April is National Poetry Month. With so many forms of poetry to explore and share with students, what will you choose? Continue reading
Why Do We Need Diverse Books in Non-Diverse Schools?
In this guest post, Taun M. Wright, C
EO of Equal Read, lays out some of the arguments for using diverse books in all schools, regardless of student demographics.
DeAvian was a disengaged student, more interested in socializing than academics. Her school had well-known books like Ramona but it wasn’t until her Big Sister gave her a book with an African-American girl on the cover that suddenly, “DeAvian’s eyes opened wide with excitement and a smile filled her face. She held the book tightly, looking up as if to say: ‘Here I am, at last!’” Now, DeAvian continues to read, and her academic performance has improved dramatically. The impact of representative literature can be profound.
In a year with so much important attention to discrimination, the call for diverse children’s books is clear. However, diverse books aren’t just essential to students from minority or marginalized backgrounds. We need diverse books in schools with students representing fewer identity groups just as much as we need them in more diverse schools. Continue reading
Where to Find Culturally Diverse Literature to Pair with Your Required Curriculum
We hear over and over again from teachers across the country how they want to infuse more culturally responsive and relevant texts into their district or school-mandated curriculum.
It’s challenging to do, but what if we had some resources to share to help you out? Continue reading
The Importance of Great Teachers: Gordon Sato at Manzanar
Sometimes our books bring people together in wonderful and surprising ways. Here’s an example from just a few weeks ago that we wanted to share:
Women’s History Month: A Book List
March is Women’s History Month! It’s never a bad time to learn about the contributions that women have made and continue to make. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve put together a list that features some of our favorite historical ladies and great fiction for children and older readers!
Why I Love to Read Sad and Dark Books to Children (and You Should Too)
- Gleam and Glow written by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Peter Sylvada
- Terrible Things: An Allegory of the Holocaust written by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Stephen Gammell
- Hiroshima No Pika written and illustrated by Toshi Maruki
- Fox written by Margaret Wild, illustrated by Ron Brooks
- The Harmonica written by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Ron Mazellan
- Peppe the Lamplighter written by Eliza Bartone, illustrated by Ted Lewin
- The Shark God written by Rafe Martin, illustrated by David Shannon
What do they all have in common? Continue reading
The Diversity Gap in Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley has been the darling of the US economy for decades. Creativity, leadership, risk taking, and hard work are all attributes of American innovation at its finest. Though lauded as a true meritocracy by the business world, the truth is that Silicon Valley that suffers from a similar lack of representation among women and people of color as other industries. In our past Diversity Gap studies of the Academy Awards, the Tony Awards, the Emmy Awards, the children’s book industry, The New York Times Top 10 Bestseller List, Sci-Fi and Fantasy Films, and US politics, we have shown that there is a disturbingly consistent lack of diversity across the boards.
Continue reading10 Ways to Use Instagram in the Classroom
Think there’s no need for sepia-toned filters and hashtags in your classroom? Don’t write off the world of #selfies just yet.
Instagram is one of the most popular social media channels among generation Z, or those born after 1995 and don’t know a world without the Internet. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that this is a generation of visual learners and communicators, where sharing your life-from the food you’re about to eat to your thoughts about anything and everything-is a part of your everyday routine. So, why allow Instagram in your classroom? Continue reading
The Diversity Gap in Children’s Publishing, 2015
This February, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC) released its statistics on the number of children’s books by and about people of color published in 2014. The issue of diversity in children’s books received a record amount of media coverage last year, in large part due to the success of the We Need Diverse Books campaign. Many people were anxious to know if the yearly CCBC statistics would reflect momentum of the movement.
The biggest takeaway from the new statistics was positive: in 2014 the number of books by/about people of color jumped to 14% (up from 10% in 2013) of the 3,000 to 3,500 books the CCBC reviews each year. Though not as high as it should be, the number shows definite improvement.
But looking at this number alone doesn’t show the whole story. In 2012, we kicked off our infographic series with information about the diversity gap in children’s books. Here is the updated infographic, which reflects statistics through 2014: Continue reading
Selection Is Privilege
Amy Koester is the Youth & Family Program Coordinator at Skokie Public Library, where she selects fiction for youth birth through teens and oversees programming aimed at children through grade 5. She is the chair of the ALSC Public Awareness Committee, and she manages LittleeLit.com and is a Joint Chief of the Storytime Underground. Amy has shared her library programs, book reviews, and musings on librarianship on her blog The Show Me Librarian since early 2012.
This post originally appeared on her blog The Show Me Librarian, and is cross-posted with her permission.