Adult Basic Education Materials in Spanish

Prepared by Maria E. Gonzalez, Adult Literacy Resource Institute/SABES Boston Regional Center, November 1999

Note: Most of these materials are available in your SABES Regional Center. An "*" indicates that it is included in the
NLL Box, a collection of materials and resources on issues related to native language literacy in adult basic education.

Assessment

*Native Language Literacy Screening Device, developed by the New York State DOE – available in Spanish and five other
languages with an English translation protocol. This tool has been updated to include a total of 27 languages. For ordering information,
call 1-877-212-8024.

*Spanish Skills Placement Test, Adult Education Resource Center, Des Plaines, IL 1991 – general basic education test including math.
Protocol is written in English.

Basic Literacy

*"Alfabetizacion y Salud (Literacy and Health)", Curriculum Guide, Felipe Vaquerano, E. Boston Harborside, 1994 .
Curriculum guide for Spanish literacy class that used health as content.

"Buscando un Futuro Mejor" – Publicacion Estudiantil del Programa de Educacion Popular de El Barrio, 1988. Student publication
of Spanish Literacy program in East Harlem, NewYork City. It includes examples of students’ work and use of the
"Palabras de Lucha y Alegria" text (see below).

Cuentos de Lucha y Alegria , and Mas Cuentos de Lucha y Alegria, D. Fauteux, New Readers Press, Syracuse, NY 1991.
Accompanying reader to the literacy primer "Palabras de Lucha y Alegria". Read-along tapes also available.

*Didactica del Metodo de Alfabetizacion para adultos "La Palabra". Escuela de Adultos de Barcelona.
Curriculum guide using the Freiran-inspired "word" method. Developed by adult education program in Barcelona, Spain.

*El Amanecer del Pueblo-Cuaderno de Educacion Popular Basica,
Ministerio de Educacion, Republica de Nicaragua, 1982 – Literacy primer used by the Sandinista government in Nicaragua
during their literacy campaign in the 1980’s.

*"Fortalecete!" Holyoke Juntos ABE Collaborative, Holyoke, MA, 1999 – Curriculum guide for Spanish literacy based on the
Massachusetts English Language Arts Curriculum Frameworks.

Guia para Profesores Capacitadores de la Amazonia y Oriente –L Barriga & M. Klappe, Secretaria Nacional de Educacion,
La Paz, Bolivia, 1996. Teacher training manual developed for teachers of indigineous populations in Bolivia, South America.
Geared towards K-12 teachers, it includes methods adaptable to the ABE classroom.

Leamos Amigos, Departamento de Instruccion Publica, Area de Extension Educativa, Santurce, Puerto Rico, 1989.
Series of literacy primers covering three levels (three books in each) developed by the Department of Education in Puerto Rico.
It includes a "Guia para Tutores" – guide for tutors – in Spanish as well as a Math textbook.

Leer y Escribir Hoy, Peggy Dean and Teresa Figueroa Uribe, Linmore Publishing, Palatine, IL 1990

Comprehensive primer that assumes some literacy in Spanish. Context is life in the United States.

*"Libro para Aprender a Leer y Escribir en Espanol", Instituto Cultural Latinoamericano, Chelsea, MA 1989.
Basic literacy primer that uses "the word" method.

"Manana Sera Distinto - un curso de alfabetizacion para Mujeres" – Peggy Moran and Monica Hingston, Santiago, Chile, 1988.
Feminist inspired literacy curriculum developed for lower income women in the barrios of Chile, South America.

"Palabras de Lucha y Alegria", D. Fauteaux, M. Alamo, Adult Literacy Resource Institute, Boston, MA 1987.
Original mini-grant of primer developed by teachers at a literacy program in Boston. An updated version has been commercially
published by New Readers Press.

Primaria para Adultos , Instituto Nacional para la Educacion de los Adultos, Mexico D.F., 1989 – series of ten books including
literacy in Spanish, math, health and lifeskills. Developed by the Mexican government with a focus on rural populations.

