Tips on Collaborative Teaching Between ESL and General Education Teachers

The focus for developing literacy in struggling ELLs can be narrowed to include two main questions:

• How can ELL teachers support their lower performing readers?

• How can ESL specialists work with general education teachers to support their ELLs?

Often by third grade, students receive less direct support from the teacher and are expected to read independently with understanding.

In my collaboration with other general education teachers, I focused on how to incorporate a balanced approach in our reading instruction that combined oral instruction with instruction in decoding, fluency, and comprehension that combined oral instruction. This need became evident in our own conversations about the topic as we discovered what oral activities significantly helped our struggling ELLs to read.

Tips to enhance collaboration between ESL and general education teachers

Define and Identify Struggling Students in the General Education Classroom

• Use collaborative contexts such as pull-out, push-out, co-teaching, informal and formal observations where there are opportunities for teachers to see ESL and ELL in practice. Then you can use your observations to engage students more effectively.

• Use various strategies to track students' progress

Adapting the curriculum and instruction to suit oral proficiency

• Use a balanced approach for English language learners in the primary grades. A balanced approach includes opportunities for hearing English both orally and in writing.

Closing the Literacy Gaps in Grades K-2

Your English language learner today might be sitting in your next year's third grade general education class - still struggling. Why not aim to reach students in a variety of ways?

1. Together, think of ways how to provide students with opportunities to encounter language and respond orally in reading and writing

2. Work together to implement successful activities that encourage oral responses to reinforce what students read.