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Add Social Justice Texts to Your Classroom!

Add Social Justice Texts to Your Classroom!

Introduction by Brett Bigham - 2014 Oregon Teacher of the Year

I don’t remember many actual lessons from fifth grade but I remember hanging on every word as my teacher read “Where the Red Fern Grows.” For weeks on end I was terrified I’d get sick and miss a day in the life of those dogs. 

In fourth grade I sat in horror realizing the ending of Anne Frank was the closest I’d ever been to attending a funeral. Rows of children silently crying. A few, not so silently. That teacher may well have tattooed me because that book made an indelible mark on my life.

Don’t even get me started on Charlotte’s Web.

The literature a teacher chooses to share with their students is an incredibly personal thing. It is a bond between teacher and students that has impact for years to come. 

How do you pick the right book?  Has the classic held up or has it become uncomfortable? Do you teach empathy through the pages of Charlotte’s Web or Wonder or Brown Girl Dreaming? And then there is that constant nagging question: Is the book you are about to invest several months in good enough? Is there something better?

As I travelled through Oregon as Teacher of the Year I was constantly asked what books I’d recommend. I’ve learned there is a lot of angst about the quality of books in a classroom library. Pre-service teachers wanted the nuts and bolts. They didn’t want to hear “Get books about social justice.” they wanted a list that said, “The Book Of Isaias by Daniel Connolly is a great book to teach about Dreamers.” 

The need for guidance was so clear the National Network of State Teachers of the Year and I joined up to create the NNSTOY Social Justice Book List. Working with Katherine Bassett and Laurie Calvert we surveyed Teachers of the Year from all over the country to find out what books they were using in their classroom to teach social justice.

We ended up with over two hundred books that had been vetted by our most recognized educators. The list is by grade level with an additional section of books for teachers themselves. Now, whenever I am asked what books I would choose to support LGBT students or kids living in poverty or dealing with bullying and racism I can send them the link for the book list.

The NNSTOY Social Justice Book List, edited by Katherine Bassett, Laurie Calvert and Brett Bigham is available free online at: 
http://www.nnstoy.org/wp-conte...


Teaching for Promise: Transforming Dis/ability Through Multimodal Literacy

Teaching for Promise: Transforming Dis/ability Through Multimodal Literacy

By Kathleen M. Collins
Teachers College Press, 2018, ISBN-13: 9780807756973, $44.95 (List Price), available at www.tcpress.com

How can we create classrooms where children historically positioned as “struggling” or “deficient” are able to participate fully and successfully? In detailed case studies, the author demonstrates how teachers integrated multimodal literacies and a sociocultural understanding of disability to inform their teaching and help students meet or exceed expected academic standards.

Teaching Controversial Issues: The Case for Critical Thinking and Moral Commitment in the Classroom

Teaching Controversial Issues: The Case for Critical Thinking and Moral Commitment in the Classroom

By Nel Noddings and Laurie Brooks 
Teachers College Press, 2016, ISBN-13: 9780807757802, $34.95 (List Price), available at www.tcpress.com

This book offers specific, concrete strategies for addressing a variety of issues related to authority, religion, gender, race, media, sports, entertainment, class and poverty, capitalism and socialism, and equality and justice. The goal is to develop individuals who can examine their own beliefs, those of their own and other group with respect and understanding for others' values.

Trauma-Sensitive Schools for the Adolescent Years: Promoting Resiliency and Healing, Grades 6-12

Trauma-Sensitive Schools for the Adolescent Years: Promoting Resiliency and Healing, Grades 6-12

By Susan E. Craig
Teachers College Press, 2017, ISBN-13: 9780807758250, $29.95 (List Price); available at www.tcpress.com

The trauma-sensitive schools movement is the result of a confluence of forces that are changing how educators view students’ academic and social problems, including the failure of zero-tolerance policies to resolve issues of school safety, bullying, and academic failure, as well as a new understanding of adolescents’ disruptive behavior.

Trauma-Sensitive Schools: Learning Communities Transforming Children's Lives, K–5

Trauma-Sensitive Schools: Learning Communities Transforming Children's Lives, K–5

By Susan E. Craig
Teachers College Press, 2015, ISBN-13: 9780807757451, $30.95 (List Price); available at www.tcpress.com

Growing evidence supports the important relationship between trauma and academic failure. Along with the failure of “zero tolerance” policies to resolve issues of school safety and a new understanding of children’s disruptive behavior, educators are changing the way they view children’s academic and social problems.

Teaching for Equity in Complex Times

Teaching for Equity in Complex Times

By Jamy Stillman & Lauren Anderson

Teachers College Press, 2017, ISBN-13: 9780807757840, $39.95 (List Price), available at www.tcpress.com

This book details how one school integrated equity pedagogy into a standards-based curriculum and produced exemplary levels of achievement. As the authors illustrate, however, the school’s dual commitment to bilingual education and standards-based reform engendered numerous complex tensions.

"Why We Drop Out": Understanding and Disrupting Student Pathways to Leaving School

"Why We Drop Out": Understanding and Disrupting Student Pathways to Leaving School

By Deborah L. Feldman, Antony T. Smith & Barbara L. Waxman

Teachers College Press, 2017, ISBN-13: 9780807758625, $33.95 (List Price), available at www.tcpress.com

The narratives and insights presented here will help readers to better understand the interplay of school-related and personal factors that lead students to drop out of school. "Why We Drop Out" is essential reading for K–12 educators, school principals, counselors, psychologists, and everyone concerned with our nation’s “dropout crisis.”

