In this guest post, Natasha Thomas, senior at Princeton University, discusses the importance of studying East Asia past and present. Thomas proposes creating a diverse collection that shows the multiple ethnic groups and tensions that contributed to the development of such influential cultures and helps American students understand this region with a rich, complicated history rather than the monolith it’s often portrayed as.
In this guest blog post, educator Cindy Jenson-Elliott of the Nativity Prep Academy describes how she used Todos iguales/All Equal as an inspiration for her classroom’s social justice comic book project.
Engaging Students
As a teacher in San Diego’s only free private school for resource-challenged, first-generation college-bound students, I have the privilege of working at a school focused on social justice. Most of our students are English-language learners, and their parents have come to this country seeking a better life for their children. As a staff, we look for positive stories that teach about social change that comes through individual responsibility and action. The book Todos Iguales/All Equal: Un Corrido de Lemon Grove/A Ballad of Lemon Grove by Christy Hale, uses corridos, ballads of social justice, to tell the story of the Lemon Grove Incident. In Todos Iguales/All Equal, Mexican-American parents successfully challenged the Lemon Grove school district’s policy of segregating Mexican-American from white children in 1930. It is a powerful story not only because students’ families around our nation continue to face discrimination today, but because parents stood up for their children’s rights against a powerful system and won. Continue reading
The Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS 2.0) was created by Lee & Low Books with co-authors Laura M. Jiménez, PhD, Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and Betsy Beckert, graduate student in the Language and Literacy Department of Wheelock College of Education & Human Development
Lee & Low Books released the first Diversity Baseline Survey (DBS 1.0) in 2015. Before the DBS, people suspected publishing had a diversity problem, but without hard numbers, the extent of that problem was anyone’s guess. Our goal was to survey publishing houses and review journals regarding the racial, gender, sexual orientation, and ability makeup of their employees; establish concrete statistics about the diversity of the publishing workforce; and then build on this information by reissuing the survey every four years. Through these long-term efforts, we would be able to track what progress our industry shows over time in improving representation and inclusion. Continue reading
Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for our webinar, “Teaching About Slavery Using Lee & Low Children’s Books”. If you missed it live, or just want to watch it again, here is a recording of the webinar:
It’s already the end of the year! A time to look back on the accomplishments and achievements earned in 2019. We have a lot to celebrate including the new titles that hit the shelves this year as well as the new authors who are putting their voices and stories to the forefront. For this blog post, we wanted to take the time to recognize some of our top-awarded titles of the year! Continue reading
Join us for a critical webinar on Wednesday, January 15th at 4:00 PM EST about using children’s literature and nonfiction to teach about slavery. We will discuss and demonstrate with award-winning titles to support your approach in teaching this complex, under-taught period of American history, with special focus on historical accuracy and culturally responsiveness. Katie Potter, Lee & Low’s Literacy Specialist, Dr. Amanda Vickery, Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education at the University of North Texas, and Dr. Noreen Naseem-Rodriguez, Assistant Professor of Elementary Social Studies at Iowa State University, will discuss different pedagogical approaches, classroom activities, and books that approach slavery in elementary and middle school spaces so that teachers, librarians, and other professionals are aware of harmful stereotypes and inaccurate information when teaching about slavery.
Social and Emotional Learning is the process in which people of all ages recognize and manage emotions, make appropriate decisions, behave ethically and responsibly, develop and maintain positive relationships, and avoid negative behaviors.
Social and Emotional Learning strategies are important, but books that show characters demonstrating these strategies further emphasize the need for these positive actions inside and outside of the classroom.
Check out our social and emotional learning books roundup for middle school and high school below and find more social and emotional learning titles in our Social and Emotional Learning Diverse Reading List.
Social and Emotional Learning is the process in which people of all ages recognize and manage emotions, make appropriate decisions, behave ethically and responsibly, develop and maintain positive relationships, and avoid negative behaviors.
Social and Emotional Learning strategies are important, but books that show characters demonstrating these strategies further emphasize the need for these positive actions inside and outside of the classroom.
Check out our social and emotional learning books roundup for elementary school below and find more social and emotional learning titles in our Social and Emotional Learning Diverse Reading List.
November is Native American Heritage Month, which started at the turn of the century as “an effort to gain a day of recognition for the significant contributions the first Americans made to the establishment and growth of the U.S.” and in 1990, evolved into a month of celebration and appreciation.
For many years, Native people have been silenced, their stories set aside, hidden, or drowned out. That’s why it’s especially important to read stories about Native characters, told in Native voices. Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with this updated list of books by Native authors:
Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for our webinar, “Using Children’s Books to Approach Trauma-Informed Education”. If you missed it live, or just want to watch it again, here is a recording of the webinar:
