Teaching and Learning Resources

Books del Sur owner, Heather Robertson-Devine’s presentation at the Illinois Bilingual Conference 2018 and documents to scaffold and grow Spanish vocabulary with authentic Spanish literature.

The following is a suggestion of where to start planning for how many books you need for your Spanish dual language classroom reading instruction.

Make snacks simple and involve the students to make snack time simple.

Books del Sur correlated our Reading Levels to U.S. grade levels to honor the biliteracy language development of our students. Given the phonetic nature of Spanish, it is challenging to level books based on the language structures of English. Read more about our reading levels ...

Do you or the teachers you work with feel like they don't have ENOUGH SPANISH BOOKS? They probably don't, but the answer is not - BUY MORE NOW. The answer is let's figure out what they have, what they want, and what is available. This will help temper the hunger and leave everyone satisfied!

Start your school year with personal narratives in reading and writing and open the doors to your students to share stories with each other. Stories are one of the best ways to get to know others - their experiences, their likes and dislikes, and their close community.

Resources and tips to set-up and prepare for Parent - Teacher conferences

We celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate the authors and artists from Latin America that have contributed to the fabric of our culture. There is an infinite number of people to recognize, however, we have reading materials to support the stories of some. Do you know them? 

We are very intentional about building relationships with students, at the beginning of the school year. However, we know that this is a yearlong process. It is a process that has three stages: basic information, academic, and the Champion stage. This post explores those three stages, provides some tools to support them, and inspiration from Rita Pierson, a veteran teacher!

Today I celebrate May Day by reflecting on the dismantling of Wisconsin's Teacher's Union and an excerpt of my chapter in Why We Teach Now, edited by Sonia Nieto.

Play, trust, and consistency are key elements to building your classroom community.

Books del Sur started well before it's founder Heather Robertson-Devine filled out incorporation paperwork in Wisconsin in 2009.  It started when she met a foreign exchange student, Ignacio Munoz at her high school and then ... the story continues to be influenced by amazing people along the way. Read more about it here.