Nancy Witherell

CAN THE SCIENCE OF READING GET JOHNNY TO READ?

A Professional and Personal Journey

NANCY L. WITHERELL

In the days of Dick and Jane, schools were using a Look-Say method of instruction for reading, in which students read text with repeated words and memorized the whole word. For example, students would read something similar to: “See Spot, See Spot run, Run, Spot, Run” According to Rudolph Flesch’s (1955) book, WhyJohnnyCan’t Read andWhatYou Can Do About It, it’s a wonder that those of us, of a certain age, who grew up with Dick, Jane, and Spot can even read. What was the miracle message in this book that was on the best seller list for 35 weeks? Simplified in Flesch’s own words, “Teach the child what each letter stands for and he can read. Ah, no you say, it can’t be that simple. But it is” (1955, p. 3). Incidentally, in 1983, Readers’Digestwrote a new forward to this book, which is still marketed today. Which brings us into the ongoing “Reading War,” another war, that should never have happened.

According to James S. Kim (2008), the “reading war” controversy surrounding the instruction of beginning readers began with Horace Mann, who was a proponent of not only free education but whole word reading. Mann was against teaching the alphabetic code, as he felt it was an impediment to teaching reading for meaning. The scientific basis for this was an eye movement study done by Cattell that showed adults perceived words faster than letters (Kim, 2008). Hence, science had shown the way. Unfortunately, the interpreter of that scientific study, in this case, Horace Mann, did not seem to take into consideration the variables within the study, that children learning to read do not replicate adult readers. Whether this was the actual beginning of the “reading war” may be debatable, but that the war still exists is not.

My brother, born in 1946, started kindergarten in 1951, four years prior to Flesch’s publication. Although he now seems to read well enough, he struggled for many years, quit high school at 16, entered the Navy, and eventually went to Vietnam. Although many of us loved Dick andJane, they did not help him. In his later years, he was diagnosed as dyslexic. On the other hand, I began kindergarten in 1957, when Flesch’s book had made its mark in education and his message became a popular consensus. My mother related a story of my own education. Although I was doing well with my second-grade reading, I voiced concern about my ability to do my spelling work. When consulting with the teacher, my mother was informed that second graders did not have spelling but phonics. (My hearing impairment was first diagnosed when I was 30 years old. I remember going into my adult life wondering why

we called the people who lived next to us, “next store neighbors.”) So, the public and political pressure had influenced the direction of reading instruction, and phonics was once again prevalent in schools. My husband, Peter, who went to school during the same time period began his education at a British school in Pakistan, where his father was stationed as he worked for the Foreign Service. My husband begin reading books, from the British school he attended, that we still have, used systematic phonics. Although I can’t recall how I was taught phonics, the books from my husband’s early education focus on phonics. Each story has a letter sound, eventually word families, and lists of words that students were to sound out from the letter sounds they had been taught. The instruction appeared to be very explicit. The letters were each given a picture for sound such as an elephant bending in the shape of the letter E. He attended first grade in Massachusetts for one day and was then promoted to grade two. Although what comprehension skills he gleaned from sentences like “Pat patted the hen. Pat fell in the pen,” is something to question.

When I began teaching in the mid-1970s, reading basals were prevalent in elementary education. They were sequenced by level as Preprimer; to Primer; to Grade 1, first semester (what we called a 1-1); to Grade 1 second semester (what we called 1-2); going up through the years. The basals told teachers exactly what to say and what to teach in both phonics and comprehension. The stories were broken up into guided reading sections, and questions, mostly literal, were in bold for teachers to ask and students to answer. The stories were written in vocabulary deemed appropriately leveled for each book. Discussion was not promoted, although students would chime in with a personal connection. We taught in leveled reading groups, and students advanced when they ended the book, having passed all the end of the section assessments. In my grade-three classroom, I would usually begin with a 1-2 group, a 2-2 group and a 3-1 group. My goal as their teacher was to get these students to a year’s growth. Notice, there was no group above grade level. The principal at this particular school would not allow that. (Ironically, when I had two students reading two to three grades above grade level, after a series of tests, they were promoted to grade 4 within the first month of school.) By grade 3, the basals were supplemented with a phonics-based spelling program. It was not a matter of memorizing the words, that were mostly word families or groups of words that followed a particular phonics rule but working through a series of tasks that allowed students to use the focused phonics rule. Therefore, students had phonics in two curriculum areas, reading and spelling.

But… in another part of the U.S., namely, Troy, Illinois, my sister was dealing with a different type of situation. Her youngest daughter was being taught with a newly adopted reading program called the InitialTeachingAlphabet, a program designed to teach beginning readers through a phonetic system. Students would learn to read texts with unconventional phonetic spelling and make the transition to standard spelling in grade three. The program publishes books which use made up symbols for different sounds, as you can see from the following figure.

It looks a bit like old English, and some of the symbols with different sounds look very similar to one another. When looking up information for this article, I found this program is still active, as seen at: http://itafoundation.org/ about-us/what-is-i-t-a/ . My niece, who is now a 50-year-old registered nurse, laments that her trouble with spelling stems from this program. The ITA website states that it is researchbased and offers this phonetic alphabet as a resource for remediation of dyslexia.

Ironically, around this same time, the importance of reading to young children became widely known. Jim Trelease’s ReadAloud Handbook (now in the 8th edition) was first selfpublished in 1979. This book encourages parents to read aloud to their children. Most likely as children listen to the story, they are looking at the pictures and the words. Some of those children are memorizing sentences as they are read. These children are memorizing words written with conventional spelling.

Research is so strong about reading to young children that many pediatric doctors have the question on their checklist, “Do you read to your child?” Not only is reading to your child beneficial, but what is read is also important. Trelease states, “The eventual strength of our vocabulary is determined not by the ten thousand common words but by how many rare words we understand” (1979, p. 8). He then advocates for parents to read books to help their children build vocabulary, citing research that showed professional families’ children enter school having heard 30 million more words compared to students from a lower socioeconomic status that had not been read to by their parents (Trelease, 1979, p. 7). The news was out: Read to your child from birth. Prior to entering kindergarten, where at that time, letters and numbers were taught, my niece, being taught with ITA for beginning readers, had been read to almost daily from books printed with conventional spelling. She did not go into school knowing how to read but was very familiar with the picture books her parents were reading to her. Yet, in school, she was to learn a written language that did not use conventional spelling.

It seems that, for the most part, reading kept its status quo during the 70s and 80s, although literature-based reading was making waves. The reading war, with Dr. Jeanne Chall as its general, continued in full swing as the nation was still in a national crisis in children’s literacy during the “look-say” period of the 50s. Then along came Whole Language. According to the Harvard website (n.d.), “Chall’s support of phonics instruction over the whole-language approach pushed back against popular beliefs” (para 2). Chall not only advocated for using

systematic phonics but also the use of challenging literature–perhaps a precursor to the Language Arts Standards–and having children read more complex text.

Whole Language, which in a very simple explanation incorporated trade books, writing, and deductive phonics was mostly a teacher driven incentive. The goal was to let children read real books known as trade books, not watered-down basal versions. Students began to write in journals, for reading responses, and creative stories using the writing process. Spelling and letter sounds were reinforced through reading and writing as writing products were brought up to final draft. Phonics was taught both explicitly and deductively by having students analyze words, For example, a teacher would have a group categorize words with the letter “c” so children could analyze the pattern and discover that the hard “c” sound /k/ is pronounced when “c” is followed by an “o,” “a,” or “u,” and the soft “c” sound /s/ happens when the c is followed by an “i” or “e”. During this time, book discussions occurred using flexible grouping. What was termed “grand conversations” took place, which allowed children to think about what they read and to learn that some questions had more than one correct answer.

