A Look Inside My School: An ELL Student's Reading Success Story
By Irma Zamarripa, Certified Master Librarian,
Melissa D. Betts Elementary, Edinburg, Texas

"Maestra, puede prestarme una grabadora para que mi hijo oiga los casetes de las historias en ingles. Es que no le entiende nada a la maestra porque no habla ingles y yo tampoco. Asi que no le puedo ayudar."

Those were the words (in Spanish) of a young boy'smom back in October 2005. She was asking me to allow her to check out a cassette player so that her son could listen to stories in English. Isaac was having a very hard time understanding his teacher since he didn’t speak the language, and she couldn’t help him because she didn’t speak English either.

Isaac first enrolled in third grade at Betts Elementary in October of 2005. Since he had come from Guadalajara, Mexico, he spoke not a word of English, and was placed in our bilingual program. He struggled with the language but never gave up—he was always eager to learn and ready to absorb everything the teacher said. Isaac started to use Accelerated Reader right away, reading and testing on Spanish books the day he enrolled in school. Isaac read and tested on a total of 84 Spanish books with an 81% average correct on AR quizzes. In January 2006, Isaac started testing on English books at a first- and second-grade reading level. In no time at all, Isaac was well on his way to making the transition between languages.

In fourth grade, Isaac was placed into the Gifted and Talented program. By then, he was reading English books at a third- and fourth-grade reading level. At the end of his fourth-grade year, Isaac had read a total of 135 English books and had a 94% average correct on AR quizzes.

This year our district is encouraging all campuses to participate in the Millionaire's Club. When a student reads a million words in Accelerated Reader, he/she joins our Millionaire’s Club. Once a student becomes a member, he/she enjoys several special privileges such as not having to wait in line in the cafeteria, when checking out books, or when they are ready to test.

That brings us to this school year—Isaac is now in fifth grade. In January 2008 we got our very first Millionaire for the school year: Isaac! As of February 15, 2008, Isaac has read and tested on 101 English books. He reads at a 4.4 level with an average 92% correct on his AR quizzes.

Overall, Isaac is a very successful and well-rounded student. He took off reading and taking quizzes the day he enrolled at Betts Elementary. Everyone here at Betts Elementary is very proud of having Isaac in our school.

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