American Library Association recognizes inclusive books with special award ORANGE COUNTY, Fla – This week is Literacy Week and the American Library Association honored several children’s book authors and illustrators for books that “embody an artistic expression of the disability experience for the child and adolescent audiences.” Two Orange County Public Schools media specialists served on the selection committee for The Schneider Family Book Award. Kellee Moye is the teacher-librarian at Hunter’s Creek Middle School and Sharon Powers is the media specialist at Lake Nona Middle School. [TRENDING: Great white shark bites boat in Florida | Orange County deputy’s TikTok videos under investigation | Governor touts vaccine rollout]
readingrockets Throughout the year, literacy events and celebrations can be a great way to get kids excited about books. When we celebrate reading, we send the message that reading matters, that it is important, and that it’s fun! However, it can be challenging to plan an event that appeals to kids who have difficulty with reading, or who may feel high levels of anxiety or discomfort about reading. This may be the case for kids with learning and attention issues such as dyslexia or ADHD.
Equity and Inclusion in Children's and Young Adult Books: Overview - Cynthia Leitich Smith The conversation around diversity and inclusion has been buzzing since Nancy Larrick’s article, “The All-White World of Children’s Books,” was published on Sept. 11, 1965 in The Saturday Review. However, it’s kicked into much higher gear due to changing demographics, the call to action in Walter Dean Myers’s landmark article (“Where are the People of Color in Children’s Books?”) published on March 15, 2014 in The New York Times and the formation of the We Need Diverse Books nonprofit organization (among other influencers). Consequently, I have elected to group resources by those most and least recent, with the obvious caveat that many of those longer established are equally if not more valuable and extensive in expertise and scope.
Twelve Books to Help Children Understand Race, Anti-Racism and Protest We are nearly two weeks into national and international #BlackLivesMatter protests in response to long-term violence against black bodies in our society. For the Black community and anyone already doing the work of being anti-racist, the travesty of that reality is not surprising when understood as the most recent example of the long history of racism in the United States. Our current understanding of race has evolved with the founding and development of this nation. The construction of race, racism, white supremacist culture and anti-blackness has been embedded in every system and institution from the inception of the United States, making it, as clinical psychologist and race relations expert Beverly Daniel Tatum says, the “smog” we all breathe—including for the children in our lives. Starting in a child’s infancy, adults can use books to introduce human diversity and establish an environment where it is safe to discuss differences and race.
Culturally Sustaining and Inclusive YA Literature: Valuing the Knowledge, Stories, and Truths of Adolescent Life This post was written by NCTE member R. Joseph Rodríguez. Across the country, young adult (YA) literature is a growing field in publication, research, and teaching, and includes youth and adolescent studies, literary criticism, and literacy education. In the search for a balance between the classics and contemporary classics, educators and scholars seek literary works that speak to the lives of adolescents ages 12–20. The adolescent protagonists and characters young people meet in these books help them cope with dilemmas and make sense of their relationships and their world, by shedding light both on experiences that resonate with and experiences that differ from their own. The number of YA books increases each year; recent literary works joining the YA canon include:
60 Books about Disabilities and Differences for Kids As a teacher, or parent, who works in education… we meet a lot of students with different abilities and specialties. And sure, we have Autism Awareness month and disability awareness… but it’s so much more than just being aware. (This post contains affiliate links.) Below you’ll find a curated list of books on special needs, acceptance, and tolerance.
Books for Different Learners in Elementary School Going back to school can be exciting, but it can also be scary. Kids with learning and thinking differences may have added concerns and issues with self-esteem. These five back-to-school book picks from founding partner Reading Rockets can show them they’re not alone! Stacey Coolidge’s Fancy-Smancy Cursive Handwriting Illustrated by: Mike and Carl Gordon
EJ963437 - Inclusive Literature in the Library and the Classroom: The Importance of Young Adult and Children's Books that Portray Characters with Disabilities, Knowledge Quest, 2011 Literature for children and young adults is written for many different reasons. It is written purely to entertain, to help children and young adults understand the world they live in, or to help cope with problems they face. It can also be written to introduce new places, ideas, or situations to its readers, or to portray characters with whom readers can relate to better understand themselves. Children's and young adult books that portray characters with disabilities are important tools for helping all readers learn about, understand, and relate to people with disabilities. Literature portraying characters with disabilities can help children and young adults develop the habit of reading for pleasure about characters like themselves, and it can support the development of personal power by portraying these characters as strong and believable. This literature can also assist children and young adults with disabilities in developing self-esteem and sense of purpose.
Making Connections: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain In reality, cultural responsiveness is more of a process than a strategy. It begins when a teacher recognizes the cultural capital and tools students of color bring to the classroom. She is then able to respond to students' use of these cultural learning tools positively by noticing, naming, and affirming when students use them in the service of learning. The most common cultural tools for processing information utilize the brain's memory systems -- music, repetition, metaphor, recitation, physical manipulation of content, and ritual.
50 Uplifting Childrens Stories About Kids With Special Needs - Intentional Family Life Sharing is caring! My heart goes out to kids today – growing up is stressful. Screens, bullies, being over scheduled, pressures to perform. And in between all this, I desperately want my boys to grow up to celebrate and see value in all people. I want them to stand up for people in marginalized communities – it seems like we need that now more than ever. What's the Big Idea? Integrating Young Adult Literature in the Middle School By: Marshall A. George Drawing on New York City teachers' experiences, this article examines three ways to effectively integrate young adult literature into the curriculum: use core texts (usually novels, but also other genres as well) that the entire class read and study together; organize literature study with text sets, allowing students to select from multiple texts to read; and incorporate independent reading into coursework (via Sustained Silent Reading or at-home reading assignments). Since entering the classroom as a teacher of English language arts 14 years ago, I have learned a great deal about exploring language and literature with adolescents, and my beliefs and approach to curriculum and teaching have evolved considerably.
Doing a YA Collection Diversity Audit: Understanding Your Local Community (Part 1) Tomorrow as part of the Library Journal/School Library Journal training on diversity Diversity and Cultural Competency Training: Collections & RA (which you should do), I will be doing a presentation on doing a diversity audit. I will outline what a diversity audit is, how to do one, and what I learned doing mine. I will be sharing parts of that presentation with you here tomorrow. As part of doing a diversity audit, I tried to develop an understanding of what a diverse/inclusive book collection might look like: I tried to develop target goals. This task was harder to conceptualize than I imagined; we all talk about the need for diverse YA collections but there isn’t a lot of discussion about what, exactly, that should look like in concrete terms.
#FlipgridForAll: Accessibility and Inclusion for Every Voice — Flipgrid Hi! 👋 I’m Liz, and I lead accessibility here at Flipgrid. Our mission is to empower every learner on the planet to share their voice and respect the diverse voices of others. At the core of that mission is to make Flipgrid the most inclusive and accessible platform possible!