Teaching English to Second Language Learners A Complete Guide for Families and Home Educators

 Teaching English to Second Language Learners

A Complete Guide for Families and HomeEducators

 Amigos, Amigos — One, Two, Three

Using Music, Play, and Research-Based Methods to Build English Fluency

A Joyful Guide to Bilingual English Learning. A comprehensive educational manual designed to help families and home educators teach English to second-language learners through joyful, research-based methods. Drawing on successful programs from Arizona and prestigious academic frameworks, the guide emphasizes the use of music, play, and bilingual immersion to foster fluency without shaming a child's native language. Key concepts such as Krashen’s affective filter and Cummins’ distinction between conversational and academic language are highlighted to show how emotional safety and home-language support accelerate learning. Practical tools, including the "First 107 Words" list, tactile Montessori-inspired activities, and the integration of puppets and read-alouds, provide a structured roadmap for reaching long-term literacy goals. Ultimately, the source frames bilingualism as a significant cognitive asset and offers a weekly unit plan to help educators transform daily routines into engaging language lessons.

 

Based on methods from Success for All (SFA), Montessori-inspired learning,

and classroom-tested Saturday NES (Non-English Speaking) programs in Arizona

Table of Contents

1. Why Music and Joy Come First

2. The Research: How Children Acquire Language

3. The Amigos Song: Unpacking a Powerful Tool

4. Success for All (SFA) and Spanish Immersion Methods

5. Other Proven Programs for ELL Families

6. Building the Classroom at Home

7. The Yes/No Game and Other Activities

8. Puppets, Read-Alouds, and Readers Theater

9. Phonics and Phonemic Awareness

10. The First 107 Words: Your Foundation

11. The 1,000-Word Goal: Reading 90% of Everything

12. A Week-by-Week Sample Unit Plan

13. Resources for Families

1. Why Music and Joy Come First

If there is one lesson that decades of classroom experience in Arizona’s Saturday NES (Non-English Speaking) programs teaches, it is this: children learn best when they feel safe, joyful, and connected. Before a single worksheet or flashcard, before grammar rules or vocabulary tests, there must be a song.

 

This is not a soft, feel-good idea. It is backed by neuroscience. Music activates more areas of the brain simultaneously than almost any other human activity. When a child sings a word, they encode it through melody, rhythm, breath, and emotion at the same time. That word sticks. That word becomes theirs.

 

In Arizona’s bilingual communities, the language landscape is uniquely rich. English and Spanish live side by side on signs, menus, family dinner tables, and playgrounds. This is not a barrier — it is an extraordinary advantage. A child who already has a robust vocabulary in Spanish has a cognitive map of the world. Your job as a parent or educator is to help them attach English labels to a map that already exists.

 

★ The Core Philosophy of This Guide 1. Never shame a child for speaking their home language. It is their greatest asset. 2. Build community first. Language follows belonging. 3. Start every session with music. End every session with music. 4. Label everything. The world is a classroom. 5. Play is not a break from learning. Play IS learning. 6. English-only immersion that forbids the home language is not best practice. It is harmful.

 

2. The Research: How Children Acquire Language

Stephen Krashen and the Input Hypothesis

Linguist Stephen Krashen proposed one of the most influential theories in second-language acquisition: children (and adults) acquire language not by memorizing rules, but by receiving “comprehensible input” — language that is just slightly above their current level. He called this i+1 (current level plus one step). When a child hears or reads English they mostly understand, with just a few new words carried by context, acquisition happens naturally and without anxiety.

 

This is why labeling objects in the classroom, using picture books, and singing songs with repetitive patterns are so powerful. The child hears the new word surrounded by familiar context. The meaning is carried by the image, the melody, the gesture, or the story.

 

BICS vs. CALP

Linguist Jim Cummins identified two distinct types of language proficiency that all ELL educators should understand:

 

Language Type	What It Means for Your Child
BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills)	Everyday conversational language. 'Where is the bathroom?' 'I like pizza.' Children typically develop BICS within 1–2 years of exposure. This is what you build first with songs, games, and daily routines.
CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency)	Academic language needed for school success. Reading complex texts, writing essays, understanding science concepts. CALP can take 5–7 years to develop. This is why supporting home-language literacy is so important — CALP transfers across languages.

