The Book
"7 Steps has changed the way we design instruction in Alvin ISD."
If you are looking for a "one stop shop" resource to help you support your student's language development, look no farther than "7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive Classroom!" Teachers and Coaches alike will appreciate the simple layout and practical, ready to go, resources. The strategies shared in this book will not only help your ESL students you will love seeing the progress ALL students make!
--Frisco ISD
What are the 7 Steps?
The 7 Steps includes strategies for differentiating instruction for students at a variety of language proficiencies, keeping all students engaged, and creating powerful learning supports.
The book outlines a process for creating an interactive classroom environment, one in which all students can thrive and succeed - not just English learners. The strategies work for all grade levels and can be implemented across the curriculum.
How did this book develop?
The 7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive Classroom were formulated based on the professional development experience of John Seidlitz and Bill Perryman. They were both committed to equipping teachers to implement effective, research-based strategies that help all students - especially English learners- develop academic language.
Seidlitz and Perryman had both observed that creating a language-rich, interactive classroom was in some ways easier and in other ways more challenging than teachers often understood. Educators seemed to easily grasp the need for strategies that helped English learners develop academic language. What they found challenging was knowing how to get started and how to make those practices a consistent reality in their classrooms. In particular, teachers found it challenging to find ways to consistently provide comprehensible input (Krashen, 2017) and create multiple opportunities within a lesson for students to have low-stress opportunties for output (Loewen & Sato, 2018).
From 2008 to 2010 they collaborated with secondary teachers in schools in San Antonio, Texas to identify which existing research-based practices could be easily implemented that had already shown promise in maximizing language development. The core practices they identified became the 7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive Classroom.
In 2011 the book, 7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive Classroom was published and they sincerely hoped it would bridge the gap between what research had shown to be effective and what they saw happening in schools. By 2020, the book had sold over 100,000 copies and the central practices of the 7 Steps were being implemented in over 1,000 school districts across the United States and several other countries.
How do I order the book?