Then, around the late 90s, along came another federal report card stating that our children could not read, so it seems education or educators kept failing. There was the public outcry that teachers were not teaching phonics, which was not exactly the case, although there is some basis for this outcry. Some reading programs published during the Whole Language Era had eliminated a great amount of phonics instruction as they began to publish complete story books within their textbooks instead of the previously watered-down versions. The National Reading Panel was formed that resulted in the Report ofthe NationalReading Panel:Teaching Children to Read:An Evidence-basedAssessment ofthe Scientific Research Literature on Reading and ItsImplications forReading Instruction (2000), published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This report analyzed research results and findings from experimental and quasi-experimental research studies. The findings and determinations for the area of phonics states: “The meta-analysis revealed that systematic phonics instruction produces significant benefits for students in kindergarten through 6th grade and for children having difficulty learning to read” (National Reading Panel, 2000). On text comprehension, the findings and determinations state, “In general, the evidence suggests that teaching a combination of reading comprehension techniques is the most effective. When students use them appropriately, they assist in recall, question answering, question generation, and summarization of texts” (National Reading Panel, 2000). There is a disclaimer on the website at the top of the report that states “the publication was accurate at the time it was published, but is not being updated. The item is provided for historical purposes only” (https://www.nichd.nih. gov/publications/pubs/nrp/smallbook). Does that mean it is to be considered inaccurate?

This report was followed up four years later by the book, TheVoice ofEvidence inReading Research (2004), which was written by the Child Development and Behavior Branch of the National Institute of Health and Human Services This book provided evidence-

based practices for the teaching of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, all of which I’m sure sound familiar, as they are the foundation of teaching reading in the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act.

With the No Child Left Behind Act (2001), research-based instruction became the norm. Once again, the focus was on research-based phonics instruction. When walking the IRA (now ILA) booths at the annual conference in the early 2000s, companies publishing reading programs would display huge signs describing their research-based reading programs. During the Bush administration (the 2nd Bush-George W.), it was rumored that Open Court was the only acceptable research-based reading program. (It was also rumored that Bush played golf with the company’s CEO.) Needless to say, after the report of the National Reading Panel and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, systematically and explicitly taught phonics once again took the forefront in beginning reading instruction.

Systematically and explicitly taught phonics is not a bad idea, but this teaching has to include effective instruction done by knowledgeable teachers. Going back in time, my youngest son began kindergarten in the fall of 1993, the year I was hired as a tenure-track professor at Bridgewater State University. Knowing the hours needed to gain tenure, a decision was made to keep him in his private preschool, where kindergarten would take place from 8 to 2 daily. It made sense, I would not have to deal with the year switch from morning to afternoon kindergarten (an old-fashioned way of making things equal for parents, but those in the know would request afternoon the first half of the year, so their child would get morning instruction time when the curriculum became a bit more complex). My son had a wonderful year in kindergarten, where social activities were mixed with letter and sound learning, handson activities, and themed instruction.

Then he entered the public school system, which had (against my warning to the then superintendent during an informal conversation) adopted Rose Bradley’s “Won Way”, which later became known as Rose Bradley’s Reading as there was no “one way.” This program was extremely systematic. The students were to have approximately 45 minutes of phonics instruction daily, which included teaching letter-sound correspondence, dictation, and simple sentence writing. The program was inexpensive for the district, easy for teachers to follow, and spanned from kindergarten to grade two. In this program, children were taught the different sounds of the vowels such as “a” and “e” and learned a number for each sound the vowel could represent (supposedly 6 sounds of “e,” but some phonics programs promote as many as 9 sounds of “e.”). When the students wrote their sentences, they were to put the correct number of that sound by the written vowel. Since my son entered grade 1 from a private school, where this instruction had not occurred, he was behind in reading instruction. The program was both systematic and explicit. The teachers mentioned that teaching the students to fold their paper into 16 squares was one of the most difficult lessons, as students had to encode into each box what the teacher said. Once the initial group of students advanced to third grade, the teachers

were wondering why students were writing numbers on top of the letters in their sentences. I’m not sure how long this program was around, or how far it went. I know it was used in Taunton. The trainer asked if she could train my student teachers, at which point I said, “please don’t”. My nephew, who lived on Cape Cod was taught with this program in the year 2000.

Around this time, “No Child Left Behind,” which emphasized the 5 anchors of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension, became the forefront of beginning reading. This federally-based initiative gave funds to states accepting this program, and “phonemic awareness” became the new buzzword and catch phrase for what beginning readers needed to have. Professors of reading began expounding upon the differences between phonological awareness and phonemic awareness. Prospective teachers still needed to learn that phonemic awareness is sound only; a child can have phonemic awareness without knowing letters exist. But, in the primary years, do we teach it in that isolated form? I have heard from two of my third-grade students from the 70s (thanks, social media). They are both successful Black adults: one is a professor of theology in the South; the other is the principal of a middle school near where I taught in Maryland. Not sure how they became so successful, as I had never heard of the term phonemic awareness. But, the kindergarten and grade-one teachers did do word play with sounds, and, in hindsight, we were automatically teaching it in combination with letter sounds.

Of course, there were other happenings going on in reading instruction… Mosaic of Thought (Keene & Zimmermann, 1997) made waves with various comprehension strategies. Then along came the two sisters, Gail Boushey and Joan Moser (2006), and the Daily5; differentiated instruction; programs such as Orton-Gillingham and Wilson’s Reading, which have been used successfully with developing readers. Somewhere in this push for phonics came the term, “a balanced reading approach,” which was to make the public aware that the school system was using a reading curriculum that included a balance of instruction in both phonics and reading comprehension (not sure what happened to writing). At some point it became more popular to say a school district was using the “comprehensive approach” to reading instruction, which included the five components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

As I retired in the spring of 2019, I somehow missed the initial wave of the Science of Reading movement, which is now in the forefront of reading instruction for beginning readers. This initiative comes with new knowledge from brain research, and all we have learned through current medically-based technology yet, is based on research we have known for years. As education is always moving forward, we are now in the throes of the Science of Reading. The need for research-based instruction and systematic phonics remains in the forefront, extended beyond the beginning years. In some corners, it seems to be a consensus among a few that a reading instructor is either for or against the Science of Reading, which is fodder for the reading war. Ironically, there is no research-based evidence to support this train of thought.

Effective teachers of beginning readers or developing readers have always, even during the height of whole language, taught letter-sound correspondence.

According to an informative booklet put out by The Reading League (Science-ofReading-eBook-2022.pdf), we are assured that the Science of Reading is not another fad of reading instruction (p. 9) that will disappear as was the case with Whole Language, and maybe Bradley’s Reading. In some cases, the “fads” don’t necessary disappear, but the best pieces of each remain for the next sequencer. Whole language helped to put deductive instruction, literature-based reading, journal writing, and written reading responses into today’s reading curriculum. Individualized instruction morphed into differentiated instruction, allowing more students to gain tailored instruction. The best pieces remain as teachers use their knowledge of instruction assessment and judgment to design instruction.

