This paper presents what I believe to be two principal layers involved in content area
instruction for second language students in elementary school: (I) effective core content
instruction in elementary school, independent of L2 issues, and (2) the interaction of L2 issues
with the above when teaching in the elementary grades. The first layer provides the groundwork
for examining the second layer by telling us the "business" of elementary school instruction;
without it, the second layer makes little sense. Knowing one's students, then using that
knowledge to offer them experiences of which they have partial understanding, and then
confronting them with a problem that calls on them to re-examine those experiences to learn
new information satisfies the first three requirements for teaching discipline-specific content to
elementary school children. They need to know the fundamentals of their subject matter; they
need to know pedagogy; they need to know the interplay between language and content
education; they need to know the cultures and experiences of their students; and they need to
know how to talk and listen to children.