The ACIE Newsletter News from the American Council on Immersion Education May 2004

Reading Support, continued on page 2 iños, miramos la cubierta de este libro que vamos a leer. ¿De qué piensan que van a leer en este libro? ” The small group of aver-age first grade readers huddled around the table, looking at their new guided reading book. Sra. Hall, the first grade immersion teacher, encouraged predic-tions about the book, translating stu-dent responses in English to Spanish, modeling new vocabulary and proper syntax. This group of students was reading a leveled book equivalent to a Reading Recovery level 8 around mid-January. The goal was for all students in first grade immersion to reach the benchmark of level 16 by the end of the year. Much remained to be accom-plished. learning to read in l1 vS l2 By mid-year, average to above average first grade immersion students have learned many reading strategies. In kindergarten, the Span-ish phonetic foundation is established, in part through a sequential writing program, which helps develop phonics, vocabulary, and the rudiments of Spanish syntax. In first grade, the teacher builds upon this foundation with a comprehensive review of phonics at the begin-ning of the year. The students also review con-cepts about print, such as reading left to right and top to bottom, use of punctuation, and the difference between sounds, letters, words, and sentences