The Science of Reading, like the Report of the National Reading Panel (2000), gleans its instruction from scientifically-based research through experimental or quasi-experimental studies. It also relies on brain research and “how the brain processes multiple sources of information while reading” (Science of Reading Defining Guide, p. 13). The research discusses pathways that are connected as students learn to read. Some of you may remember the MRA conference about 20 years ago, where Kathy Collins Block did a presentation on vocabulary learning. During that presentation, she shared a video of the brain circuits at work and the audience could see squiggly line pathways connect when a word was learned. It was fascinating to watch. At the time, Dr. Block stated that it took an average of six exposures to a new word before the pathways connected. This was an eye opener to the operations of the brain, and so much more has been learned about brain functioning since that presentation. The Science of Reading posits that these neural connections, which become networks, are built with explicit instruction and focused practice.

The basis for the Science of Reading includes the Simple View of Reading, which proposes that reading comprehension derives from two components: word recognition and language comprehension. The Simple View of Reading, which is attributed to Gough & Tunmer (1986), has evolved over time and began with the two components of decoding and listening comprehension. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (n.d.) states that the decoding side (word recognition) may be referred to as fluent word reading and proposes the formula:

fluent word reading X language comprehension = reading comprehension. (MA DESE, 2022)

Duke and Cartwright (2021) state that scientific evidence has shown that three key advances have emerged since the 1986 Simple View of Reading model. Duke and Cartwright propose the following understandings be incorporated into the Simple View of Reading:

• That reading difficulties have many causes within and beyond word recognition and language comprehension • Word recognition and language comprehension are not entirely separate and are bridged by important processes • The reader’s active self-regulation is central to reading. (p. 26)

Duke and Cartwright propose as “Active View of Reading”, which combines the Simple View of Reading with these three understandings (p. 33).

How can we not have an active view of reading? Good comprehension does not come from passive reading. How many of you have read orally and fluently to your classroom, while thinking about something happening later in the day? We know that for readers to maximize comprehension, they must engage and interact with the text. This could be by making connections, figuring out a new word by using context, using close reading techniques, or in a variety of other ways.

Recent research has added greatly to the knowledge of reading instruction, but the Science of Reading is not new (Share, 2021; Terry, 2021). According to Semingson and Kerns (2021), the Science of Reading is defined as a compilation of two parts: “(1) instruction that prioritizes phonics as central to the development of literacy skills, and (2) research that supports the prioritization of phonics in the development of literacy skills” (p. 158). It should be noted that research suggests it is not working for all children, not because it can’t, but because of racial and social economic disparity (Terry, 2021). Terry (2021), citing research, states, “Despite its promise, the science of reading is not benefiting Black and Brown children at scale, and there appear to be no clear solutions to solve this problem” (p. 86).

Furthermore, according to Paige et al. (2021), teachers must go beyond the knowledge of the Science of Reading (SOR), bringing into place effective research and evidenced based instruction that encompasses more than phonics instruction. Paige, et al. state, “The art of teaching acknowledges teachers’ judgment and its role in the critical decisions made by teachers regarding the SOR and the selection, preparation, delivery, and assessment of literacy activities within the social interactions of the classroom” (2021, p. 346). The authors identify three areas of the teaching craft needed for effective teacher judgement: teacher effectiveness (knowledge, time for learning, classroom social climate, etc.); literacy instruction (individual student needs and the ability to meet those needs); and teacher quality (use of instructional time, setting, activities, etc.) They suggest these qualities be incorporated in conjunction with SOR for effective reading instruction to occur.

To answer the question in this article’s title, “Can the Science of Reading get Johnny to Read?” Of course, it can. The history of reading research discussed in this article repeatedly tells us the importance of systematic phonics instruction for beginning readers. There should be no debate over this. The recent research and compilation of research shared in this article

does not disagree with the teachings of SOR but implies that the Science of Reading is not enough.

In conclusion, instructors of beginning reading should have knowledge of the Science of Reading but should not put aside effective strategies, comprehension instruction, or their valuable judgment about instruction needed by their students. As the saying goes, “Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.”. Our little readers make connections to their reading on a daily basis. It is recommended that we teach ELL students with texts to which they can connect to aid in comprehension. First and second graders can state text-based evidence for the answers to questions but often need the instruction to do this well. As we light the way for inclusive teaching and learning, research shows that most words students read are learned through wide reading and the use of inferential skills, as they discover the meaning of unknown words. We need to help them learn these skills. Our students deserve a balanced, comprehensive, structured, all encompassing, what-ever-you-want-to-call-it, path for their instruction of reading, which most certainly includes systematic phonics.

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

Although I am currently president of MRA, the opinions voiced in this article are my own.

References

Boushey, G., & Moser, J. (2006). Thedaily5:Fosteringliteracyindependence in theelementary grades. Stenhouse.

Duke, N. K., & Cartwright, K. B. (2021). The science of reading progresses: Communicating advances beyond the simple view of reading. Reading ResearchQuarterly, 56(1), 25-44.

Flesch, R. (1955) Why Johnnycan’t read andwhat to do about it. Harper & Row.

Gough, P. B., & Tunmer, W. E. (1986). Decoding, reading, and reading disability. Remedial and SpecialEducation, 7, 6-10.

Harvard University Graduate School of Education. (n.d.). 100 stories ofimpact, a literacy pioneer(JeanneChall). https://www.gse.harvard.edu/hgse100/story/literacy-pioneer

Initial Teaching Alphabet Foundation, Inc. (2019). Research-based interventionguide. ITA-Foundation-2019-White-Paper.pdf (itafoundation.org).

Keene, E. O., & Zimmermann, S. (1997). Mosaic ofThought:Teachingcomprehension in reader’sworkshop. Heinemann.

Kim, J. S. (2008). Research and the reading wars. In F. M. Hess F. M. (ED,). When research

Matters: Howscholarship influences educationpolicy pp. 89-111). Harvard Education Press.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) (n.d.). What is thesimpleviewofreading? https://www.doe.mass.edu/massliteracy/skilled-reading/simple-view.html

McCardle, P., & Chhabra, V. (Eds.) (2004) Thevoice ofevidence inreading research. Child development and behavioralbranch, National Institute ofchild health and humandevelopment, National Institute of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.

National Reading Panel. (2000). Report ofthe nationalReading Panel:Teaching children to read:An evidence-based assessment ofthe scientific research literature and its implicationsreading instruction. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/ findings.

Paige, D., Young, C., Rasinski, T., Rupley, W., Nichols, W., & Valerio, M. (2021). Teaching reading is more than a science: It’s also an art. Reading ResearchQuarterly, 56(1), 339-350. doi: 10.1002/rrq.405.2021.International Literacy Association

Semingson, P., & Kerns, W. (2021). Where is the evidence? Looking back to Jeanne Chall and enduring debates about the science of reading. Reading ResearchQuarterly, 56(1), 157 169. doi: 10.1002/rrq.405.2021.International Literacy Association

Share, D. (2021). Is the science of reading just the science of reading English? Reading Research Quarterly, 56(1), 391-402. doi: 10.1002/rrq.401.2021.International Literacy Association.

Terry, N. (2021). Delivering on the promise of the science of reading for all children. The ReadingTeacher, 75(1), 83-90.

The Reading League. (n.d.). Science of reading defining guide. Science-of-Reading-eBook-2022.pdf, www.thereadingleague.org

Trelease, J. (2019). JimTrelease’s read-aloud handbook, (8th ed.). Penguin Books.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nancy Witherell is a professor of reading, emerita from Bridgewater State University, where she still teaches part time. Nancy has written and co-written several books and articles and has given local, state, and national presentations. She is a past president and current president of MRA.

BOOK REVIEWS FROM THE READERS OF MRA

Pink and Say

Polacco, P. (1994). PinkandSay. Philomel Books.