 

The Affective Filter

Krashen also described the “affective filter” — an emotional barrier that rises when a child feels anxious, embarrassed, or pressured. When the affective filter is high, language input cannot get in, no matter how good the instruction. Music, puppets, games, and a welcoming environment all lower the affective filter. This is not a metaphor. This is brain science.

 

Transfer: The Gift of Bilingualism

Research by Cummins and many others confirms that skills learned in one language transfer to another. A child who can decode syllables in Spanish will learn English phonics faster. A child who knows the concept of “family” in Spanish doesn’t need to learn the concept in English — they only need the new word. Honor the home language. It is not competition. It is scaffolding.

 

3. The Amigos Song: Unpacking a Powerful Teaching Tool

The Song

♫ Amigos, Amigos (English and Spanish Version) Amigos, amigos, uno, dos, tres, Todos mesa amigos, ésta es la key.   Friends, friends, one, two, three, All around the table, friends are we.   (Repeat, alternating languages, clapping the beat)

 

Why This Song Works: A Layer-by-Layer Analysis

 

Layer 1: Bilingual Vocabulary in Context

The song presents the same meaning simultaneously in two languages. “Amigos” and “friends” are heard together, bound by the same melody. The brain links them. “Uno, dos, tres” and “one, two, three” are mapped together. This is code-switching used intentionally as pedagogy, not as confusion.

 

Layer 2: Phonemic Awareness

Listen to the sounds in the song. The repetition of the “am” sound in “amigos” trains the ear. The clean consonant-vowel patterns in Spanish help children hear individual phonemes. Children who sing this song are practicing the building blocks of literacy without knowing it.

 

Layer 3: Community and Belonging

The word “amigos” is the first word. Not a color, not a number — a friend. The song begins with relationship. “Todos” means “all” — everyone is included. This is language as belonging. The child sitting in the circle who does not yet speak English is still part of “todos.” This is not accidental. It is brilliant design.

 

Layer 4: Rhythm as a Memory Scaffold

The song has a clear, clappable beat. Rhythm organizes language in the brain. Research on music and memory consistently shows that information embedded in a rhythmic pattern is retained far longer than information presented in flat text. Children who learn words through song can often recall them days or weeks later without re-teaching.

 

Layer 5: Ésta es la key

The phrase “ésta es la key” is a beautiful example of natural code-mixing. “La key” blends Spanish article “la” with English “key.” In many Spanish-speaking communities, this kind of blending (Spanglish) is natural speech. Using it in song validates the child’s real linguistic experience rather than erasing it. It says: your whole language self is welcome here.

 

Layer 6: Movement and Gesture

The song invites clapping, which adds a kinesthetic (body-movement) dimension to the learning. Research on embodied cognition shows that pairing language with movement dramatically increases retention, particularly for young learners. You can also add gestures: point to a friend on “amigos,” hold up fingers for numbers, spread arms wide for “todos.”

 

Extension Activities for the Amigos Song

•       Name Circle: After singing, go around the circle. Each child says their name and one friend’s name: “I am ___. My friend is ___.”

•       Number Extension: Continue counting “cuatro, cinco, seis” / “four, five, six” in the same melody.

•       Word Swap: Replace “amigos” with other vocabulary: “colores, colores, uno, dos, tres.” Sing in both languages.

•       Drawing Response: After singing, children draw their “amigos.” Label the drawings in English and Spanish together.

•       Puppet Version: Use puppets to sing the song. The puppet “only speaks Spanish” and the child teaches it the English words.

 

4. Success for All (SFA) and Spanish Immersion Methods

What is Success for All?

Success for All (SFA) is a comprehensive, research-based school reform program developed at Johns Hopkins University by Dr. Robert Slavin and Dr. Nancy Madden. It is one of the most rigorously studied educational programs in the world, with decades of peer-reviewed research supporting its effectiveness, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and English language learners.

