Círculo de lectura is a take-home reading club that provides books to kindergarten through 4th grade students in our Spanish immersion program as they learn to read and develop Spanish language skills. These web pages are designed to provide information and resources for parents of the children who are participating in the Círculo program.  

As a parent, your participation in reading at home is an important part of the Círculo program. Every day, students are issued a book to be read at home with a parent. Books are sent home in a protective plastic bag and accompanied by a reading log, called a diario, that the student completes and a parent signs. Once the book is returned to the child's classroom, a new book is issued.

While Círculo de lectura is woven into the school curriculum, it is a voluntary program and participation requires a signed parent permission form.

Program Dates

• September: Book exchanges begin for 2nd through 4th grades.

• October: Book exchanges begin for 1st grade.

• January: Book exchanges begin for Kindergarten.

• May (third week): Last week of new exchanges.

• June: Time to find and return books! Sign up for your neighborhood summer Círculo exchange program. Information provided in your child's classroom.

Book Collections

The Círculo program seeks to provide access to appealing, reading level appropriate books in Spanish. To meet this goal, there are three book collections, for a total of over 1,000 book titles. Each collection is designed for a different student audience, according to a combination of grade level and reading ability. Some of the collections offer additional resources, such as digital audio recordings or large print books.

• Lectura de vocabulario (vocabulary reading) is the collection for kindergarten students.

• Students begin the Lectura por nivel (leveled reading) collection in first grade and progress through it at their own rate.

• Around second or third grade, students move into the Lectura por placer (reading for pleasure) collection.

Book Levels

The book collections are sub-divided into levels that are designated by a color name in Spanish. Each book has a small label on the front cover indicating the color. Wonder what collection your child is reading from? See the Color Directory on the FAQ page for links from the color to the corresponding collection web page.

Spanish eBooks!

Spanish and English eBooks

Monarca has purchased a Benchmark eBooks license. These free eBooks include many of the same high quality titles used in the classroom, and can be used by all Monarca students at home.  

The books are mostly non-fiction and are for the K-6 reading levels. Included with each book are read aloud features, comprehension questions and activities. Once you logon to the DJUSD Benchmark website, you can sort the eBooks by theme and level.

To access eBooks, visit the following link: 

How to Access

Login to Benchmarks eBooks at https://djusd.benchmarkuniverse.com/.

The students’ eBooks login information is the same that they use to login to the school computers.

Username: student's first name initial + last name initial + ID/lunch number.
(For examble, a student with the initials A.B. and a lunch number of 12345 would have the following username: ab12345)

Password

Password:
Grades K-3: school
Grades 4-6: birthdate in the format: yyyymmdd