PinkandSay(Polacco, 1994) is a beautifully written and beautifully illustrated picture book that tells a story of friendship, resilience, perseverance, war, slavery, literacy, and illiteracy. Although this book was published 28 years ago, its powerful message still resonates with readers today.

Pinkus Aylee (Pink) and Sheldon Russell Curtis (Say) meet on a blood-soaked pasture somewhere in Georgia and sometime during the United States Civil War. Both young soldiers are fighting with the Union Army: Pink, with the 48th Colored and Say with the Ohio Twenty-fourth. Say was shot in the leg by a Union bullet when, as we later learn, he was running away from his unit. Say lays in this blood-soaked pasture for two days, drifting in and out of consciousness. Pink rescues Say and half-drags, half-carries him home to Master Aylee’s plantation, where Pink and his family are slaves. This journey is dangerous as Pink and Say have to avoid being captured by Confederate marauders, who are dragging the area, looking for soldiers who are wounded and still alive.

When Pink and Say arrive at Master Aylee’s plantation, they are welcomed by Moe Moe Bay, Pink’s mother. Moe Moe Bay cares for Pink and Say, helping Say regain his health and strength. When Say is healed enough to walk with Pink’s help, Pink shows Say the ruins of Master Aylee’s house. This house holds bittersweet memories for Pink: the “bitter” as Pink is a slave owned by Master Aylee; the “sweet” as Master Aylee taught Pink to read. This is a magical experience for Pink as words seem to come alive on the page. He promises to teach Say to read one day. Pink knows being able to read is dangerous as it is against the law for a slave holder to teach a slave to read and punishable by death for the slave.

As the plot continues, Pink and Say prepare to go back to fight with their Union units. Pink relishes this as this is the only way he can right the injustices of slavery. Say is very reluctant to go back to battle but does this despite his fears. As Pink and Say are ready to leave, they and Moe Moe Bay hear Confederate marauders approaching. Moe Moe Bay hides Pink and Say in the root cellar, but to no avail. The marauders raid Moe Moe Bay’s shack and shoot her dead. After Pink and Say bury her, they seek out to join their Union units. They are captured by Confederate marauders and brought to Andersonville, one of the worse Confederate prison camps, built to hold only 10 thousand prisoners. Yet, by the end of the war, it held 33 thousand prisoners. Conditions were dire: There was no shelter, no food, and no fresh water. Thirteen thousand Union soldiers died of starvation and dysentery at Andersonville.

The ending to this book is sadly very predictable for this period in United States history. Pink was hanged upon arrival at Andersonville; his body was thrown into a lime pit. Say survived and was held as a prisoner at Andersonville for several months, weighing only 78 pounds when he was released. He returned home and had a very happy and successful life. He was a father of seven children, a grandfather, and a great-grandfather when he died a very old man in 1924. Patricia Polacco is his great-granddaughter.

On the last few pages of PinkandSay(Polacco, 1994) is a personal message from the author. In this message, she offers hope from Pink’s and Say’s story that in spite of the injustices of race and slavery, Pink’s memory and his friendship with Say will always continue.

This book has special importance to me. Like Patricia Polacco, six members of my father’s family fought in the United States Civil War: three family members for the Confederate Army of Virginia and three family members for the Union Army, the Ohio Twenty-fourth (the same unit as Sheldon Russell Curtis). I often include my family history in the literacy courses I teach. When PinkandSay(Polacco) was published in 1994, one of the students in my graduate literacy class at Lesley College worked at the Brattle Street Book Store in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She gave this book to me at our last course session, saying this book reminded her of our relationship as a teacher and a student. We are of different races, and it was so important to her that I imparted literacy lessons to her that she could later impart to her own students. I treasure this book, and since 1994, it has had a special place on my desk in my home office.

READER BIO: Elaine Shaw Bukowiecki, Ed.D. is a recently appointed professor emeritus at the College of Education and Health Sciences at Bridgewater State University, where she taught (and still teaches part time) courses in the graduate programs in reading, was coordinator of the graduate programs in reading for eight years, and was chairperson of the Department of Counselor Education for seven years. Elaine was also the editor of The GraduateReview,

a GraduateJournal ofResearch and CreativeScholarship, for seven years. Elaine is past president of MRA and MACURE and is currently the co-editor with Valerie Harlow Shinas of MRA’s publications and treasurer of MACURE. Elaine treasures the beautiful picture books her students have given her throughout her years as an elementary school, classroom teacher; a district-wide language arts coordinator; and a university.

Courageous Conversations

Singleton, G. E. (2022). Courageous conversations about race: Afieldguide forachievingequityin schools andbeyond. Corwin Press.

How do we engage our colleagues in the critical conversations necessary to make lasting change? First, we must educate ourselves and discover the tools and protocols that allow us to have candid conversations about the racial inequities in our schools and organizations. To challenge and disrupt these persistent and systemic barriers to learning for many students, we must begin with ourselves.

In the third edition of Glenn Singleton’s (2022) Courageous Conversations about Race, we are invited to learn the language, knowledge, and tools that allow education professionals to question and discuss race and racial inequities in frank and productive ways. This updated volume is filled with protocols and implementation exercises to support change-oriented discussions amongst educators at all levels.

This volume is the resource many of us need to bring our colleagues into the discussion. Last summer, I used this edition of Singleton’s important work in my graduate classes – it sparked important and often difficult conversations that challenged each one of us in different ways. We grappled with the protocols, and how to have discussions of race in majority White, suburban schools. The text provided prompts and structures to support these important conversations among graduate students. It can become an important tool for your equity conversations!

READER BIO: Valerie Harlow Shinas, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Ph.D. in the Educational Studies Department in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University.

A former middle school teacher and reading specialist, she has a keen interest in bridging the divide between research and practice in literacy and teacher education. Valerie is deeply committed to the mission and work of MRA – she is the Immediate Past President of the Massachusetts Reading Association (MRA) and Greater Boston Reading Council, Secretary of MACURE, and a member of the Executive Board of the Nobscot Reading Council.

To Night Owl from Dogfish

Sloan, H. G., & Wolitzer, M. (2019). ToNight Owl fromDogfish. Dial Books for Young Readers.

If you’re like me and love a romcom, this is one with a twist. The two main characters, both young teens, could not be more different from each other. Avery Bloom (Night Owl) is basically a nerd: serious, bookish, and timid. Bett Devlin (Dogfish) is daring, loves to surf, outgoing, and an animal lover. Bett, who seems to be able to crack her father’s code for all electronics, finds out that Avery’s father and her father are in a relationship and are planning to marry. To get the girls to know each other, the fathers plan to send them to the same summer camp, while the two of them have a great time exploring China.

As with any romcom, things just don’t go right for the girls or their fathers. When their fathers split, the girls devise plans to reunite the two men, and trouble ensues. As the girls travel through one disaster after another (usually caused by Bett), they become extremely close. In the mix, Avery’s biological mother appears, adding to the storyline. The question the reader asks throughout most of this book is “Will the girls become sisters?”

READER BIO: Nancy Witherell, Ed.D. is a second-term President of the Massachusetts Reading Association and a professor emerita from Bridgewater State University; she remains there part time. Nancy has authored and co-authored numerous professional books and is currently president of MRA.

Literacy is Liberation: Working Toward Justice Through Culturally Relevant Teaching

Parker, K. N. (2022). Literacyis liberation: Working towardjusticethrough culturallyrelevantteaching. ASCD.

