La universidad: Un sueño alcanzable

Fountas & Pinnell Resources in Spanish

When it comes to literacy education, I consider Irene Fountas, Gay Su Pinnell, and Lucy Calkins as close to gods as it comes.  I've devoured everything I can get my hands on by them and just wish I had the money to get it all!

I am a strong believer that guided reading and, for some readers who struggle significantly--small group and one on one reading interventions, are KEY to reading achievement in any elementary classroom.  While most of F&P's resources are in English and are geared to English literacy, much can be applied to Spanish literacy in many areas (Spanish is especially unique when it comes to phonological awareness, phonics & the alphabetic principle, etc).  You can imagine my excitement when a few minutes ago I stumbled on a few Spanish F&P resources that are or soon will be available.  The first is a prompting guide for literacy instruction--a flip chart that can be used throughout the literacy block, providing teachers will precise language to use that will help enhance reading and writing instruction.  You can order it here.

I also saw on F&P's blog that they are developing a Spanish version of the Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment System 1.  Unfortunately they don't yet know if they'll actually develop LLI (Leveled Literacy Intervention) in Spanish--I'm crossing my fingers they eventually do as it is a powerful English reading intervention.  Good news for teachers in grades 3 - 8....they are developing LLI for the upper grades (in English).   For those schools with a lot of money to invest in the ultimate one on one reading intervention, Reading Recovery (English) and Descubriendo la Lectura (Spanish) are as good as it gets.

ELLs & Special Education

One of the most challenging and pressing issues we face as bilingual educators committed to helping every ELL be as successful as they possible can is that of how to best serve English Language Learners with learning disabilities.  Whenever I reflect on this topic I think about my sweet third grade student Miguel (name changed) who was learning English as a second language, was a year older than his peers and yet grade levels behind, was placed in Special Ed due to a severe learning disability that evidenced itself most fully in reading and writing, and came from an incredibly impoverished single parent home.  This little boy faced a number of challenges, and though I worked very hard to understand his learning disability and to understand how his language needs, learning needs, and social-emotional needs were alike, different, etc, I still reflect on my two years teaching Miguel and feel like there was so much more I could have done.

I also think of Kaylee, Jose, and several other students I've taught who were English Language Learners and learning disabled.   Some I taught while in a 50/50 or 90/10 dual immersion setting, others in an English immersion environment.  All struggled tremendously--mostly because I wasn't very well equipped to meet their unique needs.  As committed bilingual educators, the more we can learn about serving our special needs ELLs, the higher the chances they'll be able to reach their full academic potential.

Check out this video webcast with Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan who discusses effective assessment and instructional strategies for English Language Learners with disabilities.  Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan developed the Esperanza Spanish reading and writing program and runs a bilingual speech pathology center down here in Brownsville.



The resources about ELLs and Special Ed are few and far between.  I have reached out to Francisco Najera with a question or two before--he is the faculty director of the Bank Street College of Education's program in Dual Language/Bilingual Special Education.  George Washington University's website reports that there are only eight graduate programs in the country "that prepare educators to meet the cultural, language, social and learning needs of a growing number of culturally and linguistically diverse, and/or exceptional students." 

Here are a few more resources I've stumbled upon:

• Bilingual Special Ed, ERIC digest
• Blog: Effective Practices in Bilingualism & Special Ed
• Bilingual Students with Disabilities get Special Help: How a school in NV does it
• Book:  The Bilingual Special Education Interface
• MA's SIG for Bilingual Special Education (also scroll down for links to add'l resources)
• Bilingual Special Education resources for purchase
• ELLs with Special Needs: Effective Instructional Strategies (CAL Digest)
• Empowering Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Students with Learning Problems (by Jim Cummins; ERIC Digest)  This digest is based on A Theoretical Framework for Bilingual Special Education by Jim Cummins (Exceptional Children, October 9, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 111-119. EJ 399079). 

Spanish Language Learning for Parents

Have you considered offering second language courses for parents?  We've found that most (not all, but most) non-English speaking parents are very supportive of their child receiving homework in their second language.  We've also found that English-dominant parents typically get frustrated a little more often, expressing that they feel that their child shouldn't receive Spanish homework.  Sometimes it's because they themselves don't know how to help their child do it, and sometimes it's because they don't feel it's important for them to do.

I just stumbled upon a program called Soleado, a Spanish as a Second Language course for adults.  The website has lots of free resources and samples, and the prices themselves don't look too steep.  Could be a great place to start for a school wanting to offer Spanish courses for their English speaking parents.  This would help parents feel more comfortable supporting their child's second language and would hopefully build the value of the minority language not only in the minds of students but also their families.

Utah & Dual Immersion

Two years ago the Utah state legislature approved funding for dual immersion programs in Spanish, French & Chinese across the state, and they have now become the first state to develop standardized immersion curriculum.  Pretty exciting stuff--and several other states are watching closely!  Read more about it here.

