Another classic review.

Wiley, K. (2004). Shining Star. White Plains: Longman. Book 1 (Introduction) of a series. 289 pp., 8 units.

This book is used in middle schools, best suited for students at WIDA levels 1-2, Entering and Beginning. It comes with an audio CD but no online materials. The topics are age-appropriate, gradually preparing students towards mainstream school subjects and topics. Language instruction is covered all throughout the book, beginning heavily in the introductory unit, “Getting Started,” which provides exercises not only for basic terms (numbers, directions, classroom objects, etc.) but also a primer for terms in specific subjects (social studies shows how to read a map, math gives the basic fractions). The following units incorporate these lessons into themes which cover most of the content matter, for example, Unit 4, “Family Ties,” includes a short story for Language Arts,, a section on families around the world for Social Studies, and even a section on heredity and traits for science classes. Every unit ends with a “Review and Practice” as well as a “Connect to Writing” section, which provides both oral and written exercises for students to do for the teacher to assess.

The book is focused primarily on reading skills, with the Audio CD used primarily for the introductory chapters only. Students should be able to answer factual questions through exercises such as Wh- question charts, requiring them to express facts as well as judgments of opinion. Grammar exercises are presented in “Connect to Writing” exercises, covering basics such as subject-object agreement and use of pronouns. Vocabulary is covered mostly as highlighted words in the chapters, where the meanings are either given as footnotes, as in a standard literature book, or else used at the end as part of a comprehension exercise where students must choose the meanings from a list based on the context the word was used in.

Most of the exercises appear in either the beginning (“Prepare to Read”) or the end of the chapters, with very few exercises actually appearing during the reading passages. The prereadinig exercises lack variety, but they do draw heavily on students' prior knowledge, containing a “Background” section dedicated to having students use their own knowledge to answer questions and make predictions, making good use of scaffolding. There is a mixture of exercise types, within each unit, which are useful for both visual and verbal learners. End-of-unit exercises to include group work with gives students hands-on activities which let them share their knowledge with each other in meaningful communication. The book is already geared to an introductory reader, so there is not much differentiation apparent.

The book is well illustrated with numerous photographs which are on topic to provide background information for the students. Multiculturalism is given special emphasis, as topics and illustrations range from the ancient Greeks to the Native Americans – in fact, almost every photograph in the book illustrates a non-American culture. The photos appear recent, and show both recreations of ancient peoples as well as modern counterparts. There are more than enough photos in each unit to clearly illustrate and provide background.

From what I've heard, the Shining Star series is a commonly-used book for introductory ESL education, and I can see why. While not particularly creative or imaginative in its approach, it nevertheless is a solid series which provides a firm foundation for beginning ESL learners. I think the book would've benefited from more exercises, and more opportunities for students to evaluate and assess themselves, but on the whole, Shining Star offers a ground-level introduction to both language and academic content.