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I love using Peter Reynolds books in my classroom. They celebrate difference, and inspire confidence and creativity.  Ish is a personal favoirite; I love to see my students connect to the problem of criticism and see the journey back to self-confidence. They learn an important lesson that what they do and who they are doesn’t need to be perfect to have value.   -Leah

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What is the best way to organize literature in your own classroom library. I’ve always had bins of ‘leveled’ texts. Recently I am rethinking if I should organize by interest/topics.. I always get stuck when a struggling reader wants to read a high leveled text—how do we approach this scenario?-Leah

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I am always looking for new suggestions of great texts to add to my classroom library ( and now to my newly born child’s library!). I never really thought about what makes a text high quality so I am excited to explore and understand the criteria. -Leah

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At the start of the school year CL becomes a big part in our morning meeting. We read books for enjoyment, character building, SEL, and community/classroom rules. Our school implements coach Wooden’s Journey to Success, where we focus on attributes like determination, loyalty, friendship, etc. I find CL to be helpful for students to identify these traits in the characters we read about! I also use CL in writing where we study an author’s craft move and try it in our own writing.  -Leah

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A book that has stuck with me since my own childhood that I still enjoy is But Not the Hippopotamus. There are a few reasons why I enjoy this book. First, I think that it is well illustrated with plenty of colors and animals. Second, I enjoy that the rhyme scheme of the book is not too complicated and has an appropriate level of repetition to help the story along in an impactful way. Third, I really like the story itself. It is about a hippopotamus that was left out of all these activities that she saw others doing, which did not feel good. In the end, she was invited to join the animals as a group, but there was an armadillo that was still left out. If you read the sequel, But Not the Armadillo, it shows that the armadillo is happy with this, that it is okay to be on your own, going slow, if that is what makes you happy. These are books that engages with a lot of ideas for SEL, in an era before the SEL craze. I also think that this is a great place to start that journey because it was written for a young audience and, therefore, can start the journey of SEL early.

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My main question is how I might be able to connect CL that does not have an established musical connection to the ideas and concepts I am teaching in order to include more of the diverse CL?

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I am hoping to gain a few things from this course.

-I hope to expand my own repertoire for CL
-I hope to gain perspectives from outside the music classroom to inform my own practice
-I hope to find new ways to draw aesthetic connections to books, perhaps with a focus on wordless books

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I have used CL a few ways in the past. In the music classroom, there are a lot of high energy activities we do in early elementary grades. Having a good collection of CL is a good low-energy balancing activity to help manage the energy levels and retain student engagement. Furthermore, the books have lots of opportunities to teach SEL skills, aesthetic skills, literacy skills, and many others. In more instrumental settings, CL takes on a slightly broader definition to include the lyrics and music itself. With these, I have used CL to discuss musicianship skills, music-specific literacy, meaning-making, aesthetics, and social-emotional skills. The activities we do help to foster a warm, welcoming environment where the vulnerability that is necessary for music making is an established part of the culture.

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I am hoping to gain tools that will help me show students the importance of reading and enjoying different texts. I also hope to hear others suggestions for texts that I should include in my library. In a class that I took last summer, we listened to the professor read Me & Mama by Cozbi A. Cabrera, and I fell in love with it so I immediately purchased it for my library.

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I have used CL with my students as a way to discuss themes, characters, settings, etc. I have used mentor texts as a way to help support writing. Used most frequently, I use CL as a way to get students talking (social-emotional) and creating a safe space to share. I have also found myself going back to CL when I want to read something for pleasure, but know that I will not have enough free time to read a large novel.

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What do you do when you are faced with administrators/teachers/parents that do not believe time should be spent reading/discussing CL and argue that certain topics should not be discussed in school?

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I really like Just Ask!: Be Different, Be Brave, Be You written by Sonia Sotomayor and illustrated by Rafael López. As a special education teacher, I work with students with varying disabilities. Each year, new students enroll in the school and become curious about their classmates. I have found that using this text creates an environment where we can have a conversation about being different. The students feel comfortable asking questions such as, "Why does he use a talker as his voice?" or "Why does he use a computer for writing instead of a pencil and paper?". Other students speak up about having asthma or a peanut allergy. This is a great book to read and reread with students and the illustrations are so detailed and beautiful!

