Luis Moll

This honest, clearly written, and accessible book shows how to use Family Dialogue Journals to increase and deepen learning among students in grades K-12. Written by teachers who have been implementing and studying the use of weekly journals for several years, the book shares what they have learned and why they have found these journals to be an invaluable tool for forming effective partnerships with families. Learn from first-hand accounts how students write weekly about one big idea they have studied, and then invite a family member to participate in the discussion by asking him/her to write a response to the student’s question about the topic in the journal. Through these journal entries, students share their family knowledge with classmates while actively engaging with the curriculum. In turn, teachers extend the academic discussion by writing to each family and incorporating the family contributions into classroom lessons. Family participation in journal entries is remarkably high across ages, ethnicities, and diverse economic backgrounds.

This honest, clearly written, and accessible book shows how to use Family Dialogue Journals to increase and deepen learning among students in grades K-12. Written by teachers who have been implementing and studying the use of weekly journals for several years, the book shares what they have learned and why they have found these journals to be an invaluable tool for forming effective partnerships with families. Learn from first-hand accounts how students write weekly about one big idea they have studied, and then invite a family member to participate in the discussion by asking him/her to write a response to the student’s question about the topic in the journal. Through these journal entries, students share their family knowledge with classmates while actively engaging with the curriculum. In turn, teachers extend the academic discussion by writing to each family and incorporating the family contributions into classroom lessons. Family participation in journal entries is remarkably high across ages, ethnicities, and diverse economic backgrounds.

Children in Mexicano communities learn to use language in a variety of ways. At times they use both Spanish and English in the same conversation or help friends and family members enter mainstream society by translating English to Spanish for them. Pushing Boundaries describes Eastside, a Mexicano community in northern California, analysing language learning and language socialization in the context of real, problematic, important activities in people's lives. The authors consolidate three separate studies providing a unique perspective on the ways bilingual children and their families use and learn language. With children using the language of home, school and community separately and in combination, the book reveals how these children use their traditional language and cultural knowledge as a critical component for learning their second language and its underlying cultural norms.

Children in Mexicano communities learn to use language in a variety of ways. At times they use both Spanish and English in the same conversation or help friends and family members enter mainstream society by translating English to Spanish for them. Pushing Boundaries describes Eastside, a Mexicano community in northern California, analysing language learning and language socialization in the context of real, problematic, important activities in people's lives. The authors consolidate three separate studies providing a unique perspective on the ways bilingual children and their families use and learn language. With children using the language of home, school and community separately and in combination, the book reveals how these children use their traditional language and cultural knowledge as a critical component for learning their second language and its underlying cultural norms.