 

SFA’s Spanish immersion program (“Lee Conmigo” / “Read Together”) is specifically designed to teach reading and language to Spanish-speaking children. The Arizona Saturday NES programs described in this guide drew heavily on its methods. Here is what families need to know about its key components:

 

Phonics and Phonemic Awareness

SFA places intensive emphasis on phonemic awareness — the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words — before moving to written phonics. In Spanish, this is especially powerful because Spanish has a very consistent sound-spelling system. Children who master Spanish phonics find that many phonemic skills transfer directly to English.

 

•       Phonemic Awareness: Can you hear that “cat” has three sounds: /k/ /ae/ /t/?

•       Phonics: Can you see that C-A-T represents those sounds in print?

•       Decodable Books: SFA uses books specifically written with only the phonics patterns already taught. This means children can actually read the book independently, building confidence and fluency. They are not guessing at words.

 

Cooperative Learning

SFA structures lessons so children work in pairs and small groups. Language acquisition is a social act. Children who talk with peers in both languages develop faster than children who sit silently. The Saturday NES classroom structure — with exploration trays, labeled objects, and group activities — mirrors this cooperative learning design.

 

Embedded Assessment

Rather than formal tests, SFA teachers use frequent, quick, informal checks: asking questions that require a thumbs up/down response, listening to partner sharing, observing who can follow multi-step directions. This is low-anxiety and gives real-time information to adjust instruction. The Yes/No Game described later in this guide is one such tool.

 

Family Involvement

SFA’s research consistently finds that family involvement is one of the strongest predictors of ELL success. When parents learn alongside children — singing the same songs, using the same vocabulary, reading the same books in both languages — acquisition accelerates dramatically. This guide is designed for exactly that purpose.

 

The Saturday NES Classroom: What It Looked Like

The Arizona Saturday NES (Non-English Speaking) sessions described in this guide operated on a simple but profound principle: immerse children in English through joyful, meaningful activity while fully honoring Spanish. Here is a portrait of a typical session:

 

Session Segment	What Happened and Why
Opening (15 min)	English and Spanish songs sung together. Amigos, Alligators All Around, and other rhythm songs. Community building. Reducing anxiety.
Labeled World (ongoing)	Every object in the room labeled in English and Spanish. Children read the labels naturally throughout the session just by being present.
Exploration Trays (20 min)	Montessori-inspired trays with objects, sorting activities, matching cards — all labeled. Children explore and name what they find. Teacher circulates, offering both languages.
Read-Aloud (15 min)	Picture books in English with Spanish support. Big books allow all children to see the text. Teacher uses expression, gesture, and pointing to images to carry meaning.
Activity / Game (15 min)	Yes/No Game, vocabulary matching, songs with movement, puppet shows, readers theater.
Closing Song (5 min)	Return to a familiar song. Predictable closing ritual builds security and ends on joy.

 

5. Other Proven Programs for ELL Families

 

Dual Language Immersion Programs

Dual language programs provide instruction in both English and the home language throughout the school day. Research consistently shows that children in well-implemented dual language programs outperform peers in English-only programs on both English literacy and academic achievement by upper elementary school. They also maintain proficiency in their home language — a lifelong cognitive and economic asset.

 

SIOP: Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol

SIOP is a framework used in many Arizona schools that trains teachers to make grade-level content comprehensible for ELLs without watering it down. Key features include clearly posted content and language objectives, building on background knowledge, extensive use of visuals and manipulatives, and structured academic conversation. Families can use SIOP principles at home by always pairing new English words with images, real objects, or demonstrations.

 

Rosetta Stone and Digital Tools

Rosetta Stone’s language learning software uses a “dynamic immersion” approach — pairing images with language without translation — that is backed by research. For families, it can be a useful supplement, particularly for older children and adults. However, it should supplement, not replace, human interaction and community. Language is fundamentally social, and no app replicates the power of singing with another person.

