Build better readers in bilingual classrooms! Bilingual Reading Comprehension is a valuable resource for bilingual, two-way immersion in fifth-grade classrooms. This book provides bilingual reading practice for students through identical activities featured in English and Spanish, allowing the teacher to tailor lessons to a dual-language classroom. Fiction and nonfiction activities reinforce essential reading skills, such as finding the main idea, identifying supporting details, recognizing story elements, and learning new vocabulary. This 160-page book aligns with Common Core State Standards, as well as state and national standards.

Bilingual Reading Comprehension is designed for bilingual, two-way immersion, and dual-language classrooms. This valuable resource provides practice in reading for students who read in English, Spanish, or both languages. Identical reading activities are featured in both English and Spanish, allowing the teacher to tailor lessons to suit a multi-level classroom. Fiction and non-fiction activities reinforce essential reading skills, such as finding the main idea, identifying supporting details, recognizing story elements, learning new vocabulary, and much more.

Students whose first language is not English are the fastest-growing group in public schools in all regions of the United States. Almost 10 million children between the ages of five and 17 live in the homes and communities in which a language other than English in spoken and presently most schools in the U.S. are under-educating many English learners. The achievement of Hispanic students needs to improve dramatically over the next five years and this book describes the cornerstone elements for bringing about this change. The initial chapter introduces direct instruction to be used with reading and literacy programs. Chapters 2 and 3 provide excellent review of the literature in language development and address developing language instruction, listening, and speaking with Spanish-speaking students and offers what a comprehensive language development program should look like. Chapter 4 reviews academic language and literacy instruction while the next addresses the components of instruction in Spanish. Chapter 6 offers lesson plan suggestions for Spanish-speaking students, while the following two sections discuss components that transfer and do not transfer in Spanish to English reading instruction. Chapter 9 reviews English language development and provides lesson plans for implementing SDAIE programs. Finally, Chapter 10 discusses two-way bilingual immersion and shares actual classroom schedules and lessons. This unique text will help in the preparation of primary grade teachers throughout the U.S. so that they may be successful with Hispanic students entering the public schools with little or no English background. It will also be a useful tool for school districts’ staff development in addressing school improvement goals for increasing the achievement of Hispanic students.