Bilingual Cooperative Intergrated Reading and Composition Model

The Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition model has shown success in teaching reading to ELLs in Elementary Schools. The model uses cooperative learning techniques and includes the following activities:

building background and vocabulary

making predictions

reading selection

partner reading and silent reading

treasure hunting

mapping the story

retelling the story

story related writing

saying words aloud and spelling

checking the partner

making meaningful sentences

taking tests

direct instruction in reading comprehension

writing workshops

independent reading

Cooperative learning seems to be an appropriate and effective method for children learning English. It should improve reading performance of students in their native language. In an analysis of 100 studies it was determined that student achievement in a variety of setting using cooperative learning methods increased significantly over those of the control groups.

Students who were part of the BCIRC program in second and third grade performed better on tests of Spanish and English reading than comparison students.