 

Montessori Language Materials

Montessori classrooms use a rich set of hands-on language materials: moveable alphabets, sandpaper letters, object baskets with labels, three-part cards with image, label, and name. These are easily replicated at home. The key Montessori insight for language learners is that children absorb language from the prepared environment — a home or room that is rich with books, labels, and materials in both languages functions as a Montessori environment.

 

Reading A-Z and Decodable Book Libraries

Reading A-Z offers leveled books in both English and Spanish, including decodable readers that align with phonics instruction. For families, having a small library of leveled books in both languages — even printed from the internet — is one of the highest-impact investments you can make.

 

⚠ A Note on English-Only Immersion Policies Some school policies have required children to speak only English at school, forbidding use of the home language. Research does not support this approach. Studies consistently show that:   • Forcing children to suppress their home language raises the affective filter and slows English acquisition. • Children denied access to home-language support in early schooling show higher rates of academic difficulty. • Cognitive flexibility — a documented advantage of bilingualism — is only preserved when both languages are developed.   Honor both languages. The research is clear.

 

6. Building the Classroom at Home

Label Everything

This was the cornerstone of the Saturday NES approach. Every single thing in the classroom was labeled in English and Spanish. You can do this at home today with sticky notes and a marker. Here is a starter list:

 

English	Español
door	puerta
window	ventana
table	mesa
chair	silla
book	libro
cup	taza
light	luz
floor	piso
wall	pared
refrigerator	refrigerador
bed	cama
clock	reloj

 

Change the labels every two to three weeks. When a child stops noticing them, they are absorbed. New labels create new attention.

 

Exploration Trays (Montessori-Inspired)

Arrange small trays or baskets around the room, each containing a collection of related objects. Label each tray and each object in both languages. Children explore freely, pick up objects, match them to labels, sort them by category. This is language acquisition through play.

 

•       Kitchen Tray: spoon/cuchara, fork/tenedor, cup/taza, plate/plato

•       Nature Tray: leaf/hoja, rock/piedra, shell/concha, feather/pluma

•       Color Tray: colored tiles or paint chips labeled in both languages

•       Number Tray: small objects grouped by number with numeral cards in both languages

•       Body Parts: a simple outline of a body with sticky-note labels

 

The Book Corner

Create a dedicated book space with books in both English and Spanish. If budget is a concern, your local public library — especially in Arizona — will have an extensive Spanish-language and bilingual collection. Look for books by these authors who write beautifully for bilingual children:

 

•       Pat Mora — Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match / Marisol McDonald no combina

•       Sandra Cisneros — Hairs/Pelitos

•       Alma Flor Ada — extensive bilingual catalog

•       Eric Carle — The Very Hungry Caterpillar is available in Spanish

•       Dr. Seuss — many titles in Spanish editions

 

7. The Yes/No Game and Other High-Impact Activities

The Yes/No Game

The Yes/No Game is a brilliantly simple formative assessment tool that originated in language acquisition research and became standard practice in many ELL programs including SFA. Here is how to play:

 

How to Play the Yes/No Game Ask questions in English (or Spanish for reverse practice) that require only a yes or no answer. Begin with questions that are obviously true or false, using objects or images the child can see.   Example questions at different levels:   Beginner: (Hold up a red apple) 'Is this an apple?' / 'Is this red?' Intermediate: 'Do you have a sister?' / 'Is today Monday?' / 'Is the sun shining?' Advanced: 'Did we read about frogs yesterday?' / 'Can fish fly?' / 'Is a whale a fish?'   Children respond: thumbs up, thumbs down, nodding, or verbal 'yes'/'no' / 'sí'/'no'. Celebrate all attempts. Correct errors gently by modeling the right form, not by saying 'wrong.'

 

The Yes/No Game does three things at once: it checks comprehension without requiring children to produce complex language, it is low-anxiety because there are only two possible answers, and it builds confidence because the child is always right or can quickly understand why they were not.

