Assignment #14 by

The Boggs School Oral Project: Linking Youth and Elders to the Past, Present and Future

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:36:03 UTC

We Are The Leaders We’ve Been Waiting For: Grace Lee Boggs

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:36:31 UTC

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:37:08 UTC

In 500+ words or equivalent video response of 10 minutes, consider using the readings and the videos in your future teaching.

-How will you integrate this thinking and work around justice into your class and potentially your greater school community?
-What specific strategies or actions will you utilize?
-How will you keep yourself grounded and accountable for this type of work?

Embracing Differences: Visual Thinking Strategies

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:38:37 UTC

What’s Going on In This Picture: NYT Article

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:39:00 UTC

The Eyes Have It: Potent Visuals Promote Academic Richness

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:39:30 UTC

How to Teach VTS

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:39:53 UTC

Visual Thinking Strategies

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:40:22 UTC

VTS: MFA School Partnerships

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:40:52 UTC

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:41:09 UTC

Respond in a 250-500 word response that talks about how Visual Thinking Strategies can be used to create a deeper sense of connection to self, classmates, and the world. How will you integrate VTS into your classroom?

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:43:44 UTC

Write a paragraph or two: What are the differences between “culturally specific texts”, “culturally generic texts”, and “culturally neutral books”? Do some research, look at the appendixes, research online, go to your bookstores and libraries and check out some new books!

Choose 10 new Culturally Responsive books, that you haven't used before, that you will integrate into your teaching.
Make an organized catalog with an outline of what the focus of the specific book could be and reflective notes for yourself after it is read/taught to help integrate new thinking for the future. This should be a growing document for you that changes over time and can be grown, used and shared with your colleagues.

zivrossi — 2022-10-25 19:44:26 UTC

An assignment of your own choice with the instructor’s prior approval.

Black Ants and Buddhists

sarahzivrosman — 2023-06-18 00:56:03 UTC

O. Kawasaki

2023-08-16 00:40:00 UTC

Describe how you would use the readings and videos you just reviewed in your future teaching

Both the readings and videos presented in this assignment had valuable information for students and teachers. For my future 5th grade students, the article “Boggs School Oral Project” will be a great source to show the importance of connecting with the local community, which can have numerous outcomes and benefits for everyone that is involved, and that people of all ages can be part of. My school has traditionally paired 5th grade and kindergarten classes for book buddy activities. I would like to extend this collaboration beyond reading picture books and occasional interactive activities. 5th graders are ready to take more leadership roles at school and helping and leading the kindergarten with their words and actions are great examples of CRL that values such school culture. In addition, the video has a powerful message from an accredited activist Grace Boggs and used to start discussions on what and how each one of us in the classroom can contribute to being part of the school community. I would also share the video with my teaching staff to encourage reaching out to one another for more community based learning opportunities.

How will you integrate this thinking and work around justice into your class and potentially your greater school community?

I really like the idea of asking the question “What time is it now somewhere else in the world?” As I teach Japanese language half the day, it would be reasonable to display a wall clock indicating what time it is in Japan. It may only be a gateway, but as I teach a second language through teaching differences in culture and customs, it’s a positive way to engage students into conversations about different people and their culture in different parts of the world.
I think the challenge at my school has been and will continue to be how we support students of black and brown. Despite the low percentage of black and brown students at the school, the data always shows that more support is needed for those student demographics. Because of the uniqueness of our program and the large number of students that have some connections to Asian culture, it’s much easier to focus and promote cultural responsiveness on Asian culture and communities. We must be more intentional to be inclusive of black and brown students than merely talking about them on their heritage months.

At my school, we have an established international connection with schools in Japan that I think we should take greater consideration to promote CRL opportunities. Much like the story of “Black Ants”, I think we can communicate with people in Japan to pose questions and start conversations and discussions that expands an effort to understand about different cultures, and in that process I hope that all students will open up about their own culture, and encourage one another to want to learn more about their own and others culture.

How will you keep yourself grounded and accountable for this type of work?

It will be more challenging to keep myself accountable for this type of work, as I would have to find a space in our busy schedule to integrate it. The challenging part about this type of work is being able to accommodate all the needs and being ready to guide students for whatever direction they want to expand their interests. I think I would have to find out and try to connect with my students in the early part of the school year. Then create a checklist or chart for myself to keep track of who and in what order I want to reach out to, to make sure that I’m promoting CRL.

