Word Work: Practical Tools to Empower Language and Literacy Learning in the High School Classroom - by Amber M Simmons (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The book opens as a beginner primer to Systemic Functional Linguistics, providing a brief but relevant background on theorists and methodologies as well as examples of different types of SFL analyses.

From there, the book explores how students can use linguistic tools such as the appraisal system as well as modality and identification analyses that made visible the ways in which language positioned people to think and behave in a particular ways, supporting critical literacy as well as ELA standards. The book provides insight and examples of student work showing students' differing experiences and levels of confidence in performing SFL with various genres, evidence of critical growth and language awareness in student dialogue, as well as growth and writing development was reflected in student writing. Resources and student examples will also be included to help teacher practitioners and teacher candidates increase student achievement in reading comprehension and argumentative writing.

About the Author

Amber Simmons has a PhD in language and literacy education from the University of Georgia and seventeen years of teaching experience. She has received a number of awards, including the ISLS Founder Emerging Scholar award, NASFLA Promising Scholar Award, Atlanta Families' Award for Excellence in Education, Brookwood High School Teacher of the Year, Gwinnett County Public Schools Teacher of the Year (finalist), GCTE Teacher of the Year, and NCTE Teacher of the Year. Her work and previous publications center on supporting student growth and developing language awareness in the high school ELA classroom through the introduction of SFL and social emotional learning practices. She currently lives in Flowery Branch, GA, with her husband and two children, where she continues to serve as a high school language arts teacher.