About Those Tests I Gave You …
A middle school language arts teacher apologizes to her students for the states narrow and deceptive standardized test.
Reading
Ordinary Heroes
A review of The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter (Harcourt, 2004)
Heroes or Cultural Icons? Of Thee I Sing : A Letter to My Daughters
Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My DaughtersBy Barack Obama Illustrated by Loren Long(Knopf, 2010) On the title page of President Barack Obama’s picture book, Of Thee I Sing: A […]
Teaching the Prison Industrial Complex
“Harm comes from prior harm.” As Deandra says this, I am sitting in the back of my classroom, taking notes. My students are sitting in a circle in the middle […]
Reading First, Libraries Last
In these bleak NCLB days of regimented
Beyond Anthologies
A veteran teacher laments the trend toward mandated curriculum and argues that teachers should choose materials that address students’ lives and social issues.
Continent Ecology
Children’s books that promote environmental education in the primary grades.
Can’t Buy Me Love
Linda Christensen gets students to write critically about clothes, class, and consumption.
Following The Flame
Teacher and students discover that even critically acclaimed literature can disenfranchise as well as empower.
Raised by Women
Building classroom relationships through poetry.
‘I Just Want to Read Frog and Toad’
Another child’s love of reading runs smack into No Child Left Behind.
On the Question of Mexicanidad
Encouraging prospective teachers to examine their cultural heritage.
Heather’s Moms Got Married
Last spring, my second graders gathered on the rug, discussing the impending 50th anniversary of the historic Brown vs. Board of Education decision. I asked how their lives would have […]
See You When We Get There
Profiling an African American teacher on Chicago’s south side.
Beyond Pink and Blue
A unit on gender stereotypes inspires students to take action.
Forgive and Remember
Teaching forgiveness through poetry and art.
Why I Don’t Teach the Hero’s Journey
A high school English teacher deconstructs “Hero’s Journey” curriculum, shows its patriarchal prejudice, and talks about teaching collective rather than only individual transformation.
Beyond Just a Cells Unit
A science teacher includes Black voices and Black history in her classroom by building curriculum around The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. In doing so, she shows how nonfiction books should not be relegated to language arts but can be effective in a science classroom.
Mapping Childhood
A neighborhood mapping exercise helps students develop their narrative writing and storytelling skills while also building classroom community by connecting home worlds to the curriculum. Adapted from the newly-released second edition of Reading, Writing, and Rising Up.
Boys in Dresses
One of a Kind, Like Me/Unico como yo by Larin Mayeno // Illustrated by Robert Liu-Trujillo // Blood Orange Press, 2016 Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman // […]
Martin Luther King Jr. and the Common Core
The chief architect of the Common Core created a model lesson of a close reading of King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” A teacher from Birmingham compares that to King’s own critical reading of the “word” and the “world.”
Reading, Writing, and Rising Up- 2nd Edition
For almost two decades, teachers have looked to Reading, Writing, and Rising Up as a trusted text to integrate social justice teaching in language arts classrooms. This accessible, encouraging book […]
Teaching for Joy and Justice
Teaching for Joy and Justice is the sequel to Linda Christensen’s bestselling Reading, Writing, and Rising Up. Christensen is recognized as one of the country’s finest teachers. Through stories, Christensen demonstrates […]