I feel that grounding myself to this type of work won’t be as challenging as keeping myself accountable. My personal background is different from today’s mainstream white American culture and for that reason I have moments during days or weeks where I sit down to plan how I deliver my lessons or guide them with content based or non content based discussions.

O. Kawasaki

2023-08-16 00:40:42 UTC

The school that I work at is very much centered around visual arts. We are lucky enough to have an art teacher, so students have art class every week for an hour. Additionally, almost every teacher in the school teaches art to their students. As a fifth grade teacher, I can see myself using Visual Thinking Strategies to look at art that is centered around a social studies unit we will be discussing. I can envision using artwork depicting the first Thanksgiving and asking students to tell me what’s going on in the picture, what they see that makes them think that, and what else they see. Engaging in these discussions will help students see how pieces of art can create biases depending on who created the piece and what their perspective/opinions are of the subjects in each piece. These can naturally lead to discussion around other ways in which biases show up in our literature, social media, the things we hear on the radio, etc., which would hopefully, help students to look and think about information they learn and read more critically in order to understand whether what they are hearing or seeing is true or false information. This skill is extremely important nowadays, with the internet filled with information on anything anyone wants to look up and websites that support any opinion that people have about practically anything. To prevent our students from going down rabbit holes, they need to be taught critical thinking skills in order to differentiate between fact and opinion.

Visual Thinking Strategies can also be used to analyze the different murals that have been created in downtown Portland and other areas around the country, especially murals centered around Black Lives Matter and other messages of equity. It would definitely be interesting to hear the different opinions, assumptions, and conclusions students form through discussions about the different pieces they would analyze. These discussions would naturally lead to discussions about why artists feel the need to create murals/works of art that send important messages about equality and equity. The discussions can also lead to classroom meeting discussions about equity and equality in our school and communities.

O. Kawasaki

2023-08-16 00:43:16 UTC

Culturally authentic texts are books/texts that realistically represent the norms, traditions, customs and beliefs of the culture in focus, including the pictures/graphics. Culturally generic texts are books/texts that reflect common cultural ground; features characters that are members of racial minority groups, but details that define the characters culturally are usually limited or nonexistent. Culturally neutral texts are books/texts that feature characters and themes about people of color but are usually about something else, traditional fairy tales and folktales are common examples in which characters are shown as people of color.

10 Culturally Responsive Books

Oh, Ellen. 2023. You Are Here Connecting Flights. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

This book is a compilation of 12 stories from 12 Asian American authors. Each story is centered around 12 different Asian Americans and their experience at the Chicago Airport right after the pandemic. Some of the fictional stories are based off of some of the authors’ real life experiences when they were younger.

Sugiura, Misa. 2023. Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind. New York: Labyrinth Road.

This book is about a young Japanese American girl and her discovery of the truth about her mom and her family. It is similar to the Percy Jackson series but the myths and legends that are spoken about in this book are based on Japanese mythology. The book speaks briefly of how hard Momo’s life has been as one of the few Asian Americans in her small school and also of how hard it is to fit in with the “cool kids” and how her the only other Asian American student in her grade level stopped being her friend to be more like the “cool kids” based on the suggestions of his adoptive parents.

Chee, Traci. 2022. A Thousand Steps Into Night. New York: Clarion Books.

This book is about a young girl in ancient Asian times (possibly somewhere in Japan). Miuko is too loud, has too many opinions, and is too outspoken for a young girl. However, all of these traits help her as she navigates her way through being turned into a demon while trying to hold onto her humanity. The way the book talks about how women or girls in Asian cultures is pretty accurate and the book shows how these things can be an asset to women and girls at any age.

Cherry, Matthew A. 2019. Hair Love. New York: Penguin Random House, LLC.

This book is about a dad’s struggle to learn how to do his little girl’s hair because her mom is sick in the hospital and she was the one who always did her daughter’s hair. She tries to watch the videos her mom made of how to do her own hair, but it’s too difficult for her. Her dad realizes this is important for her and he starts watching the videos and eventually learns how to do his daughter’s hair. This is a great book that teaches people about Black hair and how much work goes into styling their hair.

