Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition

Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC) is a curriculum designed to help Spanish-speaking students succeed in reading Spanish and then make a successful transition to English reading, targeting students in grades 2-5. Students complete tasks focusing on reading, writing, and language activities in Spanish and English while working in small cooperative learning groups of four heterogeneously grouped students. The program includes fifteen activities that occur before, during, and after reading, including vocabulary development, making predictions, partner reading followed by silent reading, recognition of key story components, creative writing, and reading comprehension tasks. Students receive two hours of instruction each day, including one half-hour of English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction. Teachers model reading strategies and facilitate cooperative learning discussions using a constructivist framework. Teachers implementing the intervention receive extensive staff development on how to use this approach.