TAMIU Professor’s Co-authored New Bilingual National Reading Series Mentioned on CNN

Recently, CNN en Español aired a story featuring first and fourth grade students who attend Jefferson School in Lindsay, California. The video showed students using the “Tesoros de lectura,” an elementary bilingual school reading series.

“Tesoros de lectura,” released by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, is a series a developed by a collaborative team of Bilingual/ELD and education experts across the country, including Dr. Gilberto D. Soto, Texas A&M International University professor of Music Education. Co-authors include Dr. Elva Durán, Dr. David J. Francis, Dr. Irma M. Olmedo, Dr. Jana Echevarría and Dr. Josefina Tinajero.

“The State of California has officially adopted this new series for all elementary schools across the state,” commented Dr. Soto, “Many other school districts around the country are in the process of adopting it.”

“Tesoros de lectura” is a comprehensive K-6 Spanish reading program with a standards-based curriculum that supports all areas of bilingual reading instruction. The series includes research-based strategies that promote reading/language arts instruction, oral language development, vocabulary, and comprehension in Spanish, as well as lessons that focus on intervention and transition from Spanish to English.

A music education bilingual author and researcher, Soto contributed to the “Tesoros de lectura” series by involving the use of hands-on music activities through the reading program using extension songs, instruments, listening, movement and rhythm.

Soto is currently TAMIU professor of Music Education/Guitar and teaches early childhood bilingual music education courses, supervises the Guitar and Bass studios and is director of the TAMIU Guitar Ensemble. He is also author of the bilingual music education books “Fiesta de Canciones,” “Music of Our World, Mexico,” and co-author of the ELL book, “Multi-level Strategies for English Language Learners,” and of the national music series “Spotlight on Music.”

Soto holds a BA in Education from the Universidad Autónoma del Noreste, BA in Music from Abilene Christian University, and a M.M. and Ph.D. in Music Education from the University of Southern Mississippi.

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