About Those Tests I Gave You …
A middle school language arts teacher apologizes to her students for the states narrow and deceptive standardized test.
A middle school language arts teacher apologizes to her students for the states narrow and deceptive standardized test.
A review of The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter (Harcourt, 2004)
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 […]
“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 […]
In these bleak NCLB days of regimented
A veteran teacher laments the trend toward mandated curriculum and argues that teachers should choose materials that address students’ lives and social issues.
Children’s books that promote environmental education in the primary grades.
Linda Christensen gets students to write critically about clothes, class, and consumption.
Teacher and students discover that even critically acclaimed literature can disenfranchise as well as empower.
Building classroom relationships through poetry.
Another child’s love of reading runs smack into No Child Left Behind.
Encouraging prospective teachers to examine their cultural heritage.
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 […]
Profiling an African American teacher on Chicago’s south side.
A unit on gender stereotypes inspires students to take action.
Teaching forgiveness through poetry and art.
A high school English teacher deconstructs “Hero’s Journey” curriculum, shows its patriarchal prejudice, and talks about teaching collective rather than only individual transformation.
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.
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.
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 // […]
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.”
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 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 […]