 

The Name Game

Sit in a circle. The first person says their name and one English word: “I am Sofia and I like books.” The next person repeats “Sofia likes books” and adds their own: “I am Marco and I like dogs.” This builds name recognition, simple sentence patterns, and memory — all at once.

 

TPR: Total Physical Response

Developed by James Asher, TPR pairs commands with physical actions. Say “Stand up” and stand up. Say “Sit down” and sit down. Say “Touch your nose” and touch your nose. Children respond physically before they speak. This lowers anxiety, confirms comprehension through action, and builds vocabulary through body memory. Start with commands, then shift to having children give the commands.

 

Vocabulary Sorts

Print or draw small pictures of objects and their English labels. Mix them up. Children sort them: animals / not animals, things you eat / things you wear, big / small. Sorting activities build categorization skills that are the foundation of academic language while keeping vocabulary review playful.

 

8. Puppets, Read-Alouds, and Readers Theater

The Magic of Puppets

The use of Sesame Street-style puppets and similar props is among the most powerful, underrated tools in ELL instruction. Here is why: a puppet is not a person. When a child speaks to a puppet, the social stakes are dramatically lower. A child who will not risk speaking English to an adult will often speak freely to a puppet.

 

Use puppets in these ways:

 

•       The Monolingual Puppet: The puppet “only speaks Spanish” (or only English). The child’s job is to teach the puppet the other language. This reverses the power dynamic — the child is the expert. This is extraordinarily confidence-building.

•       Puppet Retelling: After a read-aloud, use puppets to retell the story. Children assign characters to puppets and act it out. No script required — approximation is celebrated.

•       Question Asker: The puppet asks questions about the day, the weather, the book. The child answers. The puppet “does not understand” until the child says it in English. This is playful and low-pressure.

•       Readers Theater: Assign puppet characters to a simple scripted story. Children hold their puppet and read or perform their lines. Even children who cannot yet read fluently can participate through memorized refrains.

 

The Power of the Read-Aloud

A high-quality read-aloud, done with expression, gesture, and engagement, is one of the most research-supported activities in early literacy. For ELL children, it is essential. Here is how to maximize its power:

 

•       Choose books with strong visual support: The pictures should tell most of the story. New Readers Press and similar publishers produce illustrated books specifically for ELL children.

•       Preview vocabulary: Before reading, show the cover and ask “What do you see? What do you think will happen?” Introduce two or three key words with gestures.

•       Read expressively: Change your voice for different characters. Pause at suspenseful moments. Point to images as you name them.

•       Read the same book multiple times: Repetition is not boring for children — it is how they acquire language. Each reading adds new depth of understanding.

•       Use big books when possible: Large-format books allow all children to see the text and images. Point to words as you read. This builds the connection between spoken and written language.

 

9. Phonics and Phonemic Awareness

Why Phonics Matters — and Why Spanish Helps

Phonics is the understanding that letters represent sounds, and that you can decode (sound out) written words by knowing those correspondences. Phonemic awareness is the oral/aural precursor: can you hear and play with the individual sounds in spoken words, even before you see them in print?

 

Spanish is a highly phonetic language — nearly every letter makes one predictable sound, and syllables follow consistent patterns. Children who are literate in Spanish, or who have strong Spanish phonemic awareness, have a significant head start in English phonics, because:

 

•       Many consonant sounds are identical or very close: /m/, /n/, /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /f/, /k/

•       Vowel sounds differ, but the concept of vowels is already known

•       The habit of attending to individual sounds is already established

•       Syllable awareness — clapping syllables — is directly transferable

 

Phonics Activities for Home

Sound Sorting

Gather small objects or pictures. Sort by beginning sound: all the things that start with /b/ (ball, book, button, banana). Say each word slowly. Ask: “What sound do you hear at the beginning?”

 

Clapping Syllables

Clap the syllables in both languages: “wa-ter” (2 claps) / “a-gua” (2 claps). “but-ter-fly” (3 claps) / “ma-ri-po-sa” (4 claps). This builds the habit of hearing the rhythmic structure of words.

