According to the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 77% of the 4.8 million ELL students in public schools speak Spanish as their first language. Spanish-speaking students face unique challenges in the classroom, but like all students, they deserve access to high-quality books that help them fall in love with reading and develop essential literacy skills.

In fact, the right books are particularly important for your Spanish-speaking students! When you provide the right Spanish titles, you help these readers as they acquire new vocabulary, grasp unfamiliar concepts, celebrate their native culture and more. Keep reading to see how Spanish books can help you differentiate your instruction and tailor daily lessons to the unique needs of your Spanish speakers.

1. Support English Language Acquisition

If you work with Spanish-speaking students regularly, you’re probably already familiar with BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) and CALPS (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency). Essentially, BICS and CALPS are the conversational and academic language skills non-native speakers need to acquire to successfully navigate social and academic settings. And books are a wonderful classroom resource you can use to target and reinforce these skills!

Support English language acquisition with Booksource Spanish Collections like:

2. Celebrate Spanish and Latin American History, Culture and Identity

All students need access to stories where they can see themselves and their experiences represented in the books they read! Ensure mirrors for your Spanish speakers with a well-rounded collection that features authentic Spanish (books written by native Spanish speakers), #OwnVoices titles and books about Latino heritage and culture.

Celebrate Spanish history, culture and identity with Booksource Spanish Collections like:

3. Build on Spanish Literacy Skills to Grow English Literacy Skills

By providing Spanish-speaking students with access to a steady stream of new and exciting stream of books they want to read (think award winners, books by superstar authors in Spanish literature and translations of popular titles and series) you encourage them to read more and build fluency.

Build on Spanish literacy skills to grow English literacy skills with Booksource Collections like:

4. Make It Easy to Scaffold Cross-Curricular Instruction

Don’t forget informational texts! Bridge concepts and make content area lessons more accessible to Spanish-speaking students with Spanish nonfiction titles to support subjects like STEM and standards like NGSS.

Scaffold cross-curricular instruction with Booksource Spanish Collections like:

Browse Our 2020-21 Spanish Language Collections Catalog

Use our new Spanish Language Catalog to shop PreK-6 Spanish Titles and Collections. We make it easy to help your Spanish-speaking students develop essential literacy skills! Click above to view our catalog digitally.

How do you use Spanish books in your classroom? Tell us in the comments below!