Lin, Grace. 2001. The Ugly Vegetables. Massachusetts: Charlesbridge Publishing.

This book is about a little girl helping her mom grow and garden at their house. Their garden looks different from all of their neighbor’s garden and the little girl asks why they can’t have a pretty garden like their neighbors. Her mom tells her that their garden is better and repeats her answers when the little girl asks a couple of more times. Toward the end of the book, it shows the different vegetables her mother grew and how their neighbors were drawn to the smell of the soup her mom made from the vegetables. At the end, the neighbors start growing their own ugly vegetable garden as well.

Lin, Grade. 2023. Chinese Menu: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Your Favorite Foods. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

This book has not been released yet but my wife is excited to read it. She is Chinese and this will be great to read with our children so they can get more of an understanding of their Chinese background.

Khan, Henna. 2017. Amina’s Voice. New York: Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

This book is about a young girl who is trying to find her place as a Pakistani American who isn’t Pakistani enough according to her uncle who is visiting, but also struggles with being “American” enough, especially when the mosque is vandalized in her community.

Sepahban, Lois. 2016. Paper Wishes. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR).

This book is about a Japanese American girl and her family’s experience being taken against their will to an internment camp and the struggles they go through during their time at the camp.

Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2002. Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic.

This book is about a young girl and her family immigrating to the United States. Esperanza lived in a mansion in Mexico and her family was very wealthy until her father was killed and she was forced to flee with her mother and grandmother. The book tells us how it was difficult for Esperanza to learn how to do basic chores and live in tents/farming camps because she had had servants her whole life prior to going ot the US.

Mabalon, Dawn, Romasanta, Gayle. 2018. Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong. California: Bridge and Delta Publishing.

This book is a nonfiction book about the life and journey of Larry Itliong. It tells us how he helped to found United Farm Workers and his work surrounding reforms and change for farm workers during the Delano Grape Strike. This would be a great book to read during Filipino American History Month.

Caroline Praska

2023-08-18 23:28:16 UTC

The readings and video contained valuable information that would be incredibly useful for not just my students but also for my colleagues. The reading “The Boggs School Oral History Project” would be a great starting point for my 4th grade students to think about how they can truly connect to the history of where they live, where they individually come from, as well as connecting with each other in both how they are different and similar to each other based on their own (personal/familial histories). The reading would also bring awareness to the idea of learning from their elders and the significance of protecting the art of oral storytelling and the wisdom it brings to present and future generations. From “Black Ants and Buddhism,” I am looking forward to starting philosophical discussions each week with my students. I loved the idea of choosing a specific weekly read-aloud to jump start those conversations that validate their identities while simultaneously learning how to hold critical and respectful conversations with each other. It has always been a struggle to support students with demonstrating responsible actions; therefore, I would also like to align a personal responsibility campaign with our reading curriculum and social studies standards. Additionally, I would definitely share this article with my school staff and families to help further their understanding of the importance of teaching critically among our wider school community. Furthermore, the video of a real-life activist, Grace Lee Boggs, would help my 4th graders to think about actionable steps to contribute to and be a part of both our classroom community and our school community as a whole. I appreciated how Boggs said to ‘do something local, something real; however small’. Oftentimes, young people believe that they may be too young to make a difference or to solve problems; however, with Boggs’ advice, this may encourage them to take those first steps in creating a solution.

In terms of keeping myself grounded and accountable, I plan on sharing my curriculum map, lesson plans or ideas with my team as well as my colleagues of color who work in different schools. It’s challenging to do this work with an all-White teaching staff so it’s imperative that I hold weekly check-ins with trusted educators of color. I understand that doing culturally and linguistically responsive teaching work will come with many bumps in the road for a plethora of reasons (education system, administration, bigotry, etc.), and I expect to make mistakes along the way. Creating time to reflect in a journal, with a friend or family member at the end of each day, week or 2 weeks, will be helpful for me to remain grounded. Too often as educators, we are overworked and hardly have time for ourselves. By creating and enforcing personal work boundaries, I hope to be able to improve the “balance” of home and work life without feeling guilty knowing that I am already on this journey of creating a more equitable society as a mother, teacher, friend, and colleague.