I was immediately drawn to the title, LiteracyisLiberation:WorkingTowardJustice ThroughCulturallyRelevantTeaching, when ASCD released this wonderful book in February 2022. The intent of this recent publication is to share the why and how we can teach literacy to all students. The text is an important contribution to the literacy field, calling for socially just practices, belief in our students’ brilliance, and a collective goal of liberation.

I was especially delighted when I noticed the author is Dr. Kimberly N. Parker! I am so proud that this award-winning educator is a fellow MRA member. We know her for her work in developing teachers committed to reaching and teaching all students. We know her for her scholarship-disrupting inequities. We know her for advocating for literacy for all students, especially of Black and Latinx students. And now, we know her for introducing us to culturally relevant intentional literacy communities.

Kimberly fills the pages of this practitioners’ book with wisdom, takeaways, tools, and resources. Every word chosen in this book is intentional. Students are valued as multidimensional and seen through a ability and possibility. As with students, Kimberly shares her belief in us as teachers, and our ability to create culturally relevant literacy communities. After exploring culturally relevant teaching, Dr. Parker defines culturally relevant, intentional literacy communities (CRILCs) and details a process to co-construct them with students, in support of their brilliance.

Each research-based chapter is a call to action. First, we are urged to eliminate barriers, to address curriculum violence, and to heal reading trauma. Then, we are guided in developing transformative practices, predictable routines, and conditions for critical dialogue. I was especially captivated with Chapter 6, “Putting It All Together: Toward Transformative CRILC Practice.” I will immediately implement the protocols shared for critical dialogues, prepare to address issues of racism, and practice the recommendations for focused feedback. In this

chapter, Dr. Parker centers student voice and shares how to address harm when it inevitably happens.

In conclusion, I highly recommend Literacyis Liberation:WorkingTowardJustice ThroughCulturallyRelevantTeaching for all educators. This scholarship supports a disruption of the opportunity gaps and inequitable outcomes. I am confident that teachers interested in building their capacities and culturally relevant practices will use this text as a yearlong guide. If you are ready to reflect on literacy practices, establish inclusive literacy communities, and pursue liberation - then this book is for you!

READER BIO: Patricia Crain de Galarce, Ed.D. directs the Center for Inclusive and Special Education at Lesley University’s Graduate School of Education. Her heart is in the classroom, teaching in special, elementary, graduate, and international education. For 12 amazing years, Patricia led a trilingual immersion PreK–6 school. Her scholarship contributes to teacher development, trauma and resilience, inclusive school cultures, and equitable school practices.

We Are Okay

LaCour, N. (2017). We are okay. Dutton Books.

The intended audience is high school and college students, but the story appeals to adult readers as well. The protagonist, Marin, moves from California to New York to attend college. The book starts out with Marin being alone in her dorm and on campus, during winter break. There’s a mystery about why she’s alone and didn’t go home. Her best friend comes to visit, but Marin is wary instead of excited. Flashbacks and their conversations drive the plot. It’s a short book, but highly emotional. There’s not much action, just a lot of emotions and characters processing various feelings and their past. I loved the characters so much and cried with them and for them! I also love that there are queer characters, but it’s not a coming out story.

Little and Lion

Colbert, B. (2018). Little and Lion. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Suzette and Lionel’s parents marry, and they become good friends. They affectionately call each other LittleandLion. Lion is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and their parents send Little to boarding school for a year so they can focus on him. The plot picks up when Little returns for the summer. Lion asks her to not tell their parents that he’s going to stop taking his medication. She wrestles with wanting to be his best friend but worries about his safety. I think teenagers and adults alike will sympathize with her turmoil. The author flawlessly weaves in diverse characters in terms of race and sexual orientation without it being the focus of the novel.

READER BIO: Shantel Schonour is the secretary of the Massachusetts Reading Association and a high school literacy specialist and English teacher at Minuteman High School in Lexington. She loves reading YA books her students recommend.

Stamped from the Beginning

Kendi, I. X. (2016). Stamped from thebeginning:The definitivehistoryofracist ideas inAmerica. Bold Type Books.

As an educator teaching and living in 2020, I had the opportunity to learn more about the history of racism in the United States when Spotify offered the audiobook version of StampedFromtheBeginningby Ibram X. Kendi for free. It was an intense read, and I am glad I listened to it.

This book is the most in-depth history of where

people’s racist ideas originated, and how they were able to proliferate throughout the country. Kendi’s research begins with the first slaves who were kidnapped and brought to our country and ends in modern times. It highlights people who were influencers of racist or anti-racist ideas, including Thomas Jefferson and Angela Davis. It also highlights events that may not have been considered racist at the time, such as President Woodrow Wilson hosting the first movie at the White House. The movie they showed? Birthofa Nation. I spent a lot of time listening to this book, rewinding to certain parts to hear them again, either for clarification, or because I did not believe what I heard the first time. This book helped me to understand racism on an entirely different level than I ever had before and truly helped me to see why it is so important that we continue to say “Black Lives Matter.”

READER BIO: Sarah Fennelly, M.Ed, is a reading skills teacher, adjunct faculty, doctoral student, and member of the executive board of the Massachusetts Reading Association. She is always open to learning more and loves to do so through reading.

Tucky-Jo and Little Heart

Polacco, P. (2015). Tucky-Jo and Little Heart. Simon & Schuster.

I admit it…I’m a sucker for longer picture books—storybooks with complex plots and character development that draw me into the narrative…enticing me to read them again and again. TuckyJo and Little Heart, written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco (2015), is one such book.

The story is based on a real event experienced by Johnnie Wallen, who as a boy living in rural Kentucky enlisted in the army soon after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He was deployed to the Philippines with the Sixth Infantry. While clearing the jungle to build an airstrip, he encountered a little Filipino girl. She’d clearly been traumatized by the war, and his heart melted.

The two of them developed a friendship that eased the pain of war for both. She

called him “Tucky Jo,” short for “Kentucky Johnnie,” which she couldn’t pronounce. And he nicknamed her “Little Heart” for the heart-shaped birthmark on her arm. He became friends with the people in her village, as well, and helped provide them with food as they struggled for survival. When Johnnie learned that the area was to be firebombed, he convinced his sergeant to evacuate the villagers along with his unit, thereby saving many Filipino lives, including his young friend. Sixty-five years later, in a truly heartwarming scene, Tucky Jo and Little Heart are reunited.

Polacco shows the horrors of war, but in a way that a child can accept and relate. The reader experiences from Johnnie’s perspective the first-hand suffering of both civilians and soldiers. A timely topic given the war in Ukraine. But it also shows how compassion can prevail during wartime. Tormented by the misery of jungle combat and the sight of Little Heart’s emotional fragility, Johnnie realizes the truth of war. The emotional connection between such seemingly different people is a reminder that, at core, we are all the same and that friendship can reach across different cultures, language, age, and gender.

The publisher lists the reading age for TuckyJo and Little Heart as 4 to 8 years (preschool to third grade). Younger children, however, might find it difficult to read independently and benefit more from hearing it read by an adult. Older children, those in upper elementary through high school studying World War II, can benefit from the story as well. Discussion might center around war with Japan in the Pacific, for example, versus war with Germany in Europe. The Philippines was a colony of the U.S. for nearly fifty years—from 1898 until 1946. Japan’s invasion wasn’t an attack on the islands as an independent nation. It was a direct attack on the U.S. Why, then, especially in view of Pearl Harbor’s bombing, did the United States focus on the war in Europe first? Such discussion could lead to better understanding of how politics impacts war and its victims.