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A favorite of mine growing up, and a text that is still a joy to share today is the American Book Award winner “Miss Rumphius” written and illustrated by Barbara Cooney. This text speaks of Miss Rumphius traveling as she appreciates different cultures as she meets the Baba Raja on a tropical island, climbs mountains and explores jungles. As she sees these special places and makes many friends, she keeps to a family promise consisting of “doing something to make the world more beautiful”. This is manifested in her planting of flowers in her community, a legacy that lives on as a most beautiful thing. The message of connecting with others and making the world a better place is a key piece for children, and adults everywhere. How will you make the world a better place?

Anna Carnevale

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How can we help educators in the upper grades (6+) see the beauty and purposes in using children’s books to convey a message?

Anna Carnevale

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As I seek to enrich the practices of those around me, I am hoping to first enrich my own practices around building a solid rationale for selecting relevant texts. To inspire all students to discover the beauty in a text or how others see a text’s beauty is another hope I have.

Anna Carnevale

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We all need a release. A way to let go from the buzzing cell phone, the keys going click on the keyboard, the thoughts that stream from our subconscious into our minds and occupy every available space. The release can be found in opening the pages of a book designed for a child, but with messages for an adult. The silence and solitude is hiding in the back section of a bookshop and I believe we can all find it and foster it as we turn the pages to dream up the next big adventure. Using Children’s Literature to find this peace and share this message with others in our world is a gift I’ve had the pleasure of giving and receiving not just in my career as a teacher, but as a part of the human race. Stop running the race, open a book and take a break.

Anna Carnevale

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I’ve used children’s literature to enhance my students’ development of language acquisiton, critical thiking skills, and social - emotional skills (empathy). Most recently, I’ve used children’s literature in a 5th grade classroom to teach my students to identify character traits and themes as well as make text - to - self and text - to - world connections. I’ve also used literature to create opportunities for reading and writing connections. For example, reading and researching informational text to inform an essay, writing analysis of informational texts, journal writing - making predictions, making personal connections, note taking, writing book reviews, writing from the perspective of a character, etc. In my most recent placement, I was a co-teacher for a bilingual program. My students experienced half of their day immersed in English and the other half learning entirely in Spanish. Based on this progrm, I was unable to teach any history because the co - teacher taught history while my cooperating teacher and I taught science. However, I was able to use WIN (“What I Need”) intervention time as an opportunity to read an historical fiction text with my students. This was my favorite part of the day as we read a beautifully diverse text centered on acceptance of people with disability, persistence, and hope. The story took place during World War Two and my students were able to make several real world connections between the German Invasion of Western Europe and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in present day.

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I appreciate I am Human by Susan Verde . I read this many times throughout the year. I use it for lessons in reading, math, science, social Studies, and especially for book discussions. I think the benefits of the book evolve through the year as my kindergarten students grow. Right now (May), they reference it when talking about characters in other texts especially if a character is making an assumption based on outer appearance only. Not only is it a good teaching book for the students, but just seeing it on my window sill makes it a good reminder for me and other adults in my building. I have yet to find a person who can't relate to this book :) . - Carrie 

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I appreciate I am Human by Susan Verde . I read this many times throughout the year. I use it for lessons in reading, math, science, social Studies, and especially for book discussions. I think the benefits of the book evolve through the year as my kindergarten students grow. Right now (May), they reference it when talking about characters in other texts especially if a character is making an assumption based on outer appearance only. Not only is it a good teaching book for the students, but just seeing it on my window sill makes it a good reminder for me and other adults in my building. I have yet to find a person who can't relate to this book :) . - Carrie 

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I  have only a couple tried and true techniques I have been using for 18+years with wordless books. I would like to know how I can better utilize this type of text, if applicable to this course. - Carrie

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I  have only a couple tried and true techniques I have been using for 18+years with wordless books. I would like to know how I can better utilize this type of text, if applicable to this course. - Carrie

