The lessons she teaches mirror those in classes for native English speakers. Still, Fernandez must modify the curriculum so her students understand it. She spent more time on phonics before venturing into the second-grade reading book, for example, by having students learn hand motions to go with letters and sounds. In the week before Halloween, students wrote spooky stories, like the one about a witch who was banished from the kingdom or the story of the twin witches. Fernandez defined banished and kingdom.
Some students still slip into Spanish spellings or structure.
Although lessons are in English, Spanish is still spoken in Fernandez's school. Students chat with each other in their native tongue in the classroom, on the monkey bars and in the cafeteria. Newcomers often struggle The system isn't working for everyone. Newcomers, like Daisy Ortega, are struggling in English immersion, Fernandez said. Daisy just moved back to California from Mexico, where she skipped second grade.