Discovering and Developing Talents in Spanish-Speaking Students
- Joan Franklin Smutny - National-Louis University, USA
- Kathryn P. Haydon
- Olivia Bolaños
- Gina Estrada Danley
¡Atención! Recognize the strengths of Spanish-speaking students!
With the growing population of Hispanic students, it's more important than ever to persevere beyond the language barrier and nurture their gifts and talents. This book provides teachers and leaders with the skills needed to uncover each child's abilities and ultimately boost achievement for gifted Spanish-speaking students. Packed with strategies, suggestions, and materials teachers can use immediately to enhance instruction and assessment, this book shows how to:
- Recognize students' unique strengths
- Identify and develop the gifts of bilingualism and different cultures
- Create challenging learning experiences for every student in the class
- Adapt tools and strategies to meet each learner's unique needs
- Connect with parents and the greater Spanish-speaking community
Included are testimonials from teachers and students; examples of communications with and from parents; selected poems from gifted students; and inspirational stories from adults who overcame language challenges to earn college degrees and achieve successful careers. Too often, Spanish-speaking students are overlooked, miscast into special education, or not recognized for their abilities. This book shows you how to uncover the creativity in each one of your students.
"This book broadens the scope of gifted education to a large group of students who are often overlooked. Its message fills a gap across the country for gifted educators who want to be more inclusive."
"The authors provide a practical approach to assisting Spanish-speaking high ability students. What sets this book apart is that it offers districts best practices for teaching and supporting all students from Spanish-speaking families."
"This practical guide suggests that educators look at students' strengths and view their language as a strength instead of a deficit. The authors provide great ways to communicate with parents, and I like the discussion of cultural norms. I would certainly recommend this publication to peers."
"ELL and Bilingual teachers, teachers of gifted and talented students, mainstream teachers, and administrators of these programs should all read this book. I have never seen any other book mention gifted and talented Hispanic students. This book will fill the void for a neglected area of under-represented peoples."
"While we know that we need bilingual professionals to compete in a global market, we are failing to identify our own bilingual talent in America. This book will help educators, parents, and administrators find and nurture Hispanic-American talented children. I work with Hispanic families and students and I need a resource like this to help me advocate for them."
Discovering and Developing Talents in Spanish-Speaking Students is long overdue and should be read by aspiring educators, current educators, school leaders and education policy makers. The authors have crafted an extensively well sourced piece of scholarship that references important research from an array of fields related to the education of gifted new learners of English. They provide critical information about why America needs to identify and nurture this pool of talent. In addition, the work is well organized, accessible and includes numerous practical examples and strategies for working with students and their families. The content has application across school subjects, grades and students.