, clarifying, elaborating, supporting ideas, and engaging in academic discussions. To learn more about this book ,click here.
The Writing Revolution- This book is describes effective writing strategies that benefit all students and work especially well for multilingual learners. It is one of my go-to resources when planning writing activities for my students. The activities and strategies can be adapted for all grade levels and content areas. It has a 4.8 out of 5 star rating on Amazon. To read more about this book, click here.
Total Participation Techniques- This book shares amazing techniques for keeping all students engaged and actively participating during whole-group lessons. I first used these strategies when I traveled to different classrooms to teach Spanish, and now I still use many of them in my ELD small groups.
One of the things I especially like about these strategies is that they provide excellent scaffolds for newcomers, allowing them to participate meaningfully in whole group lessons. To learn more about this book, click here.
There are so many great books out there, and each one offers new ideas and strategies to help us better support our students. Which book from this list would you read? What books have you read and would recommend to other multilingual learner teachers?
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