“Coming to America: The Story of Immigration,” by Betsy Maestro and Touro University TESOL Candidate Ada Hirschfeld’s Text Analysis

EDDN 637 Second Language Learners and the Content Areas: Students will become acquainted with and practice effective approaches, methods, and strategies for teaching and evaluating English language learners in the content areas (ELA, social studies, math and science). Throughout the course, students will explore the impact of culture and language on classroom learning. Special challenges in teaching and assessment in each content area will also be discussed. Includes 15 hours of fieldwork.

Adah Hirschfeld is a New York City Public School librarian who currently works at IS 240 in Midwood, Brooklyn. She holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from Pratt Institute and a Master’s degree in School Administration from Touro University. She is pursuing certification in TESOL to better meet her students’ language and literacy needs.

The Text Analysis discusses the cognitive and linguistic demands of a content area text. Touro University TESOL/BLE candidates closely analyze a chapter, or an aspect of one content-area text currently in use or recommended by New York State/BOE. Upon analysis of underlying concepts, they develop a thesis and purpose for their analysis. Mrs. Hirschfeld’s paper sequences her ideas with evidence from the text supporting essential points. Her critique features substantial, logical, and concrete development of ideas describing what makes that concept or section challenging for ELLs.

Phonics and phonological decoding of the multi-syllabic words may be difficult for ELL students. Examples of words that do not follow standard rules are: ocean, fascinating, officials, unique, foreign. Students would have to be aware of the hard and soft “c” sounds of recent, cities, places, and appreciation. As well as the spelling patterns and pronunciation of words ending in -gh and -ght.

Ada Hirschfeld, Touro University TESOL Candidate
hirschfeld-637-text-analysis-fall-22Download

Overall, this is a highly complex text for English language learners. The sentence length, multisyllabic unknown words, and academic vocabulary are difficult for readers to comprehend without scaffolds and modifications. The illustrations correspond to and enhance the text allowing the reader to gain an understanding but without the visual enhancement, meaning may be lost.

Ada Hirschfeld, Touro University TESOL Candidate

Author: drcowinj

Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs only to the people who prepare for it today,” determined Malcolm X at the O.A.A.U.’s [Organization of Afro-American Unity] founding forum at the Audubon Ballroom. (June 28, 1964). (X, n.d.) Dr. Jasmin Bey Cowin a Fulbright Scholar, SIT Graduate, completed the Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP™) at Columbia University, Teachers College. Dr. Cowin served as the President of the Rotary Club of New York and Assistant Governor for New York State; long-term Chair of the Rotary United Nations International Breakfast meetings; and works as an Assistant Professor at Touro College, Graduate School of Education. Dr. Cowin has over twenty-five years of experience as an educator, tech innovator, entrepreneur, and institutional leader with a focus on equity and access to digital literacy and education in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. Her extensive background in education, administration, not-for-profit leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, and technology innovation provide her with unique skills and vertical networks locally and globally. Dr. Cowin participates fully in the larger world of TESOL academic discipline as elected Vice President and Chair-Elect for the New York State, NYS TESOL organization, for the 2021 conference. Ongoing research, expressed in scholarly contributions to the advancement of knowledge is demonstrated through publications, presentations, and participation in academic conferences, blogging, and other scholarly activities, including public performances and exhibitions at conferences and workshops. Of particular interest to her are The Blockchain of Things and its implications for Higher Education; Current Global Trends in TESOL; Developing Materials and Resources in Teaching English; E-learning; Micro and Macro-Methodologies in TESOL; E-Resources Discovery and Analysis; and Language Acquisition and the Oculus Rift in VR.

%d bloggers like this: