This book sets out to clearly define sheltered instruction, or Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE), and to provide strategies for its successful implementation in the classroom. This book speaks specifically to instruction in the content areas, confronting the fact that students learning English might struggle in those subjects. The authors provide practical methods that demonstrate how to implement this type of instruction with the full range of learners.

Focusing on the use of sheltered instruction with students of varying abilities, Echevarria and Graves address the important overlap between sheltered instruction and special education adaptations.

One important function of Sheltered Content Instruction is to provide teachers with the support and direction needed in undertaking the sheltered approach. Often, Echevarria and Graves find, this support is not provided. Specific examples of sheltered content instruction and scenarios depicting classroom interaction during this type of instruction provide models for teachers and those preparing to teach. Case studies and vignettes illustrate this interaction for the reader.