Writing children’s stories about war is difficult, but Patricia Polacco nailed it. Selected by the National Council for the Social Studies as one of the 2016 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young Children, TuckyJo and Little Heart is a treasure to be read repeatedly whether used in the classroom as part of the curriculum or read simply for the beauty of its heartwarming story. Don’t be surprised if you cry during its most touching scenes.

Ido…everytime I read them.

READER BIO: After receiving her degree in elementary education, Jean Woodbury accepted a job at a school on an army base in Hawaii and later at a Filipino community on a pineapple plantation nearby. She eventually moved to New England, where she earned a Ph.D., taught college courses, and served as an academic dean. Jean writes picture books for ages seven

and up and focuses primarily on historical fiction. Soon after she began writing for children, her short story, “Marion P. Shadd, Freeborn Child of the American Civil War,” was selected by Lee and Low Books as the winner of its contest for biographical profiles and published on the company’s website. More recently, her story, TheTree in DockSquare, won first place in a picture book contest sponsored by the public libraries of Cape Ann in conjunction with the Cape Ann Museum. The Grand Prize was a first edition hardcover publication released in 2022.

EDITORS’ NOTE: It is pure coincidence that “Book Reviews from the Readers of MRA” begin and end with a review of a book by the same author. Yet, these two books and their reviews connect so perfectly to the 2002 MRAPrimertheme: “Lighting the Way for Inclusive Teaching and Learning.” Both books take place during a time of war and tell a story of a strong friendship between each book’s two main characters, who become friends despite differences in race and culture. The powerful messages in Pink andSay (Polacco, 1994) and Tucky-Jo and Little Heart (Polacco, 2015) are still valuable for readers to learn in today’s world.

Lighting the Way to Inclusive Teaching and Learning Through Children’s Books

MARLENE CORREIA

Reflecting on the theme of this Primer edition, “Lighting the Way to Inclusive Teaching and Learning,” I thought about the many ways diversity represents itself in our classrooms: identities, names, families, physical features, cultural and family traditions, histories, and physical and other disabilities, just to name a few. The books I selected for this column are ones I have witnessed being used by classroom communities to spark conversation and inspire students to learn more about and appreciate the diversity among them.

In Black is a Rainbow Color, Angela Joy (2020) reveals that black is not just a color, but a culture, too. She came to the realization that this topic was a needed reality after a conversation with her own young child who questioned why she would be called black if she was brown. Through the reflections of a child character, she shows the beauty, strength, and love that black represents even if it’s not a rainbow color. The book is filled with meaningful metaphors like “black is side-walking in spit-shined shoes” and “black is the robe on Thurgood’s back” (Joy, 2020, pp. 8-10). These and several other metaphors are explained at the end of the book with references to the history and people behind them. Reading this book aloud can spark conversations and answer students’ questions about black being a color, but also someone’s race. It ties in history and all its complexities. Best of all, this book affirms that black is beautiful, and it is a rainbow color.

Many students know the story of Helen Keller or more recently Stephen Hawking, and how they did not let their physical disabilities limit their goals and achievements. But there are many less known individuals who live with disabilities, achieve success, and advocate for others. Emmanuel’s Dream (Thompson, 2015) is one such inspirational true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah who overcame many challenges to spread the message that “disability does not mean inability” (Thompson, 2015, book jacket). This story grabs the reader’s attention immediately as we are introduced to baby Emmanuel, born in Ghana, West Africa with only one leg. The challenges aren’t only physical though, as Emmanuel’s father leaves, Emmanuel wishes to be included with the kids at school, his mom falls ill, and Emmanuel struggles to support his family. When reading the story of Emmanuel’s trials and triumphs I found myself cheering on this courageous, persistent, and brilliant boy! In the end, Emmanuel’s dream is realized as he cycles four-hundred miles across Ghana to spread the message of inclusivity for people with disabilities. Emmanuel is a true activist whose work influenced the passing of the Persons with

Disability Act in Ghana in 2006. The book contains an author’s note that shares the continued work and legacy Emmanuel is building for others like himself.

There are more and more places where refugees are part of our classroom communities. But how do we help all students understand the often-treacherous journeys refugees had to make to get to the safety of America? Doug Kuntz and Amy Shrodes (2017) share a beautifully written message as told through the true story of the journey of a cat called Kunkush in Lost and Found Cat. Kunkush is smuggled out of Iraq with his family and travels in and out of dangerous situations, trying to stay hidden and safe. But when Kunkush is lost, the family is devastated. In a miraculous turn of events, the authors, who are volunteers with the refugee crisis, discover the cat and are determined to reunite him with his owners. A worldwide search ensues and Kunkush is reunited with his family after four months and thousands of miles. This is a heartwarming, true story that reveals the hardships of the refugees, and the power of the Internet to bring people (and pets) together. This book also has an author’s note and actual photographs from when Kunkush and her family were reunited.

Sometimes there is a book that just sticks with you for long after you first read it! Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting (1991) is one of those books for me. Although it was written in 1991, the prevalence of homelessness in our society is still something we cannot ignore. Bunting shares the story of a father and son living in an airport as they plan to someday get an apartment again “like it was before mom died” (Bunting, 1991, p. 25). Homelessness and housing insecurity takes many forms, and Bunting presents the complex situation in a respectful context. One of the things I both love and hate about this book is that there is no fairy tale ending. As much as you wish for it as the reader, it would not be realistic for many families. But the author uses the symbolism of a trapped bird in the airport who eventually finds freedom to fill the reader (and our students) with a sense of hope.

“Just because you don’t remember a place doesn’t mean it’s not in you” (Diaz, 2018, p. 18). The captivating narrative of Islandbornwill resonate especially with those students who emigrated to America with their families when they were too young to remember. The main character, Dominican-American Lola, and her diverse classmates are tasked by their teacher to depict where they came from in a drawing. Everyone is excited to draw representations of their first homes, and Lola wants desperately to recall the Island from where she came, but she was just a baby when they emigrated. Lola sets out to learn more about her place of birth from her family and community through their shared memories. In the process, author, Junot Diaz not only depicts the beauty and culture of the Island but also its trauma. A “monster” emerges in the memories, one that is defeated by “heroes who rose up” (Diaz, 2018, p.27). The “monster” is somewhat ambiguous, but in an interview for the HarvardCrimson(2018), Diaz comments the monster depicts, “traumatic histories from which many of us immigrants emerge—a history that is often erased or silenced within our communities and inside of the community in which we find ourselves” (para. 3). Lola’s finished project is one that impresses her teacher and classmates and affirms her identity as Islandborn.

Have you heard of Ibtihaj Muhammad? She was the first Muslim American woman to compete and medal for the United States as a fencer in the Olympic games while wearing a hijab. She is an activist who broke barriers and knew what it was like as a child to be bullied for showing her faith by wearing the hijab. She wanted to tell her story so students who look like her could see themselves in a children’s book. She and co-author, S.K. Ali (2018) wrote The Proudest Blue, an uplifting and eye-catching book (illustrated by Hatem Aly) that describes two sisters on the first day of school, one of whom is experiencing her first day of hijab. This text holds so many starters for meaningful conversations around differences in cultural clothing, rites of passage, sibling relationships, pride, bullying, acceptance, advocacy, and so much more. The authors include personal notes at the end of the book and a nod to the beauty of all the girls who proudly wear their hijabs.

