First-graders read 15k books in Spanish over school year

Holland Language Academy first-graders are quick to list their favorite books read during the year: books about dinosaurs, aliens, a panda. One girl read several of the Boxcar Children books. The first-graders in Courtney Eaton’s class had plenty of books to choose from as favorites.

As a class, they read over 15,000 books this year, which earned them sunglasses and ice cream on Tuesday, June 6. They were able to achieve the impressive goal thanks to Epic, an online resource for teachers with unlimited access to 20,000 books, fiction and nonfiction, for kids 12 and under.

Having that resource is especially important to the Holland Language Academy. Students undergo instruction in all of the core subjects — reading, math, writing, social studies and science — in Spanish and English. About half of their students speak Spanish at home, and half speak English at home.

The English/Spanish split in the classroom depends on the grade level. In first grade, it’s all Spanish, which means all their books need to be in Spanish.

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