Sasson,Dorit (2013)

Speaking and Writing for English Language

Learners: Collaborative Teaching for Greater
Success with K-6. R&L Education.
ISBN-13:978-1475805956, ISBN-10:1435805950.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dorit Sasson is an author, educator, storyteller, and teacher’s diversity coach. She

specialized in English Language Learners, and content-area literacy and collaboration for

ELL students.

At the age of 19, she volunteered for the Israel Defense forces and found her path to

freedom. She spent twenty years as a teacher of EFL/ESL students both in Israel and Pittsburgh,

she learned that you can’t assume anything in terms of the students’ background knowledge,

skills, and abilities. That is how she approach her writing, carefully unpacking for her readers

what they need to know in order to deeply connect with the characters of her stories and the

stories itself.

As the digital world of the Internet grew, Dorit Sasson realized that she didn’t have to

write only about subjects that she loved like literature which fueled the drive towards her MA in

English. Through the power of the written word, she discovered she could also help business

grow with marketable skills. She started learning as a freelance writer. She became a member of

Editorial Freelance Association and attended monthly chapter meetings in Pittsburgh. In May

2018, she self-funded her certification SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Copywriting through

SEO Content Institute. As of January 2019, she is a certified SEO copywriter.

ABOUT THE BOOK

For the past few years, there’s always a need for this kind of book. In today’s age,

general-education teachers must have to understand how to work with English Language
Learners (ELL0 students in the classroom with or without English as a Second Language (ESL)

professional support, including the culture, the contextual factors of the school, and the legal

underpinnings of dealing with ELL students.

Since the demographics is constantly changing and the globalization is increasing,

schools find it hard on how to minimize the achievement gap of K-12 ELL students especially at

the secondary level. For this reason, collaboration should be really applied immediately in the

classrooms. Collaboration is now considered as tool for discussion, intervention, and support for

ELL students before achievement gaps become too wide.

THE INTENDED TARGET OF AUDIENCE OF THIS BOOK

This book was written primarily for undergraduate and graduate students who either have

or will have ─ somewhere down the path of their teaching careers ─ struggling readers who are

also ELL students.

OTHER TARGET AUDIENCE AND USES

This book can also be used as resource for ideas for “Response to Intervention” terms or

problem-solving terms that focus on student achievement. Undergraduate students who teach in

the primary grades would find this book helpful.

WHY THIS BOOK IS IMPORTANT

The philosophy of this book centers on the idea that the power of collaboration begins

with first seeing the “bigger picture”. In fact, magic in the classroom can happen when two

teachers who face a common problem work together to find a solution. The bigger picture is
formed when teachers start believing in the power of collaboration. When starting small, teachers

can see the bigger road map of the journey.

This book was written to provide a starting point for that journey and to encourage

teachers to use any of tips on strategies presented here as a way to sensitize them to value of

collaboration.
 CHAPTERS SUMMARY

CHAPTER 1

This book gives an overview to help educators collaborate more effective in the content-

area literacy for the sake of their K-6 ELL students. It begins with the history of collaboration. In

the past, collaboration was only for the special-education students in general education

classrooms but because of our today’s academic environment, collaboration becomes a ‘must’

especially if teachers want to close academic gaps. Collaborative practices target the ELL

students, if it is successful it can benefit all the process involved. The “No-Child Policy 2001”

has greatly influenced the teachers because they were forced to rethink how to make their

teaching methods, learned practices and materials diversified so that they can be used to a wide

variety of learning styles and abilities which is typical in ELL classroom today. Collaboration for

the sake of special education students was allowed for the teachers to fulfill the requirements

about inclusion-based issues of special needs in general education classrooms. On the other

hand, teachers must collaborate to make ELL students ready to compete in ever-changing and

technological world.

CHAPTER 2

In the next chapter, it talks about the collaboration in the development of speaking skills.

Collaborative teaching is efficient to enhance one’s speaking. The ELL teachers and the co-

teachers should provide some opportunities that can support ELL students to academically

progress in the domain of speaking. Committing errors are acceptable while speaking, but it

should be corrected immediately even though it doesn’t affect the meaning since it is a kind of

‘distracting’ which can leads to lower respect for the speaker. Based from the point of view of

the speaker, inaccuracy or error commitments may lower self-confidence and self-respect as a

language teacher. While, from the point of view of the language teacher, professionalism means

teaching the language as best as can be. With the use of different strategies like oral reading and
conversational, the ELL students can be academically comprehensible on both speaking and

reading levels.

CHAPTER 3

The last chapter focuses on the collaboration in the development of writing skill. Writing

is a way that each person can use to express themselves. Many English language learners are

good in oral abilities but struggle in writing. Because of that, many are afraid to take chances in

writing and teachers find their writing difficult to understand and to read and overcorrect

mistakes. To solve this problem, teachers can create meaningful academic and non-academic

activities that can aid the ELL students in the development of their writing abilities. If the

activities are authentic, ELL students can become interested to the topic which can motivate

them to express their feelings and ideas using the target language. Also, collaboration plays a key

role in the process of understanding the dynamics in effective writing instruction.

HOW THIS BOOK AFFECTS ME AS A PERSON AND AS A TEACHER

Throughout the book Sasson explains the concept of collaboration and on how it can

affect a certain academic institution. She insightfully expounded the pros and cons of it. She also

provides some strategies and techniques that teachers can use.

Collaborative teaching can make teachers learn from one another and at the same time,

they can work together to yield an impactful and meaningful strategy that can be executed in the

classroom. The influence of collaboration is for the diverse learners ─ teachers always encounter

students with distinctive attitudes, personalities, and characteristics. In addition, collaboration

can also happen among the students by means of group activities or pair works; students can

share their own ideas or the things that they’ve learned while doing the task with their partners,

which can lead to the enrichment of one’s capabilities and strengths. Therefore, collaboration can

establish a supportive learning environment for teachers and students. And most of all, when the

teachers collaborate frequently and consistently, they can optimize the learning environments

and cope with ongoing challenges.

 What I like from this book is that it opens my mind to see the essence of the concept of

collaboration. Also, I can say that it can certifiably help every schools to achieve quality

education, since it can eliminate academic biases that can caused problems within the schools

and among the students. Then, as a teacher, collaborative environment can benefit us simply

because it can create a learner-centered classroom atmosphere where all the students are

involved and thrive. We should never ignore the power of collaboration because it may yield the

most effective instruction to meet the diverse academic and language development needs of ELL

students.

We are now living in the modernized world where the students can learn on the fastest

way. And not all the school administrators, principals, teacher and other school staffs can cope

with it. That’s why the integration of collaboration should be administer in all educational

institutions.

Speaking and Writing for English Language Learners: Collaborative Teaching for

Greater Success with K-6 should be recommended reading for anyone tasked with supporting

and developing English Language Learners. It’s an incredible resource loaded with practical

strategies and techniques they can start using today. It can also serve as an eye-opener to

everyone to see how influential the collaboration is, once it is enforced in the classroom and on

how it can affect the teachers and learning of the students.

Truly, Dorit Sasson is a notable author. I hope that I can have a chance to meet her

someday!