A qualitative think-aloud study, informed by social literacies and holistic bilingual perspectives, was conducted to examine how six emergent bilingual, Mexican American, fourth graders approached, interacted with, and comprehended narrative and expository texts in Spanish and English. The children had strong Spanish reading test scores, but…

The process of learning to read is difficult for many children, and this is especially true for students with learning disabilities (LD). Reading in English becomes even more difficult when a student's home language is not English. For English language learner (ELL) students with LD, acquiring the necessary skills to read fluently is an even…

A questionnaire was administered to 50 first-grade teachers who reported strategies used in teaching reading to 1,145 Mexican-American, Black, and Anglo children in three school districts in Texas. Seven null hypotheses were tested. It was concluded that (1) reading instruction is delayed with Mexican-American children; (2) on the average, 68% of…

An experiment in the teaching of reading in Spanish to second- and third-grade students, conducted by the author at the Ethel Phillips elementary school, utilizes a modified version of Dr. Laubach's "syllabic, analytic-synthetic" method of language instruction. In this approach, vowels are combined in succession with each of the consonants to…

Students of Spanish in the United States who are native speakers of Spanish need courses designed to meet their special linguistic needs. The tendency has been for teachers to place negative value judgments on the Spanish dialects spoken by Mexican-Americans. Instead, courses should be based on the areas in which the native Spanish speaker needs…

Information related to the implementation of the Miami Linguistic Reading Program for Spanish-speaking and American Indian children in 6 New Mexico school systems is presented. School systems utilizing and reporting on the program are: (1) the West Las Vegas School System; (2) Anton Chico Elementary School in Santa Rosa; (3) Pojoaque Valley…

A number of issues related to the production of literacy materials for the Chicano children of New Mexico are discussed. First, a historical survey gives some idea of the way in which instructional materials available for use with Spanish-speaking children have contributed to cultural estrangement and alienation from their own particular home and…

Bilingual schooling in the U.S. is meant to equalize educational opportunity for children of limited English-speaking ability. Despite the proliferation of bilingual programs in many parts of the country, only very modest progress is being made toward the goal of equal educational achievement. We are coming to realize that limited English-speaking…

Criteria applicable to all reading programs (and particularly to reading programs for Mexican-American children), regardless of philosophical or methodological differences among the various programs, are delineated. These criteria are listed and discussed in the form of the following nine questions: Has a good learning environment been…

Longitudinal effectiveness of a program of bilingual individualized instruction in math, English and Spanish reading implemented by bilingual paraprofessional teachers recruited from migrant families was assessed among Spanish dominant monolingual and bilingual migrant students. Test scores in math and English reading for children age 5 to 9 were…

During the 1989-90 school year, Descubriendo la Lectura, a Spanish-language adaptation of the English Reading Recovery project was implemented in a large urban school district in Arizona. The program is designed to identify first-grade students at risk of becoming poor readers and to provide a series of intense short-term learning experiences that…

This Spanish reader is part of an ungraded language arts and reading program that can be used in classes from upper elementary through high school. The program is designed around reading selections which present aspects of history, culture, and present-day experiences of special relevance to the Mexican-American student. The goals of the program…

This workbook in Spanish accompanies the reader that is part of an ungraded language arts and reading program that can be used in classes from upper elementary through high school. The program is designed around reading selections which present aspects of history, culture, and present-day experiences of special relevance to the Mexican-American…

There is an urgent need to recognize that American literature includes a body of diversified writings previously unacknowledged by most literary scholars and critics and that these writings are expressions of vital but neglected cultures within American society. The cultures and literatures of minority groups have been overlooked or…

This is the teacher's guide accompanying a reader and a workbook that are part of an ungraded language arts and reading program that can be used in classes from upper elementary through high school. The program is designed around reading selections which present aspects of history, culture, and present-day experiences of special relevance to the…