Caroline Praska

2023-08-20 06:28:21 UTC

Unfortunately, there are no art teachers among any of the elementary schools in our district, which makes the classroom teacher the art teacher. I look forward to teaching art each week; however, I do feel it is superficial since most of the time I am scrambling to find a video or pay for a lesson I found online that supplements what we are learning in class. I try to make it relevant to either social studies or ELA as much as possible. I have integrated art in the classroom for my 3rd graders in the past as a gateway to teaching nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs, as well as using the images to practice making inferences. I appreciate Visual Teaching Strategies is more accessible to students due to the fact that the goal is not to reach a right or wrong answer, but to elicit critical thinking. As a current 4th grade teacher, I plan on using Visual Teaching Strategies by showing art that is BIPOC and class centered in both read-alouds in ELA and social studies lessons. For example, showcasing an art piece called “Gleaners” by Jean-Francois Millet, 1857, could open up discussions about the working class, living in poverty, and as well as reveal any prior opinions/biases they may have had about the topic. Our society has become more and more susceptible to believing anything and everything they see and hear, especially on social media. When students learn who created the artwork, what their background was, and what perspective they may have had when creating the image can help learners understand how one person’s idea of something can differ from others depending on their point of view.

I would also like to use Visual Thinking Strategies to examine local indigenous artwork created both by non-Native and Native artists. It would be quite interesting to hear the discussions around the differences of opinions/thoughts/assumptions, and how those may or may not change after having critical conversations about the artist, topic, or event. I can see students engaging in some sort of structured debate about the artwork providing evidence for their opinions related to the given topic/question. The debate could be showcased both in the classroom and a speech and debate event where families and staff are invited to come. By working together with my grade level team, we would all be held accountable for this work as well as share how the lessons/discussions/processes are going while also giving constructive feedback to one another. Consistent check-ins with educators of color and personal reflection will help me stay grounded while doing this work.

Caroline Praska

2023-08-21 23:04:53 UTC

Write a paragraph or two: What are the diﬀerences between “culturally speciﬁc texts,” “culturally generic texts”, and “culturally neutral books”?

Culturally specific texts are books that realistically and authentically portray people from diverse ethnic, racial, gender, and socio-economic backgrounds.
Culturally generic texts are books that contain main characters that are part of the non-white community and bring attention to common cultural ground rather than informing the reader of different cultures.
Culturally neutral texts feature a person of color but are used as a token character. Their stories are focused on topics outside of their culture, race, or ethnicity.

Choose ten (10) new Culturally Responsive books you haven't used before that you will integrate into your teaching.

Grifalconi, A., & Pinkney, J. (2010). Ain’t nobody A stranger to me. CNIB.

This book is loosely based on a former enslaved person, Orleans Finger, who was known to say and live by the words “Ain’t nobody a stranger to me.” A grandfather shares with his granddaughter about what he learned about friendship during the time of The Underground Railroad.

Mckissack, P. (2008). A friendship for today. Scholastic.

This book is based on the author’s real-life experience in Missouri, 1954. The main character, Rosemary, is African American and is the first to integrate an all-white school. During the school-year, she develops an odd friendship with a neighbor, Grace “the tasteless” Hamilton. Rosemary learns the importance of tolerance and perseverance with the support of the adults in her life and a rescued kitten. (middle school, use as a whole group read-aloud)

Judge, L. (2007). One Thousand Tracings. Hyperion.

The author of the book was inspired to write this story based on the thousands of tracings of feet she discovered in her grandparents’ attic. Set in Europe after WWII, the story begins with the grandparents' grassroots effort in providing clothing for one family, which led to helping so many others in Europe find shoes for children and adults. Watercolor illustrations, photographs, tracings, and artifacts are interspersed throughout the story.

McKissack, P. (2008). A Song for Harlem. Penguin.

This book is about Lilly Belle, a young girl from Tennessee, who is accepted into a summer writing program in 1928. She travels to Harlem where she meets Zora Neale Hurston, her writing teacher for the summer. Not only does she learn about writing, but she also learns about friendships and who she is character-wise, as well as the character of others.

Harlem Renaissance and where ideas and voice come from when writing.

Hopkinson, D., & Jenkins, L. (2019). Sweet land of liberty. Peachtree.