Creating a classroom community of inclusiveness and respect begins with students’ names. Families take great pride in choosing a name for their child. Many teachers read Kevin Henkes’ (2008) Chrysanthemum, a common favorite about appreciating the name you were given. But there’s a more recent picture book that addresses the value of our names while also explaining the challenges some students have assimilating to the American culture. In the touching story, The Name Jar, author and illustrator Yangsook Choi presents an anxious young Korean girl, Unhei, preparing to go to school in America for the first time. Unhei is worried her classmates won’t be able to pronounce her name and decides it would be easier to take an American name. The story unfolds as Unhei, along with her friends, tries to find just the right new name. In the process, Unhei learns that her name has meaning, and the names of her classmates do, too. She willingly shares the red wooden stamp with Korean characters that spells out her name. It’s a story of culture, identity, family, friendship, and assimilation that will encourage discussion about the power of our names to represent who we are and the meanings behind them.

This column would not be complete without the addition of Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson’s (2019) The Undefeated. Winner of a Caldecott Medal, Coretta Scott King Award, and Newbery Honor, this book is extraordinary. Written in verse as a love letter to America, Kwame uses vivid language and incorporates powerful words to remind us that so much of history has been left out of texts or forgotten. He was inspired to write this poem after the birth of his second child and the election of Barack Obama. The poem is full of common figures (i.e., Wilma Rudolph), less-known figures (i.e., Althea Gibson), and more recent figures (i.e., Trayvon Martin) in Black history, all who are explained in a summary at the back of the book. It is not only a beautiful read aloud (especially for older students) but a history text in itself. Throughout the book, there is a push and pull of hardships versus resilience and advocacy. Kwame emphasizes that this “letter” is for the undefeated but also for YOU (Alexander & Nelson, 2019, p.32). This is a powerful text to exhibit how students’ histories matter, and how important it is to persevere.

References

Alexander, K. (2019). The undefeated. Illustrated by Kadir Nelson. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Nonfiction - Elementary/ Middle

Bunting, E. (1991). Flyaway home. Illustrated by Ronald Himler. Clarion Books.

Fiction - Elementary

Choi, Y. (2001). The name jar. Dragonfly Books. Fiction- Primary/Elementary

Diaz, J. (2018). Islandborn. Illustrated by Leo Espinosa. Penguin Random House.

Fiction - Primary/Elementary

Henkes, K. (2008). Chrysanthemum. Mulberry Books. Fiction – Primary/Elementary

Joy, A. (2020). Black is a rainbowcolor. Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. Roaring Book Press.

Fiction - Primary/Elementary

Kuntz, D., & Shrodes, A. (2017). Lost and found cat. Illustrated by Sue Cornelison. Dragonfly Books. Nonfiction - Primary/Elementary

Li, G. (2018, March 6). Junot Diaz on the monster of Islandborn. The Harvard Crimson.

Muhammad, I, & Ali, S.K. (2019). Theproudest blue. Illustrated by Hatem Aly. Little, Brown, and Company. Fiction - Primary/Elementary

Thompson, L. (2015). Emmanuel’s’dream:The truestoryofEmmanuel OfosuYeboah. Illustrated by Sean Qualls. Schwartz and Wade Books. Nonfiction – Elementary/Upper

Elementary

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Marlene Correia is an assistant professor of literacy at Bridgewater State University. Marlene has 30 years of experience in education in various teaching and administrative roles. She is a past-president and current board member of the Massachusetts Reading Association as well as president of the MA Association of College and University Reading Educators (MACURE). Marlene is co-author of 5 Kinds ofNonfiction:EnrichingReading andWriting Instructionwith Children’s Books.

Making School Connections

BLAST: BRINGING LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS TOGETHER

MARY COTILLO AND ERIN O’LEARY

Introduction

Let us introduce you to our public library collaborative. We call it BLAST: Bringing Libraries and Schools Together.

For over a decade, our suburban, MetroWest school district has suffered the loss of librarians. Sure, our middle school boasts a big, beautiful library space - we even have a decent budget for books – but, there is no librarian to cull the collection, to staff library time, or to help students select the books that will make them fall in love with reading. We know the science, and we know what a tragedy this is. According to the book School LibrariesWork!, “A school library program that is adequately staffed, resourced, and funded can lead to higher student achievement regardless of the socio-economic or educational levels of the community” (Scholastic Library Publishing, 2008, para. 1). A case study through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (2022) reveals a correlation between higher standardized testing scores and better-staffed libraries.

We are The Crazy Reading Ladies. (If you’d like to learn more about what we’ve done to put the right book in the right hands at the right time, check out our blog http:// crazyreadingladies.blogspot.com/). We know adolescents, and we know good books. We read young adult (YA) and middle-grade literature almost exclusively. We’re cool! (I mean, we have literary t-shirts!) We follow the right Twitter accounts like the American Library Association (ALA), Penguin Random House, and those of our favorite authors. We know how to use the Internet. We can talk books all day long; in fact, we love nothing more than spending time with students and matching them to books. We also know that, as wonderful as we are, we are not librarians, nor do we have access to the thousands of books and online resources that await public library patrons. Our students need more than we can give them. Libraries are the answer. The public library is a wealth of resources; ours offers everything from books; to apps; to clubs; to social opportunities; and safe, gathering spaces.

So, how do we get our kids to the library? Field trips are expensive and can’t happen very often. Not all students live within walking distance of the library, and not all parents work hours that will enable them to drive there. Nor will folks prioritize a library trip on a busy

Saturday morning. “ If Mohammad won’t go to the mountain,” then teachers must move the mountain to Mohammad.

The Beginning of BLAST

After getting the appropriate administrative approval from both our building and district administrations, BLAST began. The schools work with students to collect book requests. Those requests are sent to the town youth librarian who then brings books into the school. Mohammad, meet the mountain. Here’s how we do it:

1. Library Card Sign Up. We sent communication home to parents and invited them to sign their children up for library cards. In the beginning, we did this using old fashioned paperwork, but now we’ve simplified it. Parents can find a link to the library card form on the school home page. Physical library cards are delivered to the schools and placed into the hands of eager readers. 2. Advertise! We included information about BLAST in school and teacher newsletters, on morning announcements, and on posters in the cafeteria. We brought homerooms up for guided tours. We tried to entice students using the term

“concierge service,” but the kids were more impressed when we told them, “It’s like

DoorDash for books!”

3. Collect book requests. Just like DoorDash, BLAST comes with an order form.

Students complete a simple Google form providing the following information:

Name, grade, homeroom, and book requests. They can ask for a particular title, or they can say they’re in the mood for new releases, mysteries, fantasy, manga, audiobooks, etc. 4. Deliver the magic. The town youth librarian, who has live access to this shared form, pulls books to meet student requests. 5. Designate a time and space for students to access BLAST. We use our existing library space that otherwise is terribly underutilized. Students who made requests are notified to pick up their orders, but many students choose to drop in and browse.

That’s BLAST in a nutshell. Now let’s get into the details.

Details About BLAST

During each week of school, the students complete a library book request form. One hundred nine students completed the most recent form. Their choices are summarized below.

What are they requesting? WeirdbutTruebooks; GirlStolenby April Henry (2012); graphic novels about sports; and Scytheby Neal Shusterman (2016) are just a few. One young reader wrote, “I love any cat or dog or even guinea pig book. Any animal. It doesn’t have to be a story. A book about dogs I would love.” Miss Bree, our town youth librarian, brought her a stack of nonfiction volumes and a few audiobook options: RainReignby Ann M. Martin (2014) and SecondhandDogsby Carolyn Crimi (2021) were top choices. After talking over the possibilities and giving serious consideration to each, SecondhandDogs(Crimi, 2021) was the winner.

