Chapter 5 - How do I make a difficult textbook more readable?

A textbook can be a daunting aspect of a classroom for an English Language Learner as well as for native English speakers.
According to Cary, the most important strategy for helping students with difficult texts is modeling. Modeling the way you would "attack" a difficult text will show your student, one, that he or she is not the only one that struggles with content reading, and, two, ways to make it easier.
Providing students with graphic organizers while reading will help students keep track of what they have read.
One strategy that might not be glaringly obvious, is to make room for laughter and jokes. When a classroom is free for these experiences, it translates to the freedom to take risks with language.

Here is a resource for graphic organizers:
http://www.thinkport.org/technology/template.tp