One of the most difficult yet most rewarding moments in my classroom are the times in which I have a hand in teaching a child to speak English. At my school, we have a large population of Hispanic students, many of which enroll with no English proficiency. Over the last several years, I have had the privilege of welcoming these students into my classroom. However, there are difficulties with the language barriers we face... one of the most common being that the only language spoken in these homes are Spanish. Several weeks ago I was racking my brain trying to figure out a best way to provide support for my ELL students at home, even though their parents have no English language background. I came across this resource that has been a GAME-CHANGER in my ELL students' learning!
My most recent find (and possibility my most favorite now) is www.readconmigo.org. The best part... it is FREE! This site provides many different bilingual books that I send home with my ELL students, as well as use in the classroom for those brand new kiddos who speak little-to-no English.
When sending books home, I ask my students to read the English text aloud to their parents... while doing so, parents can read the Spanish part for their own understanding. Parents can then discuss the story with the child!
The website allows you to sign up for free, then gives you access to over 30 bilingual books which feature both English and Spanish text! Most (if not all) books are available for tablets, smartphones, Amazon Kindle, and as a PDF file. ReadConMigo also has a Kid's Corner offering flashcards, coloring pages, word searches and more! There are also apps available on the App Store.
If you give these books a chance, please let me know how they work out for you and your students! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at eberryhill@gmail.com.
Thank you for sharing!! Think I signed up for this in the past and forgot!
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