Current literature in the field of foreign language describes the benefits and challenges of elementary foreign language programs that meet several days a week over the course of a year, however little is known about elementary school foreign language programs that provide daily instruction within limited time frames of several weeks during the…

This qualitative study in an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) elementary classroom examined teacher and student functional uses of language, particularly code-switching and code-mixing use. Results found that, of the instances of code-switching and code-mixing observed, none were grammatically inappropriate for either English, Spanish, or the…

This Spanish language arts enrichment guide for grades K-5 was produced for use in Detroit, Michigan, public schools. The guide is divided into three parts: (1) language development for grades K-1; (2) reading readiness, focusing on word recognition and comprehension, for grades K-1 and 2-3; and (3) cultural activities for grades K-5. The…

This digest discusses a project conducted in the Ysleta Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, that sought to integrate effective practices in literacy education, an empirically based cooperative learning model, and a classroom management model to help teachers develop the English and Spanish language proficiency of their students. The…

The curriculum guide for the Dade County public schools outlines the content and design of a sequential language arts program. The guide provides structured and unstructured reading experiences for systematically developing Spanish decoding skills, comprehension and interpretation skills, and habits and tastes in reading literary materials. For…

A number of model lesson plans that use children's literature to teach content area material are presented. The lessons are designed for instruction in either Spanish or English as a Second Language at the elementary school level; some are in English, and some are in Spanish. Each plan identifies the title and basic bibliographic information about…

Classroom activities for foreign language in the elementary school (FLES) are presented. The languages covered are French, Spanish, and German. Suggestions are offered for use of repetition in the classroom for reading and writing, for testing, and for creating lesson plans. Classroom techniques such as dramatics, songs, and team competition are…

Although using children's literature as the core of an elementary school foreign language program can be time consuming and tedious, with sufficient preparation, it can become a meaningful and memorable experience for both teachers and students. Story activities used by a first-grade Spanish teacher are described. (MDM)

The paper chronicles the struggles and challenges of teaching in a 6-week summer bilingual education program in a small town in Oregon. The program was a cooperative effort between a small town school district and Oregon State University at Corvallis. Teachers and researchers who entered into this project looked into the use of bilingual…

Describes how to teach Spanish to elementary students in multiage classes in a way that allows high comfort and comprehensibility for the first-year students while maintaining the interest of the second-year. The model describes varied expectations that allow a two-year instructional sequence with a single Spanish teacher. (SM)

A curriculum guide series developed by the City of Chicago's Board of Education to help native Spanish speaking, limited English speaking students develop Spanish language reading skills as a preliminary step in teaching English reading skills consists of 13 books. The level L corresponds to grade 6 instruction. The approach used is…

A curriculum guide series developed by the City of Chicago's Board of Education to help native Spanish speaking, limited English speaking students develop Spanish language reading skills as a preliminary step in teaching English reading skills consists of 13 books. The level M corresponds to grade 7 instruction. The approach used is…

A curriculum guide series developed by the City of Chicago's Board of Education to help native Spanish speaking, limited English speaking students develop Spanish language reading skills as a preliminary step in teaching English reading skills consists of 13 books. The level N corresponds to grade 8 instruction. The approach used is…

Notes the difficulty of sorting out the root cause of poor test performance by Spanish-speaking students, and the scarcity of demonstrably effective solutions. Illustrates these difficulties by discussing low English academic engagement by limited-English-proficient students and the challenges of making the transition from native language to…

A case study is provided of dual-language planning and implementation at the Oyster Bilingual School, a successful Spanish-English public elementary school program in the District of Columbia. The first three chapters offer background information for understanding how the program interacts with the larger sociopolitical context of minority…