Olson, C. B., Scarcella, R. C., & Matuchniak, T. (2015). Helping English learners to write: Meeting common core standards, grades 6-12. Teachers College Press.
Reviewed by Bailey Davenport
Why this Book?
Working part-time as an English teacher to International adults, I regularly find myself staring at a stack of short essays, overwhelmed by the variety of writing styles and grammar assumptions indicative of each of my students’ first language. It often feels like I need a different curriculum for each member of my class. To complicate matters, my students’ motivations for taking my English classes range from wanting to improve their TOEFL scores to qualify for the graduate program they’ve had their eyes on, to building conversational English skills during the few hours their children are at school and they have an opportunity to talk to people their own age. The vast number of cultures, English proficiencies, and motivations for learning English are enough to keep my head swirling and urge me to the conclusion that I don’t know anything about teaching writing! I’ve selected this book to learn more about the unique challenges of and strategies for teaching writing to English Learners.
Structure of the Book
The book is written with research-based foundations and practical application in mind. The structure of the book is based on the Common Core State Standards for writing. It opens with a chapter about English Learners and moves into another about general practices for teaching writing. Each of the following chapters focuses on strategies for teaching each of the different genres of writing (narrative, informative, and argumentative). Within each chapter, the authors alternate between introducing research-based theories for EL writing instruction and classroom-tested activities to apply this theory in the classroom. While the book is intended for 6th-12th grade ESL teachers, the theories and strategies found within its pages can be beneficial for any teacher with English Language Learners in their classes or an element of writing in their course.
Class-Tested Activities Based on Research-based Theories
According to the introduction, this book is intended to “synthesize the current research on ELs and writing in addition to summarizing the best practices for classroom instruction” (Olson et al., 2015, p. xv). The authors clearly achieved this goal, based on the 17 pages that make up the references section. The book is full of English as a Second Language instructional strategies, such as: scaffolding instruction, genre studies, modeling with mentor texts, and project-based learning. These theories, while proven to be beneficial for student learning, can often become overwhelming when a teacher is tasked with applying all of them into the classroom. One particular strength of Helping English Learners to Write is that after introducing a new theory, the authors suggest several different activities that utilize the theory being presented. The activities they recommend come from teachers who have already implemented them into their curriculum. This is particularly useful for busy teachers, who want to implement the strategies supported by the most recent research, but may not have time to reinvent the wheel. One striking example of this is found in the chapter about argumentative writing. After introducing the Toulmin model of argument writing, the authors describe how an ELD teacher introduced this model of writing using a hypothetical crime scene and investigation report assignment. It includes the sources for the crime scene, the contextualization the teacher used, class discussion examples, and an example of the investigation report. A practicing teacher would need only consider how to fit the activity into their unit plan.
Final Thoughts
Using a narrative writing style, accessible language, and plenty of real-world example, Olson, Scarcella, and Matuchniak have created a resource that is a must for every teacher with English Language Learners in their class. They have not only collected decades of research into one easy-to-read book, but have also shown how theories and strategies of hundreds of different studies relate to, and build upon, each other to enhance student learning. The pedagogical practices reflected in this book can, and should, be considered by all teachers whose class includes an element of writing. This book is not only for the ESL teacher. It is also a marvelous resource for any teacher who teaches a course with English Learners as a way to support them in their content courses. The concepts offered in this book are also beneficial for anyone whose course includes any writing, as these strategies for improving writing are universally beneficial for students learning to write.
About the Reviewer
Bailey Davenport is a Teacher Candidate at Oklahoma State University, where she is pursuing a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Secondary Education, with a focus in English Education and Teaching English as a Second Language. She is also a part-time ESL teacher for International Adults at the Family Resource Center at Oklahoma State University
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Thank you for reviewing this resource. I really appreciated the example of a theory-based, research informed example included in the review. I’m always on the lookout for additional for multilingual writers.