ELPS (c) Cross-curricular second language acquisition essential knowledge and skills.
(2)  Cross-curricular second language acquisition/listening. The ELL listens to a variety of speakers including teachers, peers, and electronic media to gain an increasing level of comprehension of newly acquired language in all content areas. ELLs may be at the beginning, intermediate, advanced, or advanced high stage of English language acquisition in listening. For the ELL to meet grade-level learning expectations across the foundation and enrichment 
curriculum, all instruction delivered in English must be linguistically accommodated (communicated, sequenced, and scaffolded) commensurate with the student's level of English language proficiency. 

Bookworm was exactly what you'd expect him to be:

A bookworm.

He lived in the 'Fantasy' section of the library and read books day in and day out. He read books about magical lands, dragons, and evil wizards. He read books about adventures and quests and glory. And one day...

He closed the cover on the very last book in his section of the library.

Bookworm couldn't believe it! What would he read now?

"I will search for a new kind of book,"

he decided.

So he searched through the aisles until finally he found a book that he wanted to read. It was enormous! He thought this one would certainly last him a very long while.

But as he began to read, he realized he couldn't understand what was happening in his book! 

He knew some of the words, but not all of them. 

He could sound out some of the words he didn't know, but not all of them. 

And he couldn't--no matter how hard he tried--understand what was going on in the story!

Bookworm knew he needed some help.

Barney was the best speller Bookworm knew. Barney could spell any word--even ones he'd never seen before!

"Hey Barney," Bookworm said, "I started reading a new book, and there are some words in it that I can't figure out."

"Like what?" Barney asked.

"If I could tell you that, I wouldn't need your help!" Bookworm joked.

"Hmm. Well it might help to practice your accuracy. That's when you can figure out the link between what the letters look like, and what they sound like. That might help you figure out those tougher words," Barney said.

So Bookworm went back to the library to try increasing his accuracy. He practiced every day for a whole week, and found that he was getting better at sounding out new words, but it still wasn't quite coming quickly to him. 

Luckily, he knew just who to ask for help.

Patti was a news anchor. She read scrolling words off of a screen 

on live TV! 

Bookworm knew she'd have 

some helpful tips.

"Hi Patti!" Bookworm said. "I started reading a new book, and I'm having a hard time reading smoothly. How do you do it?"

"Hi Bookworm! Well, we're live on air right now," Patti said, laughing nervously towards the camera. "But I suppose I'd say I the trick is to work on your automaticity. You know, decoding words automatically. Repeated reading can help you with that. Read the same chapter over a few times and see if you get it a little more with each reading."

"Thanks for the help, Patti. Oh, and hi, mom!" Bookworm waved at the camera before heading back to the library.

Back at the library, Bookworm practiced his automaticity. He had read so many books before that he never even thought about how he read so automatically. But with all these new words and this confusing story, he knew he needed more practice. 

And practice he did. By the end of the week, his reading became smooth and quick, though some words still tripped him up. But even still, he couldn't understand what was happening in the story.

Maybe I'm reading too slowly, he thought. 

Aha! I know just who to ask.

Mandy was an auctioneer! She could talk a mile a minute. 

She can help me, Bookworm thought.

"Mandy! So good to see you. Listen, I've had a really hard time reading this new book, and I think I might be reading too slowly. Can

you teach me to 

talk as fast as you?"

"HeyBookwormitsreallygreatoseeyou--oh. Ahem," Mandy cleared her throat. "Sorry, it's hard to turn off sometimes. I'd be happy to help! What you're referring to is called 'tempo'. For my job, it's important that my tempo is really fast. But when you're reading, your tempo depends on the words on the page. And you'll hardly ever need to talk this fast. Just practice pacing yourself."

"Oh, okay, thanks!" Bookworm said.

"Anytime," Mandy replied. "Now, where was I? Heywe'vegotaoneofakindpaintingoverheregoingfor twentythousandsnailshellsgoingoncegoingtwice..."

Bookworm practiced his tempo for another week, reading faster or slower depending on the sentence. He got really good at it. 

But for some frustrating reason, he still didn't know what was happening in his book!

"Maybe I'm not reading it with enough... oomph," he said to himself. "Oh! I know who can help with that!"