 

Rhyming Games

Can you think of a word that rhymes with “cat”? “dog”? “blue”? Rhyme awareness is one of the strongest early predictors of reading success. Nursery rhymes in English (and traditional children’s rhymes in Spanish) build this skill joyfully.

 

Alligators All Around

This is one of the songs used in the Saturday NES program, from Maurice Sendak’s Nutshell Library. The song goes through the alphabet with an alligator doing an action for each letter: “Alligators all around, bursting balloons, catching colds, doing dishes…” It is playful, alphabetic, and gives children a body of alliterative examples for each letter-sound. Sing it, act it out, make your own version with the child’s name: “[Name] all around, baking brownies, carrying cats…”

 

10. The First 107 Words: Your Foundation

What Are the First 107 Words?

Language researchers and literacy educators have identified a core set of high-frequency words that appear over and over in spoken and written English. These are sometimes called “glue words” — the small words that hold sentences together. Learning them gives a child access to the skeleton of the English language. Everything else can be added to that skeleton over time.

 

These words include: the basic pronouns (I, you, he, she, we, they), the most common verbs (is, have, do, go, make, see, like, want), the glue words that connect ideas (and, or, but, not, in, on, at, to, of, for, with), and the most basic nouns a child encounters daily (name, day, time, friend, home, school, family, food, water, book).

 

Below is your First 107 Word list, presented in both English and Spanish. The goal is not to drill these as flashcards (though that is one valid approach) but to encounter them constantly in songs, books, labels, games, and conversation.

 

★ How to Use This List • Do not try to teach all 107 words at once. Work in clusters of 5–10 words per week. • Use each new word in multiple contexts: sing it, label it, act it out, find it in a book. • Check off words as they are USED in conversation, not just recognized on a card. • Prioritize the pronouns and core verbs first — they enable sentence-making. • The glue words (and, or, but, in, on, at, to) are learned best in context, not in isolation.

 

a un/una	an un/una	the el/la/los/las	this este/esta
that ese/esa/aquel	these estos/estas	those esos/esas	some algunos/unas
any cualquier/algún	I yo	you tú/usted	he él
she ella	it ello	we nosotros	they ellos/ellas
me me/mí	him lo/él	her la/ella	us nos/nosotros
them los/las/ellos	my mi/mis	your tu/su	his su (de él)
her (poss.) su (de ella)	our nuestro/a	their su/sus (ellos)	is es/está
am soy/estoy	are eres/somos	was era/estaba	were eran/estaban
be ser/estar	have tener/haber	has tiene/ha	had tenía/había
do hacer	does hace	did hizo	will va a / -ará
can puede/poder	go ir	come venir	make hacer
get obtener/llegar	see ver	know saber/conocer	like gustar
want querer	need necesitar	say decir	look mirar
put poner	give dar	think pensar/creer	help ayudar
eat comer	drink beber	play jugar	read leer
write escribir	sing cantar	and y	or o
but pero	not no	in en	on sobre/en
at en/a	to a/para	of de	for para/por
with con	from de/desde	by por	about sobre/acerca
up arriba	out fuera	into dentro de	what qué
where dónde	when cuándo	who quién	why por qué
how cómo	which cuál/cuáles	big grande	little pequeño
good bueno	new nuevo	old viejo	happy feliz
more más	no / none ninguno/a	yes sí	name nombre
day día	time tiempo/vez	friend amigo/amiga	home hogar/casa
school escuela	family familia	food comida	water agua
book libro	color color	number número	hand mano

 

11. The 1,000-Word Goal: Reading 90% of Everything

The Power Law of Vocabulary

Here is one of the most remarkable findings in reading research, and one of the most hopeful facts a language-learning family can know:

 

★ The 1,000-Word Rule The 1,000 most common words in English account for approximately 90% of all words in ordinary spoken and written text.   The 3,000 most common words cover approximately 95% of everyday reading material.   The 10,000 most common words cover approximately 99% of ordinary text.   This means: a child who masters 1,000 English words can read and understand the core of nearly any everyday text — a storybook, a newspaper, a recipe, a sign, a conversation.