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- To learn about and be exposed to current children's literature especially picture books
- View some wordless books, if possible, and learn additional ways to utilize them - Carrie

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I use children's literature to form connections between my kindergarten students and text in general. In kindergarten we learn that we can write and read just like our favorite authors. We also learn that we may not be able to identify exactly with a character, but we can always identify with a feeling. I personally like to use CL to show and teach about empathy and the human connection. - Carrie   

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I use children's literature to form connections between my kindergarten students and text in general. In kindergarten we learn that we can write and read just like our favorite authors. We also learn that we may not be able to identify exactly with a character, but we can always identify with a feeling. I personally like to use CL to show and teach about empathy and the human connection. - Carrie   

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This year I used this text a read aloud with my students, and they couldn't get enough of it! The text is so rich and lends itself well to our literacy curriculum, as well as rich discussions with students. This novel is centered around two boys, who begin their first week in 5th grade. One student has just moved from India, where he was the top student. The other boy has been in town his entire life, but is constantly bullied and has APD, which presents academic challenges to him. The point of view shifts between the boys between each chapter, and the author does an excellent job addressing many stereotypes. I can't recommend this book enough!

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I feel as though I have a great deal of resources in finding and using multicultural realistic fiction, historical fiction, and picture books. I'm wondering what resources exist/what suggestions people have for diverse non-fiction text at the upper elementary level as well as diverse graphic novels that people have used and loved with students. My students LOVE graphic novels, but I would like to expand them from Diary of Wimpy Kid (Which is totally fine!!), but also there's a time and a space to use graphic novels that embrace diversity, and I'd love suggestions.

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I'm fortunate enough to work in a district that uses the workshop model and truly embraces diversity. We use a literacy curriculum and engage in instructional practices that positively impact students’ knowledge, beliefs, and engagement with the features of diversity and use literature as a great launching point for difficult, but necessary conversations. At the upper elementary level, I think it's important to remember it's still acceptable and encouraged to use picture books, such as "Each Kindness", while simultaneously ensuring teachers are thoughtful about finding multicultural chapter books/graphic novels/historical fiction books for students to engage with as a whole class, in book clubs, or independent reading, such as "Zane and The Hurricane".
-Kathryn

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-develop more strategies that I can implement in my classroom to continue to develop and maintain student's positive dispositions related to their own reading and writing
-develop and implement more strategies in using literature as a vehicle to advocate for equity
-Kathryn

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Julia Ritchie - Front Desk by Kelly Yang

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Julia Ritchie - Front Desk by Kelly Yang

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One children's text I really appreciate is Kelly Yang’s Front Desk. This New York Times Bestseller features ten-year-old Chinese immigrant Mia Tang’s experience growing up and helping her parents manage three hotels in California. Based on Yang’s own childhood experiences as a new immigrant in the 1990s, Front Desk is an honest account of life in America in the 1990s for people of color and those living in poverty. Yang captures heavy themes- the hardships of immigrant life, the perpetuation of injustice, poverty, assault, and racism- while keeping an uplifting tone throughout. She balances these lessons with the näive dreams of a courageous, kind, indomitable young girl who chooses to rise up and fight through adversity. Many readers will recognize themselves in Mia and her friends. Front Desk adds an important new perspective to children’s books about Chinese people and their history.

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Some general questions I have about children’s literature are:

How well do the authors know the group they are representing or attempting to represent?

What happens when a children’s literature author breaks the expectations of a genre, structure, and/or conventions in a text?

How does children’s literature develop and connect throughout grades K-6? What elements build on each other?

Is there anything distinctive or peculiar to the narratives of children’s books?

I do not have any speficic questions related to this class at this time.

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My personal goals for this course are:

To learn how to stimulate my students with innovation and excitement for reading.

To recognize, understand, and be able to implement diverse literature and diverse topics that exist in society through reading and writing.

To gain more knowledge about literacy cirriculum and how to engage in instructional practices that positively impact my students’ comprehension, reading and writing skills.