Spanish and Latino/a Book Lists

The Teachers Reading and Writing Project of Columbia University has compiled and shared a fantastic list of books that can be used to supplement reading and writing workshop units of study.  Their list includes several substantial Spanish book lists as well--check them out!  TCRWP Book Lists

A couple more good lists (most of the books on the following lists are in English but are written by Latino/a authors or celebrate Hispanic heritage):
Pura Belpré Award Winners List
Hispanic Heritage Booklist 

Here's a list I compiled of lots of children's books in Spanish (many are translations of books originally written in English) along with their Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading Level.  This could help you in a number of ways:

• Leveling books in your classroom library or guided reading library
• Helping parents buy Spanish books at a particular reading level
• Buying additional books at certain levels for your classroom library

 
Leveled Book List: Spanish (Levels A - Z)



And, well, in the spirit of bilingualism and biliteracy, here are some similar (though much more extensive) lists in English that I found on another district's website:
Leveled Book List:  English Grade K (Levels A-C)
Leveled Book List:  English Grade 1 (Levels C-I)
Leveled Book List:  English Grade 2 (Levels H-M)
Leveled Book List:  English Grade 3 (Levels L-P)
Leveled Book List:  English Grade 4 (Levels O-T)
Leveled Book List:  English Grade 5 (Levels S-W)
Leveled Book List:  English Grade 6+ (Levels V-Z)

CORE Phonics Survey in English and Spanish

Looking for some additional phonemic awareness and phonics assessment tools in English and/or Spanish?  Check out the CORE Phonics Survey.

Spanish Phonics (K-2)

Over the past month, I've been working on a few Spanish Language Arts projects for IDEA from home.  The majority of my time has been spent working on the following leveled Spanish phonics "continuum" that provides a sequence in which to introduce letters, sounds, and spelling patterns during Word Study in Spanish.  Each level includes a number of phonics principles and combinations that would each be taught according to the order found in the district's textbook adoption (Tesoros de lectura), but this leveling system can help track pretty specifically what students have and haven't mastered and can help students track their own progress from level to level.  I also created level-specific teaching and practice activities--it's a very basic beginning that can help novice Spanish Language Arts teachers get their phonics instruction up and moving.  The following phonics skills are typically taught and mastered by native Spanish speakers learning to read in L1 during Kinder, 1st Grade, and the first half of 2nd Grade.  It can certainly be used to the meet the needs of older children who need intervention or who are learning Spanish as a second language in later grades.  Once these levels are mastered, children should be expected to dive into deeper structural analysis and morphology of words.  (Please excuse any errors--after submitting them to the central office point person they were then to be reviewed and proofread, so I apologize for any and all errors you might find!)

Overview of Levels & Word Lists

Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 7
Level 8
Level 9
Level 10
Level 11
Level 12
Level 13
Level 14
Level 15
Level 16
Level 17
Level 18
Level 19
Level 20

Tesoros de Lectura: Scope & Sequence

Spanish Intervention Resources

Here are some more Spanish and bilingual resources for additional support, reteach, and intervention.  Most are from PSJA's website--good stuff!

Download handbook for Struggling Spanish Readers
Download PowerPoint about differences between Spanish & English literacy (by Kathy Escamilla)
Download presentation about Teaching Spanish Literacy in the U.S. (from the Illinois Resource Center)
Download Article: Selecting Materials to Teach Spanish to Spanish Speakers

LEER MAS I: ACTIVIDADES
Grupo A Apéndice
Grupo A Lenguaje Oral
Grupo B Apéndice
Grupo B Conocimiento Fonológico
Grupo C Apéndice
Grupo C Conocimiento de la letra impresa
Grupo D Apéndice 1
Grupo D Apéndice 2
Grupo D Apéndice 3
Grupo D Relación entre las letras y sonidos
Grupo E Apéndice
Grupo E Fluidez
Grupo F Apéndice
Grupo F Comprensión
Grupo G Apéndice
Grupo G Expresión escrita

SCIENCE IN SPANISH
TAKS 1 Review Science Spanish 
TAKS 2 Review Science Spanish 
TAKS 3 Review Science Spanish  
TAKS 4 Review Science Spanish  

ABC BOOKS (Great for PK & K Teachers)
ABC Book English (Block)
ABC Book English (D'Nealian)
ABC Book Spanish (Block)
ABC Book Spanish (D'Nealian)
ABC Game Spanish 

Literacy Curriculum Work

For the next week or so, I'm working on some Spanish curriculum for the district--exciting that there will be Spanish materials developed at the district level!  I'm posting the K - 1 HFW lists--organized into levels that children will progress through, some by the end of 1st grade, others by mid-2nd grade.

HFW English Level 1
HFW English Level 2
HFW English Level 3
HFW English Level 4
HFW English Level 5
HFW English Level 6
HFW English Level 7
HFW English Level 8
HFW English Level 9
HFW English Level 10

HFW Spanish Level 1 
HFW Spanish Level 2
HFW Spanish Level 3
HFW Spanish Level 4
HFW Spanish Level 5
HFW Spanish Level 6
HFW Spanish Level 7
HFW Spanish Level 8
HFW Spanish Level 9
HFW Spanish Level 10

We found that our new text adoption's phonics scope and sequence in Kinder could do with some "accelerating" and needed a few additional skills/objectives, so I developed these simple revisions:
Kinder Phonics Accelerated (English & Spanish)

I also found these Bloom's Taxonomy resources in both Spanish & English--super helpful for unit and lesson planning!
Bloom's Taxonomy English
Bloom's Taxonomy Spanish

Spanish & Dual Language Resources Galore

One of the most challenging aspects of launching a dual language program is finding and purchasing resources.  Here's a document with lots of places you can go for bilingual resources--many are free.  Hope you find this helpful! Click for List of Dual Language and Spanish Resources

(P.S. If you know of other sites or resources that should be on this list, please leave a comment and I'll be sure to add it.  Thanks for sharing!)