This story is about Oscar Chapman and how he witnessed his black friends suffer racial injustices as a child. Later as an adult, he became the assistant secretary of interior under President Franklin Roosevelt, where he continued to witness racial injustice. When African American opera singer Marian Anderson was not allowed to perform at the Constitution Hall, Oscar was able to move the concert to the Lincoln Memorial for 75,000 people.

Mixed-media collages illustrate connections between past and present, childhood experiences and works for civil rights and community good. Author’s notes provide more political history, making the book a great read-aloud for any grade level.

Sidman, J., & Zagarenski, P. (2014). This is just to say : poems of apology and forgiveness. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

I am very excited to use this book with my 4th graders this year. This book is actually a collection of poems apologizing to friends, family, and each other that are written by an imaginary class. People who received the poems respond with their own poems forgiving them. Written with deep emotion and feeling, some poems, like the one apologizing for euthanizing a pet dog, are very powerful and students will be able to connect easily.

Great book to connect to the reader!

Trinka Hakes Noble, & Ettlinger, D. (2013). The orange shoes. Zaner-Bloser.

This story is about a young girl, Delly Porter, living in a poor rural area with her supportive and loving family. In the story, Delly needs new shoes and with the help of her dad, she was able to get a new pair. She takes them to school where she proudly shows them to her classmates, who begin to tease her by calling her “Dirt-poor Delly” and stomping all over her new shoes. With her problem-solving skills and creativity, Delly is a delightful character to follow who discovers that the important things in life aren’t measured by how much something costs but by the care and love of the people around you.

A heartwarming story provides discussion topics such as poverty (what makes a person rich), bullying, and self-reliance.

Chang, V. C., Ortiz, A., & Yoh, E. (2023). This is not my home [Review of This is not my home]. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

This story follows Lily as her mom tells her that they are moving to Taiwan to care for her aging grandmother. She is devastated to leave her whole life behind, including her friends, school, and house. When Lily arrives in Taiwan, she has a hard time feeling like it’s home. Over time, she makes new friends and learns what her new home means to her mother. Soon, she realizes that her mom’s home can also be her home, too.

A great story to discuss topics related to: being new in school, moving, immigrating, culture, and how the different ways home means to people.

Vaughn Zimmer, T. (2011). Reaching for Sun. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.

This book is told in verse and is a story about Josie Wyatt who was born with cerebral palsy. She tries to forget that she has a disability, but her mom continually reminds her of it. Her family’s small farmhouse seems to shrink as another huge house is being built. When a new neighbor moves into one of the new homes, he seems oblivious to all the things that Josie finds make her different then everyone else. Soon she discovers something in him: a friend and possibly something more?

For middle school. Great as a read-aloud.

Gino, A. (2018). George. Scholastic Inc.

Gino, A. (2021). Melissa. Scholastic Inc.

[Retitled as Melissa in 2021]

This story is about Melissa, a 4th grade trans student who most people know as George, a boy. Melissa gets the courage to share who she really is to her mom by going for the lead role as Charlotte in the school production of Charlotte’s Web. Her teacher discourages her from trying out because George “isn’t a girl”. She and her best friend make a plan to switch roles in the play so she can play Charlotte, showing not only her mom who she really is, but also everyone else.

Hayden Payne

2026-08-10 04:45:13 UTC

These stories serve as both the “why” and the “how” of implementing social justice, criticality, and community empowerment into regular school learning. Even though I already value these things in education, I still benefit from reminders of why it matters: the context of fearful, divided times and the hope of positive change, or as Grace Lee Boggs puts it, “regaining our humanity.” Inspiration in this form can spark the desire to examine and revise my teaching practice, and the practical suggestions for how to do so serve as the fuel to keep the flame going.

Mary Cowhey’s story of the black ants in her classroom forced me to confront my own actions when faced with the same ants and other “disruptions” that frequent my days. What if I had asked my students to reflect on the reunification drill we performed as a school last year? Maybe they could have engaged with perspectives around community planning and safety in addition to their complaints/relief at the interruption of a whole school day. When conflicts occur between students in my class, I usually see my role as an upholder of our school and classroom expectations, and we don’t always reflect on what their takeaway is from the moment. What if I invited the students, both those involved and bystanders, to share and weigh solutions in accordance with the guidelines we’ve established? It could serve as a reinforcement of norms like don’t hit as well as a way to engage students constructively in building empathy, conflict resolution, and emotional regulation as tools in their toolbox of skills.

