Honoring All Learners

It is estimated that more than half of the world's population is bilingual (Ansaldo, Marcotte, Scherer, & Raboyeau, 2008; Grosjean, 2012). However, across the world, it is difficult to measure the number of bilingual and multilingual individuals because of the type of language questions requested on national census surveys. Researchers know that there is a significant population that speaks two or more languages, and in many countries, it is the norm to be multilingual. The people of many countries speak diverse and multiple languages, such as the 722 languages spoken in Indonesia, the 445 languages in India, and the 207 languages in Australia (Grosjean, 2012). Despite the sheer number of languages spoken worldwide, many school systems, particularly in the United States, continue to embrace monolingualism. As we have become more interconnected globally through technology and ease of travel, it is time to rethink how to provide better support for language learning and language learners. Honoring All Learners is the theme of this particular issue. Honoring bilingual and multilingual children is an important component of providing excellent literacy instruction for all of our children. Honoring all learners means respecting where children come from and valuing their linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Twenty years ago, newcomer children entering U.S. schools were often viewed through a deficit lens. The focus was not on what they knew but on what they could not speak, read, or write in English. We've come a long way in the past 20 years—but we still have more work to do. In this issue of The Reading Teacher, Mariana Souto-Manning explains ways that we can continue to honor and build on the language and literacy practices of our young bilingual and multilingual learners. In her article, Souto-Manning provides a historical background of the challenges that language learners face in U.S. public schools, and she notes legislative turning points for bilingual education. She describes issues of access and equity in education and shares examples of culturally relevant teaching in the classroom. Souto-Manning invites readers to think about ways to honor and build on the language and literacy practices of bilingual and multilingual learners in their classrooms. This issue's feature articles include a variety of topics that connect theory to practice. Melissa A. Gallagher and Blythe E. Anderson show us new ways to engage children with vocabulary instruction. Hope K. Gerde, Megan E. Goetsch, and Gary E. Bingham's article focuses on ways to use environmental print in the early childhood classroom to promote writing. Katia Ciampa demonstrates how to implement a digital reading and writing model within the context of content literacy instruction in an urban elementary school, and Jill S. Jones, Kristin Conradi, and Steven J. Amendum show how to match reading interventions to reading needs. Marva Cappello and Nancy T. Walker explain Visual Thinking Strategies for closely reading complex visual texts, and William Boerman-Cornell writes about the experiences of second and fourth graders reading graphic novels. Last, Kathy Ganske provides an important framework for next-generation word study. The Teaching Tips in this issue focus on the early childhood learner and classroom and text-based writing. Encouraging reading to learn as a comprehension strategy is an important teaching tip for all early readers. Scaffolding writing in the early childhood classroom and sustaining engagement during the interactive writing lesson are topics also addressed. The Voices From the Classroom pieces feature an elementary teacher from Georgia, Amanda M. Butler, who describes the importance of meeting students’ emotional needs. Chelsie Schmitt, a fifth-grade teacher from Michigan, explains the importance and necessity of using voice when reading aloud to students. Two departments are included in this issue of The Reading Teacher. The first is Integrating Children's Literature, which focuses on the teaching and use of children's literature and provides educators with information about a wide range of books across multiple genres that are representative of the diverse world in which we live. Jonda C. McNair heads this department, and her first article in this volume is “#WeNeedMirrorsAndWindows: Diverse Classroom Libraries for K–6 Students.” She offers an exciting, diverse collection of books that can support all students while affirming students’ own cultural identities and providing a positive perspective on others. In the Global Literacy department, Shelley Stagg Peterson offers a fascinating article on research in Canada's rural and indigenous communities. She describes how educators can support children's oral language and writing within these communities. Through international examples of teaching, learning, and best practices, we learn how to meet the literacy needs of all children. In closing, throughout the school year, consider ways to honor all children. Our world is linguistically rich, so let's reexamine ways to include best practices for multilingual and bilingual children within our school communities. Building on the language and literacy practices of our bilingual and multilingual learners benefits us all. As noted author Frank Smith said, “One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.” Let's open those doors for our children.

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