Bilingual

"Curriculum for Intermediate English-Spanish Literacy", Lenny Lopez and Leticia Morales-Ripalda,
Centro Presente, Cambridge, MA 02139, 1999 – Mini-grant product of an English/Spanish literacy primer

using the alphabetic/phonetic method.

"I Don’t Speak English…But I Understand You" – Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening Activities for Hispanic Adults
in a Community-Based ESL Program
,
Jane McGovern, The Center for Literacy, Philadelphia, PA 1988 – Bilingual Curriculum for an ESL class.

"Manual de Escritura", P.A.L. Program (Parents Assisting in Learning/Padres Asistiendo a sus Hijos en el Aprendizaje)
The School Board of Broward County and School of Education, Florida International University, 1979.
Series of side by side (English and Spanish) workbooks in different grade levels geared towards parents helping their children
with homework. Can easily be adapted for use in the ABE classroom for English and Spanish literacy –
Math, Writing and Reading available.

Citizenship

Practica para el Examen de Ciudadania, Carlos F. Paz, IDG Books, Dec. 1990. Practice book to pass the U.S. naturalization exam.

"Una Nacion de Naciones" – Immigracion a los Estados Unidos, Tracey Herbert, Education and Resources Group, Boston, MA 1980. Teacher generated text on the history of the United States with a focus on immigration. It includes reading comprehension exercises.

 

GED in Spanish

"Diseno Curricular Equivalente de la Escuela Superior: Estudios Sociales", Ana Medina and Dino Palacio Lindin, 1988 Curriculum guide for the Social Studies portion of the GED in Spanish test. Although some of the material is outdated, it is a good example of how to use current events to enhance a GED curriculum.

"Curriculum – Estudios Sociales" – Jose A. Rey (date and source not available) Another example of a teacher-generated Social Studies curriculum. It includes sections on the continents (with maps), the Industrial Revolution and the two world wars.

Curriculo de Una Clase de Verano, Rosario Gomez, Mujeres Unidas en Accion, Boston, MA - Teacher generated curriculum based on the book "Si me Permiten Hablar…", an oral history of Domitila, an indigineous woman from Bolivia.

"Lectura Y Escritura – Parts One and Two – Milwaukee Area Technical College, Milwaukee, WI, 1994 . Basic education curriculum in Spanish
geared towards preparation for the GED in Spanish exam.

Material de Estudio Para el Examen the Aprovechamiento General de Escuela Superior – Departamento de Educac ion,
Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, Santurce, PR 1991. Texts for preparation of the GED in Puerto Rico in the five content areas plus English.

*The New GED in Spanish, Adult Literacy Resource Institute/SABES, Boston, MA November, 1999. Handouts of SABES-sponsored workshop
facilitated by R Gomez and A. Rodriguez on the changes to the GED in Spanish exam. It includes comparison charts between the "old" and "new"
tests.

Palabra Lista – The Spanish Quick-Word – Curriculum Associates, N. Billerica, MA 1993. Vocabulary building workbook. It includes list of words that are the same in English and Spanish.

"Pastillitas para la Inteligencia y Otros Cuentos del Barrio", Alfredo Arango Franco, Klaudia Rivera. , El Barrio Popular, New York, 1992
- A mini-grant sponsored by the Literacy Assistance Center in New York City, this is a collection of short stories generated by teachers and
students of an adult learning center. It includes an exercise book with tasks that focus on reading comprehension and writing.

*"Programa para Expresion Escrita: Guia para el Maestro de GED en Espanol", M. E. Gonzalez, M. Melendez and A. Zaragosa,
Adult Literacy Resource Institute, Boston, MA 1992. Class plan covering the major grammatical structures covered in the writing portion of
the GED in Spanish exam.


Math

Note: Some of the series of primers listed above contain math materials.

Matematica para la Familia, Stenmark, Thompson and Cossey, Trad. J. M. Lopez, U. of California, Berkeley, CA 1987 – translation of popular
Family Math book.

Problemas y Mas – Resolucion de Problemas de Matematicas, Steck-Vaughn Berrent Publications. Austin, TX 1995. Series on math
problems that promote critical thinking.