The story of the Boggs School Oral History Project was also practical and inspiring, in the way it showed how interviews with the elders in the community provided the talk and the walk of the school’s core values. Authentic, place-based, and intergenerational connections invited engagement with history, collective memory for freedom dreaming, and nurturing of relationships. This made me think about our science unit on volcanoes and how I could make some authentic connections to scientific, historical, and justice perspectives on the topic. I thought of the ‘I Survived’ series of books and how I could use the specific stories about Pompeii and Mount St. Helens to compare experiences of natural disasters. But then I questioned, “are those stories culturally general?” I know that the ‘I Survived’ series overly centers young, white, “innocent” protagonists. Would we be able to get to the critical questions of who is affected, whose story is told, and why multiple perspectives matter?If I really wanted to emulate the Oral History Project, I could find a connection to a real person who lived through the Mount St. Helens eruption and invite them to discuss with my class. Paired together with varied and culturally responsive readings, this is a start to a more justice-minded curriculum.

Hayden Payne

2026-08-11 06:15:27 UTC

After learning about the methodology of Visual Thinking Strategies, I realized that this had been a memorable experience from one of my favorite high school classes. As a ninth grader, I participated every week in Ms. Sohn’s extra credit assignment called “What’s Going On in This Picture?” during World Cultures class. Ms. Sohn would post a physical printout of a picture during the first class of the week, and I would study it for a minute as I was getting ready to walk to my next period. When I got home in the evening, I would search for details I noticed in the picture, guess where or what might be taking place, and comb through websites listing current events like BBC News or Al Jazeera. When I found the picture from the classroom, I would send Ms. Sohn a short email listing specifics of what was going on and why the picture was significant. It felt like a treasure hunt, a reward for my detective skills, even though sometimes the photos represented serious issues. This use of VTS introduced me to moments in history like the Arab Spring, criticism of Joseph Kony, and Australian wildfires. When Ms. Sohn would ask for someone to share the significance of last week’s photo in class, I couldn’t help but raise my hand. The practice furthered my interests in current events, cultural learning, sharing a process of thought, and empathy for others.

When I think about implementing VTS in my own classroom, I get excited about developing a regular routine to encourage critical thinking and consideration of multiple perspectives. It seems like VTS should have a shout-out in Dr. Hollie’s book because it fits with the other VABB-style activities highlighted in CLR methodology, routines like 4 corners and echo reading. Although the articles and videos about VTS suggest neutral rephrasing of student comments, I might use validating language and at the same time encourage multiple perspectives. Right now, my district-provided curriculum materials are lacking in instruction and space for ‘Do Now’ activities to get students jumping in on the lesson at the beginning of class. After completing this portion of the assignment, I plan to use a VTS routine at least once a week as a ‘Do Now’ because it doesn’t necessarily require extra materials, but can still serve as a meaningful, memorable learning moment.

Hayden Payne

2026-08-11 06:17:40 UTC

According to Dr. Hollie, culturally authentic or culturally specific books are the preferred type of text of a CLR educator. These texts, whether fiction or nonfiction, illustrate a particular cultural group’s experiences in an authentic manner, without reducing culture to one trait or treating race as an aspect of culture. In contrast, culturally generic texts and culturally neutral texts are both less preferred and more prevalent than authentic texts. Culturally generic texts feature characters of different identities (often racial identities) but the texts do not include many references to cultural specifics or authentic, meaningful portrayals. Culturally neutral texts, the least useful to CLR educators, might feature characters of “color” but they could be swapped for another racial or cultural group without any change to the story. Because these texts only offer dominant or mainstream themes, plots, and characterizations, they implicitly reinforce a lack of cultural knowledge, assimilationism, and isolationism. A teaching practice without culturally authentic texts not only misses opportunities to build connection and community in the classroom, it could be harmful in alienating students with a negative experience of school culture.

In order to generate a list of potential CLR texts for my science class this year, I used Index F of Dr. Hollie’s book, the Cooperative Children' s Book Center website, and Magic School AI.