

My unit was developed for first grade Spanish-speaking students. The unit was designed to help them developed reading, writing, and speaking skills with English being a second language. I decided to base the curriculum on real literature because once the students learned to read in their first language, it is only a matter of time before they start reading in a second language with the appropriate guidance in elementary school. The unit consists of actively reading the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder. I will use hands-on activities to make the lessons interesting and to get the students comfortable speaking in English. I included several reading and writing strategies for implementing the unit. The students will keep a journal that will allow the student to check his/her development as an English writer. Songs are a wonderful tool to make reading fun. The students will learn a song that will get them to remember a reading strategy that, when mastered, will raise the writing skills of the students. Also, social studies are integrated with the curriculum to make it fun and meaningful to the students.