“Schools are not intentionally equitable places for English learners to achieve, but they could be if the right system of support were put in place. Diane Staehr Fenner and Sydney Snyder recommend just such a system. Not only does it have significant potential for providing fuller access to the core curriculum, it also provides a path for teachers to travel as they navigate the individual needs of students and support their learning journeys.”

—Douglas Fisher, Coauthor of Visible Learning for Literacy





A once-in-a-generation text for assisting a new generation of students

Content teachers and ESOL teachers, take special note: if you’re looking for a single resource to help your English learners meet the same challenging content standards as their English-proficient peers, your search is complete. Just dip into this toolbox of strategies, examples, templates, and activities from EL authorities Diane Staehr Fenner and Sydney Snyder. The best part? Unlocking English Learners’ Potential supports teachers across all levels of experience.



The question is not if English learners can succeed in today’s more rigorous classrooms, but how. Unlocking English Learners’ Potential is all about the how:

• How to scaffold ELs’ instruction across content and grade levels 


• How to promote ELs’ oral language development and academic language


• How to help ELs analyze text through close reading and text-dependent questions 


• How to build ELs’ background knowledge


• How to design and use formative assessment with ELs

Along the way, you’ll build the collaboration, advocacy, and leadership skills that we all need if we’re to fully support our English learners. After all, any one of us with at least one student acquiring English is now a teacher of ELs.