Sunday, December 1, 2013
Urban Children Literature
Have you ever noticed that the majority of chapter books children are reading have only European-American main characters? Well I have, and I have set out on a journey to locate culturally relevant text that my minority students can read and relate to.
In the past, I have found it difficult to integrate culturally relevant text into my existing curriculum. For example, when I am planing a new writing unit, I look for a great read aloud that exhibits the writing style or traits that I want students to emulate in their own writing. Typically, I will pull out one of the tried and true books off the shelf. Although these books are wonderful, I would like to use this read aloud time to introduce culturally relevant text to my students. In the past this has been very difficult, that is until I stumbled across Kidslikeus.org (Just so you know, I have absolutely no affiliation with this site). Now when I am planning a poetry lesson, I go to their website, click on genre and scroll down to poetry. Now I have a list of great poems and books of poetry to read aloud to my students. Many of the books listed I have in my classroom, the ones I did not have I checked my library for. For the books that my library did not already have, I sent a list to my wonderful librarian. She is awesome about using any funds to purchase books that teachers request.
A little about Kids Like Us:
Kids like us is a website geared toward providing students with quality texts that they can realte to. As their About Us page reads "We believe that one of the keys to becoming an expert reader and writer is having access to outstanding books that reflect, value, and celebrate our lives."
Click on the logo below to read more about this site.
In the past, I have found it difficult to integrate culturally relevant text into my existing curriculum. For example, when I am planing a new writing unit, I look for a great read aloud that exhibits the writing style or traits that I want students to emulate in their own writing. Typically, I will pull out one of the tried and true books off the shelf. Although these books are wonderful, I would like to use this read aloud time to introduce culturally relevant text to my students. In the past this has been very difficult, that is until I stumbled across Kidslikeus.org (Just so you know, I have absolutely no affiliation with this site). Now when I am planning a poetry lesson, I go to their website, click on genre and scroll down to poetry. Now I have a list of great poems and books of poetry to read aloud to my students. Many of the books listed I have in my classroom, the ones I did not have I checked my library for. For the books that my library did not already have, I sent a list to my wonderful librarian. She is awesome about using any funds to purchase books that teachers request.
A little about Kids Like Us:
Kids like us is a website geared toward providing students with quality texts that they can realte to. As their About Us page reads "We believe that one of the keys to becoming an expert reader and writer is having access to outstanding books that reflect, value, and celebrate our lives."
Click on the logo below to read more about this site.
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