How Culturally Familiar Books Foster Reading with Hispanic Parents

Children connect with stories and themes that they know. If something is recognizable to them in a book, they will often relate to it in a way that draws similarities to the people and events in their own lives. Through this familiarity, reading becomes more enjoyable and serves a stronger purpose towards promoting successful literacy outcomes. Teachers who work with … Read More

The Power of Story

We all like to tell stories. We learn how to do it from a very young age, and this ability is unlocked by hearing others do it first. It’s a skill that is best acquired through literacy. Reading inspires our imagination, transporting us to worlds old and new, far and near. It enables us to visit any time period and … Read More

Early Literacy for English Learners is Crucial

There have been a number of studies examining the effects of acquiring literacy skills at a very early age and the findings have shown that the earlier a child begins to learn the basics of reading and vocabulary, the far greater their odds for academic achievement later on. With these results demonstrating the benefits for success of all school children, … Read More

State of Arizona Informational ELL Resources

The state of Arizona had 91,382 ELL students enrolled in grades K-12 during the 2012-13 academic year, making up 8.4% of the school population. Among those children, Spanish was spoken by a large majority at 70.5%, with Arabic, Navajo, Vietnamese, and Somali making up the balance of the top five languages currently spoken by non-English speaking students. The following is … Read More