Building a Culture of Hope: Enriching Schools With Optimism and Opportunity

Building a Culture of Hope: Enriching Schools With Optimism and Opportunity

By Robert D. Barr & Emily L. Gibson

Solution Tree Press, 2013, ISBN-13: 9781936764624, $34.95 (List Price); available at www.barnesandnoble.com

Research demonstrates that children of poverty need more than just academic instruction to succeed. The authors draw from their own experiences working with high-poverty, high-achieving schools to illustrate how to support students with an approach that considers social as well as emotional factors in education.

Thriving in the Multicultural Classroom: Principles & Practices for Effective Teaching

Thriving in the Multicultural Classroom: Principles & Practices for Effective Teaching

By Mary Dilg

Teachers College Press, 2003, ISBN-13: 9780807743898, $28.95 (List Price); available at www.tcpress.com

This book focuses on the special needs of adolescents. The author provides examples of student observations, conversations, and writings; details approaches to curriculum and pedagogy that are particularly effective in the multicultural classroom; and more.

Literacy Essentials for English Language Learners: Successful Transitions

Literacy Essentials for English Language Learners: Successful Transitions

By Maria Uribe and Sally Nathenson-Mejia
Teachers College Press, 2008; ISBN-10: 0807749044; 26.95 (List Price); Available at www.tcpress.com

This book provides research-based, best practices for teaching English language learners in kindergarten through fth grade. This hands-on text features sample lessons and children’s litera- ture that can be used to help ELL students develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in school. 

Cultivating Curiosity in K-12 Classrooms: How to Promote and Sustain Deep Learning

Cultivating Curiosity in K-12 Classrooms: How to Promote and Sustain Deep Learning

By Wendy L. Ostroff
Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development, 2016; ISBN-13: 9781416621973; $25.95 (List Price); Available at www.barnesandnoble.com

This book describes how teachers can foster student curiosity through exploration, novelty, and play; questioning and critical think- ing; and experimenting and problem solving. With techniques to try, scaffolding advice, and relevant research from neuroscience and psychology, this book will help teachers harness the powerful drive to know, understand, and experience the world in a meaningful way. 

Inclusive Literacy Teaching: Di erentiating Approaches in Multilingual Elementary Classrooms

Inclusive Literacy Teaching: Di erentiating Approaches in Multilingual Elementary Classrooms

By Lori Helman
Teachers College Press, 2016; ISBN-13: 9780807757864; $34.95 (List Price); Available at www.tcpress.com

This book presents key foundational principles in language and literacy development for linguistically diverse students. Readers see these ideas enacted through the journeys of real students as they progress from 1st through 6th grade. 

Literacy, Libraries, and Learning: Using books and online resources to promote reading, writing, and research

Literacy, Libraries, and Learning: Using books and online resources to promote reading, writing, and research

By Ray Doiron and Marlene Asselin
Pembroke Publishers, Ltd, 2005; ISBN: 9781551381961; $28.00 (List Price); Available at www.stenhouse.com

This comprehensive guide discusses the changing responsibilities of classroom teachers and teacher-librarians in helping students become better readers, writers, and researchers. The book offers a current selection of resources, instilling students with the reading habit, and encouraging the integration of emerging technologies and traditional resources. 

Closing the School Discipline Gap: Equitable Remedies for Excessive Exclusion

Closing the School Discipline Gap: Equitable Remedies for Excessive Exclusion

Edited by: Daniel J. Losen
Teachers College Press, 2015; ISBN-13: 9780807756133; $37.95; Available at www.tcpress.com

This book explores how suspensions ow along the lines of race, gender and disability status and examines potential remedies that show great promise, including a district-wide approach in Cleveland aimed at social and emotional learning strategies. 

Back to Learning: How Research-Based Classroom Instruction Can Make the Impossible Possible

Back to Learning: How Research-Based Classroom Instruction Can Make the Impossible Possible

By Les Parsons
Publisher: Pembroke Publishers Limited, 2012; ISBN-13: 9781551382814; $29.33 (List Price); Available at www.sten-house.com

Based on the most up-to-date research, the author presents straightforward analysis and practical guidance on confronting bullying, taming the digital universe, and changing the trouble- some trend in students' attitudes toward learning and grades. 

Making Your School Safe: Strategies to Protect Children and Promote Learning

Making Your School Safe: Strategies to Protect Children and Promote Learning

By John Devine, Jonathan Cohen
Teachers College Press, 2007; ISBN-13: 9780807747834; $48.00 (List Price); Available at www.tcpress.com

This book covers combining traditional crisis management and emergency planning with all of the principles in the eld of evidence-based, social emotional learning and character education. Featuring real-life examples and best practices, the authors cover widespread concerns, ranging from student behavioral issues such as bullying and social exclusion to gang- related violence and other tragic events. 

Raising Race Questions: Whiteness and Inquiry in Education

Raising Race Questions: Whiteness and Inquiry in Education

By Ali Michael; Foreward by Shaun R. Harper
Teachers College Press; 2015; ISBN-13: 9780807755990; $35.95 (List Price); Available at www.tcpress.com

This author explores the use of inquiry as a way to develop sustained engagement with challenging racial questions by laying out a process for getting to questions that lead to growth and change, as well as a vision for where engagement with race questions might lead.