Teaching Language and Literature in Elementary Classrooms: A Resource Book for Professional Development

I used this text with pre-service teachers as required reading for my course in teaching elementary language arts. It is a book that my students highly recommend and that they feel will be a useful resource to them throughout their future years of teaching. This text gives a solid framework to a well-rounded language and literacy program, based on sound theory and realistic practice. Each of the twelve chapters is divided into recurring sections so that the format becomes predictable. The author shows in a meaningful way how to integrate language and literature across the curriculum, giving concrete examples of each concept and teaching practice at the Kindergarten level, the primary level and the intermediate level. Throughout the text, in the "What Do You Think?" section, Popp asks reflective questions to her readers. These provide wonderful discussion starters in class and opportunities for the students to reflect privately at home in a focused manner. The recurring section on evaluation was of particular value to my students, connecting specific types of assessment strategies to specific classroom activities - for example, creating a "discussion chain" or a "shared-pair" summary to evaluate understanding of a presentation. Popp makes sure to build connections from home to school and community, and is very conscious of including students and teachers with varying needs and in varying situations. There is truly something for everyone in this valuable text. Popp provides for each topic recommended readings of relevant professional literature, descriptions of teaching resources and a variety of theoretical perspectives, in addition to very thorough preparation and step-by-step instructions in carrying out the teaching strategies.Although as a Canadian I had some concerns about the all-American references and cited literature, I would still heartily recommend this text to instructors/students in both Canada and the U.S.A., perhaps encouraging additional Canadian content or a future Canadian edition.