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"I can say with certainty that this book will add a compelling sense of depth and texture to the existing body of research in first and second language literacy." --Patricia Richard-Amato, California State University at Los Angeles Varied Voices is an ethnographic study of language and literacy learning in a culturally and linguistically diverse Moroccan school. There, children and teachers turn classrooms into social spaces as they work to build learning communities. Suitable for MATESOL courses and in-service training, Varied Voices is a must-read for all instructors working with language minority students at the elementary and secondary school levels.

Viewing the English language arts standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association as a point of departure rather than a final destination, this book presents a number of ways to increase student ownership of learning. The book details a pedagogy that recognizes, respects, and builds from individual language strengths and experiences, and in each chapter presents a rich classroom portrait of the standards at work in student-centered, real-world experiences and activities. In the book, students direct the inquiry process in chapters on interest groups and the Iditarod dogsled race; in other chapters, their teachers learn to respond to growing cultural diversity in the classroom, shift from basal readers to literature-based learning, and rethink the purposes of assessment in a chapter on "real kid report cards." Throughout the book, students and teachers learn together as they develop language and literacy skills for the coming century. (Each chapter contains references.) (NKA)