Benchmark Education Announces Two New Spanish Literacy Resources for Grades K to 2

NEW ROCHELLE, NY, Feb. 19, 2015— Literacy publisher Benchmark Education Company (BEC) announced two new Spanish language reading series for grades K–2 in print format. The series are designed for students in dual language and bilingual classrooms. Using authentic Spanish texts for reading intervention and practice, Soluciones helps struggling readers accelerate progress in foundational skills, oral language development, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and writing. A nextgeneration leveled reading program, Text Connections en español provides four types of books to help Spanish speakers read, analyze, and respond to key text types, and is aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), and other new state standards. Both series are available now.

Soluciones includes both nonfiction and fiction titles created specifically for this series by Spanish-speaking authors. Each grade-level set consists of six copies each of 60 to 86 leveled texts, 30 to 43 double-sided posters, and 30 to 43 bilingual Teacher’s Guides arranged into units of week-by-week articulated instruction. Additional components to help accelerate student growth in Spanish literacy include a Progress Monitoring Handbook en español, an Oral Reading Records (Registros de lectura en voz alta) Handbook, 60 to 86 downloadable PDF Take-Home Books, 32 to 41 Picture Card Sheets, and 31 Letter Card Sheets.

“When students are provided quality and effective Spanish literacy instruction and support, success in English literacy increases,” said Jesús Cervantes, Director of Biliteracy/ELD at BEC.

Teacher’s Guides for the new series provide from 30 to 45 minutes of daily instruction per week. During small group instruction, teachers can guide three to four students in reading two precisely leveled texts each week. As a Tier 3 Intervention solution for Spanish Language Arts, Soluciones helps teachers prepare students for grade-level reading participation.

Built on three instructional pillars—assess, instruct, accelerate—Soluciones provides immediate and strategic intervention:

• Pre and postassessment to determine student placement in and exit from the Program
• Progress monitoring to help make informed decisions and scaffold learning
• A variety of engaging informational and literary texts to build foundational skills and close learning gaps

Benchmark strives to make programs that provide the strongest language and literacy support for children with a focus on their first language. Soluciones provides culturally relevant and authentic text where students will see themselves in situations that reflect their daily lives.

Leveled Texts Aligned to Common Core and State Standards

Text Connections en español contains 100 Spanish leveled texts and 95 foldout poetry posters aligned to theme sets. Each set contains four text types: Narrative Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, Informational, and Opinion/Argument. Every Text Connections en español title has been both quantitatively (Lexile) and qualitatively leveled to assist teachers in using the texts for on-level and differentiated instruction.

The Common Core, TEKS, and other state standards stress the importance of reading, analyzing, and writing text types. Even at the kindergarten level, the new standards require students to read and write informational, narrative, and opinion texts.

“Text Connections en español not only exposes young readers to key text types,” said Tom Reycraft, president of BEC, “but the series also has some unique features. No other text series introduces opinion/argument texts at these levels and no other series links titles to the poetry recommendations of the CCSS. These books were developed to help teachers prepare students for the new standards and assessments.”

Text Connections en español titles can be used independently or in small-reading groups. Students build reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, make literary and content connections across texts, and demonstrate strategy and concept development.

Every title has a Teacher’s Guide and a Text Evidence Question Card. Titles within each theme also have a Cross-Text Analysis Card with developmentally appropriate questions that require students to analyze, and compare and contrast multiple texts. The CCSS strongly recommend that questions posed to students should be based on text analysis and not on common knowledge.

The Text Connections en español series includes the following key components:

• 100 titles: Informational, Narrative Fiction, Narrative Nonfiction, and Opinion/Argument
• 95 foldout poetry posters
• 100 Teacher’s Guides, each with a close-reading guide and mini-lessons focused on the CCSS or TEKS
• 100 Text Evidence Question Cards
• 25 Cross-Text Analysis Cards
• Multiple genres within each text type

For information about Soluciones and Text Connections en español or to purchase these and other Benchmark Education products, visit www.benchmarkeducation.com or call 877-236-2465.

ABOUT BENCHMARK EDUCATION COMPANY

Headquartered in New Rochelle, NY, Benchmark Education Company is a leading publisher of PreK–12 core, supplemental, and intervention literacy resources in English and Spanish. These resources are supported by instructional technology solutions as well as on-site and online customized professional development training for teachers and administrators. Benchmark print and online resources are differentiated to support all learners in all settings and are research-based and proven. In addition to extensive educational use in the USA, they are also used in schools and training centers in the Middle East, Canada, South America, and Asia.