 

What This Means for Your Family

The 107 words in Section 10 are your first 107 of the 1,000. They are the skeleton. The rest of the 1,000 are acquired through reading, conversation, and exposure over the first several years of English learning. Here is a realistic roadmap:

 

Vocabulary Milestone	What Your Child Can Do
107 words (3–6 months of daily practice)	Basic sentences possible. Child can participate in Yes/No games, follow simple directions, sing songs with understanding, greet peers.
300 words (6–12 months)	Simple conversations possible. Child can express basic needs, describe objects, ask and answer simple questions. BICS is developing strongly.
500 words (1–2 years)	Comfortable daily communication. Child can participate in classroom discussions, read simple leveled books, tell simple stories.
1,000 words (2–3 years)	90% of everyday text is accessible. Child reads independently at a basic level. Conversation is natural and mostly fluent in everyday situations.
3,000 words (3–5 years)	95% of everyday text accessible. Academic reading beginning. CALP developing. Child participates fully in grade-level content with appropriate support.

 

Building the 1,000: Beyond the First 107

After the first 107, the most efficient vocabulary builders are:

 

•       Wide Reading: The single most powerful vocabulary builder. Children who read (or are read to) widely encounter new words in meaningful context. Aim for 20 minutes of English-language reading daily.

•       Word Families: Teach root words and their forms together. If you know “play,” you are close to “playing,” “played,” “player.” If you know “friend,” you are close to “friendly” and “friendship.”

•       Cognates: Spanish and English share thousands of cognate pairs — words that look and mean the same thing. This is another gift of Spanish. Animal/animal, music/música, color/color, family/familia. Explicitly teach cognates as a bridge.

•       Vocabulary in Context: When a child encounters an unknown word in reading, first try to figure it out from context. What does the picture show? What makes sense? Then confirm the meaning. This strategy applies to all 1,000 words and beyond.

 

12. A Week-by-Week Sample Unit Plan

Four-Week Unit: Mi Familia / My Family

This sample unit targets the theme of family, weaving together vocabulary from the First 107 list with music, read-alouds, phonics, and games. It is designed for children ages 4–8 learning English as a second language at home or in a small group setting. Adjust the pace for your child.

 

Week 1: Naming Our Family

Element	Activities and Content
Songs	Amigos, Amigos (daily). Add: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes in English and Spanish.
New Vocabulary	family/familia, mother/madre, father/padre, sister/hermana, brother/hermano, baby/bebé, name/nombre
Read-Aloud	Hairs/Pelitos by Sandra Cisneros. Read twice: once in Spanish, once in English.
Activity	Draw your family. Label each person in English and Spanish. Share with puppets.
Yes/No Game	‘Do you have a sister?’ ‘Is your mother’s name ___?’ ‘Is a mother a family member?’
Phonics Focus	Beginning sound /f/: family, father, food, fun. Clap syllables in family member words.

 

Week 2: Our Home

Element	Activities and Content
Songs	Amigos, Amigos (daily). Add: This Is My Home (simple tune, make up your own).
New Vocabulary	home/hogar, door/puerta, window/ventana, table/mesa, chair/silla, kitchen/cocina, bedroom/dormitorio
Read-Aloud	A bilingual board book about the home. Point to each labeled object in the room matching the book.
Activity	Label every room item. Child places the labels. Review with a “scavenger hunt”: ‘Find the word door!’
Yes/No Game	‘Is the door big?’ ‘Is the table in the kitchen?’ ‘Do we sleep in the kitchen?’
Phonics Focus	Beginning sound /h/: home, hand, happy, here. Practice the /h/ sound (different from Spanish).

