To achieve higher levels of learning, students must be able to understand the language of instruction found in classrooms, textbooks, and standardized tests. Johnson, a consultant for the California Department of Education, provides 36 hands-on strategies for making the connection between academic language, literacy, and student achievement for all learners, regardless of home language or socioeconomic status. Explained in reader-friendly terms, each strategy helps K-12 teachers give their students the tools and skills necessary to decipher academic language in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. A strategy matrix helps teachers select appropriate strategies for their grade level. An appendix provides lists of academic words that every student should learn at each grade level. There is also an appendix of web sites for finding specific content-area word lists in science, social studies, math, music, and language arts. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)