Update
WSRA
NEWSLETTER OF THE WISCONSIN STATE READING ASSOCIATION
1
A Letter from the President
2
State Superintendent Adopts Revised Standards for English Language Arts
3
We Got This: Becoming the Teachers Our Students Need Us to Be, Webinar Institute Presented by Cornelius Minor
4
The Professional Book Corner
5
Book Recommendations May’s Theme: Celebrating Black Lives
6
WSRA UPDATE Miss an Issue?
7
WSRA’s Academy: Live and Recorded Sessions!
9
WSRA Membership Application
WHAT’S INSIDE
VOLUME 33 • NUMBER 2 • JULY 2020
A Letter from the President
D
Submitted by La Tasha Fields, WSRA President 2020-2022
ear Literacy Leaders, This year I am reminded of the founding of WSRA almost 65 years ago. 65 years ago, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. That same year, 14-year old Emmitt Till was murdered by white men who were later acquitted of any charges. In 1957, the first schools were officially desegregated in Little Rock, Arkansas. These events, along with other significant events that occurred during that period, sparked a Civil Rights Movement that changed the direction of the United States forever. Today, we find ourselves in La Tasha Fields similar times of racial protest evoked by the senseless killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and other Black Americans. Further, this period of social change is taking place during a global pandemic that is changing how we protect our families and navigate our daily lives. As we celebrate 65 years, this organization will continue its commitment to literacy leadership, advocacy, and expertise in the midst of racism and COVID-19 – a dual pandemic that forces us to grapple with the importance of social change. As educators, this social change can be traumatizing and unsettling as we face its known and unknown impacts on the children we serve: Will school be held virtually, or will it be a combination of in-person and virtual instruction? Will it be safe for students and staff to return to school? How can we use our work as literacy educators to address the social inequities that affect the children we serve? These are some of the many questions that we cannot yet fully answer. What we do know, however, is that the work we do as literacy leaders remains essential during these times. In the current context of social change, I encourage each of us to consider WSRA’s goal of Literacy Excellence and the three tools needed to achieve it: equity, engagement, and empowerment. Equity is the lens that educators use to ensure that all students have
…continued on page 6