 

Week 3: What We Eat

Element	Activities and Content
Songs	Amigos (daily). Add: ‘Do You Like Broccoli Ice Cream?’ (Super Simple Songs) — yes/no in song form.
New Vocabulary	food/comida, water/agua, eat/comer, drink/beber, hungry/hambriento, apple/manzana, bread/pan
Read-Aloud	The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Spanish and English. Count the foods.
Activity	Kitchen tray exploration. Sort plastic food by color, by category. Label in both languages.
Yes/No Game	‘Do you like apples?’ ‘Is water a food?’ ‘Does the caterpillar eat cake?’
Phonics Focus	Short vowel /a/ as in ‘apple.’ Notice it differs from Spanish ‘a.’ Practice: ant, at, and, apple, am.

 

Week 4: Our School and Friends

Element	Activities and Content
Songs	Amigos (daily). Add: ‘The More We Get Together’ in English and Spanish.
New Vocabulary	school/escuela, friend/amigo, book/libro, read/leer, write/escribir, play/jugar, learn/aprender
Read-Aloud	Enemy Pie by Derek Munson (English). Discuss friendship. Use puppets to retell.
Activity	Readers theater: assign puppets characters from the book. Perform the story.
Yes/No Game	‘Is a book a friend?’ ‘Do friends help each other?’ ‘Did we read a book this week?’
Phonics Focus	Review: find beginning sounds in this week’s vocabulary words. Play Alligators All Around with school words.

 

13. Resources for Families

Books to Read Aloud (Bilingual and ELL-Friendly)

•       Hairs/Pelitos — Sandra Cisneros

•       Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match — Pat Mora

•       The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Spanish edition) — Eric Carle

•       Mice and Beans — Pam Muñoz Ryan

•       Too Many Tamales — Gary Soto

•       Gathering the Sun: An Alphabet in Spanish and English — Alma Flor Ada

•       Dreamers / Soñadores — Yuyi Morales

 

Songs to Build Your Daily Playlist

•       Amigos, Amigos (Uno, Dos, Tres) — as explored throughout this guide

•       Alligators All Around — Maurice Sendak / Carole King recording

•       Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes — available in English/Spanish versions

•       The More We Get Together — traditional, available bilingual

•       Do You Like Broccoli Ice Cream? — Super Simple Songs (YouTube, free)

•       Hola Song — Signing Time / Rachel Coleman (English/Spanish/ASL)

•       De Colores — traditional Mexican folk song, beautiful and thematic

 

Free and Low-Cost Online Resources

•       Storyline Online (storylineonline.net) — celebrity read-alouds, free, many titles

•       Unite for Literacy (uniteforliteracy.com) — free digital picture books, many in Spanish

•       Reading A-Z (readinga-z.com) — leveled books in English and Spanish (subscription)

•       Super Simple Songs (YouTube) — excellent for early ELL learners, free

•       Sesame Street en Español (YouTube) — classic bilingual content

•       PBS Kids (pbskids.org) — bilingual content, Alma’s Way, Curious George

 

For Parents Learning English Alongside Their Children

You do not need to be fluent in English to raise a bilingual child. In fact, research shows that parents who read aloud in the home language, tell stories, and maintain a rich oral tradition in their native language are providing the strongest possible foundation for their child’s academic language development.

 

If you want to learn English alongside your child, consider:

•       ESL classes at your local community college or library (often free)

•       Duolingo (free app) for daily vocabulary practice

•       English in a Flash — a vocabulary program specifically for adult ELL learners

•       Watching children’s programming in English together — Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, Bluey

 

★ A Final Word: The Gift You Are Giving Raising a child who speaks two languages is not a remediation. It is not catching up. It is giving your child a cognitive gift that research consistently links to:   • Greater executive function and attention control • Stronger ability to see multiple perspectives • Delayed onset of age-related cognitive decline • Enhanced empathy and cultural competence • Broader professional and economic opportunity   Every song you sing together. Every label you put on the door. Every book you read aloud — in English, in Spanish, or in both — is an investment in a mind that will navigate the world with more grace, more flexibility, and more joy than a monolingual mind can.   Amigos, amigos. Todos mesa amigos. All around the table — we are friends. And that is always where learning begins.

 

Este guía fue creado con amor para las familias de Arizona y más allá.

This guide was created with love for families in Arizona and beyond.