Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.
Books for Teens
Colorín Colorado has recommendations for teenagers, too! Many of the Colorín Colorado Books for Kids are also appropriate for older students, especially those just learning English. We also encourage you to check out our webcast about strategies to help English Language Learners (ELLs) in Middle and High School. Please feel free to contact us if you have ideas to share about how to help ELLs in Middle and High School.
A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter
More than just the story of the Pullman porters, this Coretta Scott King Award winner recounts the saga of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first major black labor union. Organized just after the Civil War, the union brought together many freed slaves who had been hired by George Pullman to pamper the passengers in his sleeping cars. Seasoned with poetry, song, black-and-white historical photographs, and the personal reminiscences of porters and their wives, the text is full and engaging.
Alicia Afterimage
The author explores grief by examining her 16-year old daughter, Alicia, through the eyes of her friends and family after a tragic car accident. Even the young driver who survived is included in this moving and resonant book, which explores teen grief and encourages an open discussion of death and loss.
Becoming Naomi León
Naomi and her younger brother Owen have lived with their grandmother in a small trailer for many years, ever since they were abandoned by their mother. When Mom Terri Lynn suddenly returns, does she really have the kids’ best interests at heart? This is a wonderful, realistic portrayal of working-class families.
Before We Were Free
Anita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her 12th birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have emigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has disappeared without a trace, and the government's secret police terrorize her remaining family because of their suspected opposition of el Trujillo's dictatorship. Using the strength and courage of her family, Anita must overcome her fears and fly to freedom, leaving all that she once knew behind.
Child of the Owl
Set in the mid-1960s, 12-year-old Casey knows little about her Chinese background and only identifies herself as an American. When she moves to Chinatown in San Francisco to live with her maternal grandmother, she feels alienated and isolated, though she gradually comes to accept and understand her Chinese background. Written for young adolescents, this award-winning book is part of the Golden Mountain Chronicles.
Dragonwings
Moon Shadow is only eight years old when he sails from China to join his father in San Francisco's Chinatown in the early 1900s. Readers travel through history, gaining insight about being Chinese in America in this thoroughly researched, riveting novel. Written for young adolescents, this Newbery Honor winner is part of the Golden Mountain Chronicles.
Home of the Brave
This novel, written in free verse, tells the story of Kek, an eleven-year-old boy from the Sudan who arrives as a refugee to Minnesota in the middle of winter. The novel follows his stages of assimilation, from seeing snow for the first time to arriving at his school and ESL class, and all of his adventures in between. Through moments both amusing and heartbreaking, it is possible to see through Kek's eyes what it is like for new immigrants who come to this country, and to think about the scars that war leaves on its youngest victims.
Highly recommended for ELL educators and ELL students in grades 4-12, as well as for professionals working with refugee or displaced populations.
Teacher's Guide for Home of the Brave: This guide includes discussion questions, activities on idioms and language, and web resources about the war in Sudan. Appropriate for grades 4-12.
The Emerald Lizard: Fifteen Latin American Tales to Tell
Familiar tales as well as less known legends and myths from Latin American countries including Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Costa Rico and more are presented here in both Spanish and English, dotted with illustrations. Source notes are included, making this collection useful for storytellers and for reading aloud.
The First Part Last
Bobby is your classic urban teenaged boy – impulsive, eager, restless. On his sixteenth birthday he gets some news from his girlfriend, Nia, that changes his life forever. She's pregnant. Bobby's going to be a father. Suddenly things like school and house parties and hanging with friends no longer seem important as they're replaced by visits to Nia's obstetrician and a social worker who says that the only way for Nia and Bobby to lead a normal life is to put their baby up for adoption. With powerful language and keen insight, Johnson looks at the male side of teen pregnancy as she delves into one young man's struggle to figure out what "the right thing" is and then to do it. No matter what the cost.
The Tree is Older Than You Are: A Bilingual Gathering of Poems and Stories from Mexico with Paintings by Mexican Artists
Art combines with poetry and short prose pieces all by creators from Mexico for a culturally specific but emotionally universal literary experience. Stories are everywhere; you simply need to find them. Perhaps as one poet suggests in "The Lemon Tree": "the tree/is older than you are/and you might find stories/in its branches."
Yo!
Yolanda Garcia (from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents) also known as Yo, writes about what she knows, and what she knows is her family as they know about her. Yo's native Dominican Republic, her life in New York and the people who live there are poignantly presented from multiple points of view, each with wit, imagination and candor.
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Thank you for the excellent information you provide in the Colorín Colorado monthly TELLEGRAM. I utilize and share useful activities and articles every month with my students and colleagues.
~ Corinne W., East Stroudsburg School District, Pennsylvania
