Meeting the needs of English language learners is one of the biggest challenges facing American schools today. Practical classroom strategies are essential, but it is also critical for educators to understand the rationale behind them: why a technique or methodology is working or not working for their students. Engage the Creative Arts is designed to build that understanding while also stimulating teachers’ imagination to help them invent new strategies of their own.
The book introduces the ENGAGE Framework for Sheltering and Scaffolding Language the Natural Way, an approach developed by Sharon Adelman Reyes based on more than 30 years of experience working with English language learners. It emphasizes methodologies that are grounded in a constructivist educational philosophy and a comprehensive theory of language acquisition. Rather than prescriptive, step-by-step recipes for instruction, it features strategies that are open-ended, creative, and best of all, engaging for students.
Engage the Creative Arts is full of hands-on, ready-to-use activities in dramatic arts, creative writing, music and rhythm, dance and movement, and visual arts, along with ideas for developing many more. But the ENGAGE Framework can be applied to any academic content area. And it is designed for all teachers who work with second language learners, whether in bilingual, English as a second language, dual immersion, heritage language, or world language classrooms.
Sharon Adelman Reyes is program director for DiversityLearningK12, a consulting and professional development group based in Portland, OR, that specializes in the education of English language learners.
She holds a Ph.D. in curriculum design from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she specialized in multicultural and bilingual education. Over a career spanning more than 30 years, she has worked as a teacher, principal, curriculum specialist, district administrator, university professor, and educational researcher. She has taught at the elementary, secondary, and university levels and is a recipient of the Kohl International Prize for Exemplary Teaching.
Reyes has co-authored three books: Diary of a Bilingual School (with James Crawford; DiversityLearningK12, 2012); Teaching in Two Languages: A Guide for K-12 Bilingual Educators (with Tatyana Kleyn; Corwin, 2010); and Constructivist Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners (with Trina Vallone; Corwin, 2008). Her publications also include peer-reviewed journal articles, a peer-reviewed book chapter, magazine articles, curriculum guides, and program reviews.
Since 1999, Reyes has worked directly with K-12 schools serving low-income communities to improve curriculum and instruction in ESL, dual immersion, transitional bilingual education, and literacy. Her consulting has included developing, guiding, and evaluating programs; providing teachers with field support and professional development workshops on site; and working closely with school administrators to facilitate these efforts.
She has presented in her field locally, nationally, and internationally, and has served as an educational consultant in school districts throughout the United States. Her current research interests include the preparation of educators and educational leaders for diverse classrooms and educational contexts, constructivist practice in ELL contexts, and bilingual schooling.
