DLL Level 5

Speech Bubbles

If you look closely at several of the illustrations in Esos pillos asquerosos, there are small creatures in the background who look quite shocked by the pillos’ behavior. Those disgusting pillos! Kids have so much fun adding speech bubbles or thought bubbles to these creatures, showing what they might be saying or thinking. Sticky notes don’t typically provide enough room, so bubbles can be written in the writing book, on sticky paper, or any paper that is cut out and temporarily placed in the text to be read and enjoyed.

DLL Level 16

In Las ranas, imagine the conversation you can have with your student about what the insect might be saying to the frog as it pleads for its life, resulting in a very creative speech bubble.

DLL Level 5

Videos

It is quick and easy to find short, highly engaging video clips online. After reading Las palomas, watching a brief video of a baby dove hatching from its egg provides very interesting writing material! Almost any nonfiction book, including El escorpión, lends itself to watching a related clip. Videos help engage children, pique their interest, and open the door for quality conversations and complex writing.

DLL Level 10

    
DLL Level 6

Polls/Surveys

After reading Granos estupendos, children can poll nearby teachers or office staff: “¿Cómo prefiere comer el maíz: tortillas de maíz, palomitas de maíz, o maíz en mazorca?” and then write about the results of their survey. Another option is to first have the student read the text to the staff member, which is a great way to build self-confidence and pride in our DLL students. The text doesn’t have to be read to all of those surveyed, but picking a favorite person to read to may be the highlight of your student’s day.

DLL Level 20   

Students reading at lower levels can also conduct surveys. For example, after reading La gallina, students might ask, “¿Cómo prefiere comer los huevos?” One writing session might be spent composing and writing the poll question with potential answers, while the following session is spent recording the results.

DLL Level 5

Comparing/Contrasting

Students can compare and contrast two or more books they have read. After reading La señora Lávalo Todo y la gran bañera and La señora Lávalo Todo y el gran baño, children can discuss and write about reasons why the animals liked to bathe in one book (in the ocean), but not the other (at home).      

   
DLL Level 13

DLL Level 16

Students can also compare and contrast within one text. After reading ¿Es un lobo o un coyote?, children can make a T-chart or a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two animals.

DLL Level 9

Webs/Brainstorms

Nonfiction texts, such as El zorro ártico o El cerdo are opportunities for the child to make a web as she brainstorms everything she knows about that topic. In addition, many of Hameray’s nonfiction texts have a talking points page which can be read aloud to the student, providing even more interesting information to add to the brainstormed web.

    
DLL Level 6                                                                   DLL Level 4

Letters to a Character

Students love to write letters to a character in the book. Texts as simple as Las jirafas may elicit questions such as “¿Te duele el cuello porque es tan largo? ¿Qué tan rápido puedes correr?”, etc.

DLL Level 6

Think of how creative a student could be as he writes a letter to Cenicienta’s stepmother, explaining why she should treat Cenicienta differently.

 
DLL Level 20

Experiences

Marie Clay tells us that a shared experience is another great source for writing. These shared experiences can easily initiate from the texts the students read.

After reading El cuervo y el barril de agua, students love putting stones in a cup of water to see how the water rises, much like the water in the barrel from the text. These types of hands-on experiences don’t take a lot of time, are fun for the students and create genuine conversations that lead into the writing.

DLL Level 20

Las ovejas provides an opportunity to bring in a piece of unprocessed wool that can easily be purchased online. Students can touch, smell, and see what raw wool is like and use descriptive words to write about their experience.

DLL Level 9

Children will never forget reading Jugando con los alimentos when you provide them with a few foods to play with and then write about.

DLL Level 16

All of the suggestions above are examples that are intended to spark your thinking about different ways you can use a text to initiate genuine conversation in order for students to compose and construct complex writing that is interesting to the child. Our DLL texts provide us with a wealth of opportunities for these conversations; we can and should be creative as we use them to facilitate the best possible writing experiences for each child, each day.

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Marisa Morales has been teaching for over 25 years. She has spent the last 14 years as a Reading Recovery/Descubriendo la Lectura Teacher Leader in Washington State. Marisa started her teaching career as a K-5 Special Education teacher and also taught bilingual first grade for several years. She has a passion for teaching struggling readers with a special interest in students learning to read in Spanish.