What makes BLAST so special is how beautifully simple it is. We allot one hour for BLAST each Wednesday; staggering the students by grade level makes it manageable and encourages conversation. We make every effort to be in attendance ourselves, but because Miss Bree is a town employee and cleared to work with students, supervision isn’t a concern. Teachers don’t have to worry about adding another duty to their plates; they can send students to BLAST and know they’re in safe hands.

When the students enter the library, they are greeted by the cheery town youth librarian with her mobile scanner and the sight of multiple conference tables loaded with novels, graphic novels, Playaway audiobooks, and more. Browsers head to the tables to explore, but repeat customers know to expect a more personalized experience. If they requested a specific title or genre, the librarian has a stack of books with their name on it (literally, on a sticky note). Kids can take all or none of the books she’s curated for them. Some are hits. Some are misses. All of them come with wonderful conversation and connection. The child presents their library card, the librarian scans the book, and “beep!” - Instant happiness.

Teachers use BLAST too. One 8th-grade math teacher is a regular, bringing her entire homeroom up to the library to pick out new books. The adults are especially appreciative of the convenience of BLAST. One teacher proudly told us she was the envy of her book club, crowing, “They didn’t know how I got a copy of this. The wait is four months long!” Book club boasting aside, BLAST supports teachers with academic ventures as well. If a teacher wants to do an author study, needs extra books for literature circles, or wants to offer “read alike” titles to satiate the students whose literary appetites were just whetted by The Giver (Lowry, 1993), BLAST “comes to the rescue.”

There is always one student who asks, “How much does it cost?” and is shocked when told that the library offers books free of charge. These kids live in the world of subscription services and streaming apps; surely, this kind of access comes at a cost. Nope, the library is free. Imagine that!

We have not only solved the access issue, but we have connected our students to a public resource they may not have encountered on their own. Though we don’t have colorful survey data to share, the public librarian recently told us that the participation in their summer programming doubled thanks to BLAST. New families showed up to story hour, scavenger hunts, and other events. Children who met Miss Bree at BLAST were able to introduce her to their families. Some of our students have joined the library’s teen advisory board or now attend monthly book clubs.

It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. When we purge our classroom collections, we donate to the library’s used book sale. When we need to stock a new teacher’s classroom, we head back to that very same sale and fill bags with beautiful, high-interest literature for next to nothing.

BLAST has also influenced the ordering practices of our local public library. Playaways— individual, non-internet devices for audiobooks - are a huge hit among our middle school readers, so the library increased their collection. The public librarians are among the first to know when we’ve selected a new core novel or booked a visiting author. They want to be sure their collections are bulked up and ready for the ravenous readers that come their way. We reach out to our librarian friends when we have Back to School Night (library card sign

ups!) and other family-focused events. Town librarians have attended evening school events for four years running, allowing families to check out books on site. Parents are spread thin already. If the library can meet them where they are - band concerts, conferences, art shows then it removes one more barrier between children and books.

After four years, BLAST is in five of our district’s schools and is spreading to neighboring towns. The youth librarian two towns over has a son who attends our school. She observed BLAST in action and is talking with the middle school administration in the town where she works. “Good news travels fast!”

Sometimes, “the best things in life are free!”

Final Thoughts

Now, we want to be clear. We know BLAST doesn’t replace a well-qualified school librarian. We still strongly advocate for full-time library media specialists in every school in Massachusetts. But we also know that we aren’t there yet. Since “perfect is the enemy of good,” we’re going to go with everything good that BLAST gives us. It’s not everything, but it’s a good thing.

References

School Library Publishing. (2008). Schoollibrarieswork(2nd ed.). Scholastic.

Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. (2022, October 14). Casestudy. https://www.dpi.wi.gov/

Children’s Literature Cited

Crimi, C. (2021). Secondhanddogs. Balzer & Bray.

Henry, A. (2012). Girl stolen. St. Martins Press.

Lowry, L. (1993). Thegiver. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Martin, A. M. (2014). Rainreign. Feiwel and Friends.

National Geographic Kids. (varied dates). Weird but true books. National Geographic Kids.

Shusterman, N. (2016). Scythe. Simon & Schuster.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Mary Cotillo and Erin O’Leary met while teaching together at a middle school in Massachusetts. It was there they earned both a reputation and title: “The Crazy Reading Ladies.” This reading specialist and ELA teacher-turned-principal stop at nothing to motivate adolescents to read. Their passion is putting the right books in the right hands at the right time and empowering teachers to be champions of literacy. Over the last decade, their schoolwide reading initiative, All In!™ has been implemented in schools in Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Florida. In 2017, they authored the young adult (YA) version of Battle ofthe Books for Random House Publishing, Co. In their ongoing efforts to match today’s students with high quality literature, they’ve worked with a wide variety of authors including Brigid Kemmerer, Kekla Magoon, Ellen Hopkins, Jack Gantos, Ruta Sepetys, Jewell Parker Rhodes, and R. J. Palacio. Sought-after presenters and teacher-trainers, they have been featured at local and international conferences. Ms. Cotillo is the principal of Frederick W. Hartnett Middle School in Blackstone, Massachusetts, and Ms. O’Leary is the reading specialist at Horace Mann Middle School in Franklin, Massachusetts. Follow their trials and triumphs at crazyreadingladies. blogspot.com and @allinreading.

Making School Connections

STUDENT AGENCY SAVED MY SPRING 2022 SEMESTER: POST-PANDEMIC TEACHING

KAREN HAVENER-RUIZ

Introduction

This study discusses student agency, and how strategies for building student agency support teachers and students during the problematic adjustments of returning to school after the pandemic. COVID-19 altered the educational structure as parents tried to provide learning environments for students at home. In addition, many parents, mainly minority and low-income families, who were less likely to have the opportunity to work remotely, experienced financial hardship (Yung-Chi et al., 2021). Fulfilling the educational home structure was difficult, as expressed by high-income families. This information suggests that possibly low-income families were focused on the financial system and dealing with hardships rather than education.

In addition, students were struggling emotionally. During COVID-19, mental health issues were a significant concern. Many students experienced poor health, persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts (Jones et al., 2022). Therefore, students often had difficulty completing academic assignments in their home settings. Many students returned to school with learning gaps and incomplete areas of knowledge expected for a student’s grade level, for which students did not show competency. Students’ negative emotional experiences during COVID-19 may have contributed to behavior problems brought to the classroom when returning from COVID-19.

According to many of my colleagues, the 2021-2022 school year was challenging. Inattentive students and frustrating learning gaps interfered with instruction. Teachers were frustrated with negative student behavior and a sense that the administration was not supporting their efforts to control students. Anecdotally, teachers mentioned concerns about apparent lack of action they witnessed in the classroom - students would interrupt learning with chatter and have disagreements that monopolized teacher time. Similarly, I noticed an increase in arguments and fights among students. That spring, my colleagues and I were counting down the days to summer vacation.

After the return to classrooms and pre-pandemic formats in 2021, many students gave up quickly, often abandoning their writing after the first attempts, particularly when writing essays. Of course, giving up does not serve students well or prepare them for the future, as they

miss out on opportunities to learn. Moreover, it is arduous for teachers to help students who are unwilling to try as learning is stalled when students disengage. Interestingly, Duckworth (2016) considers perseverance more valuable than talent in the classroom. An individual can succeed with persistent effort, but talent is unreliable. Persistence is essential to success.

Many teachers may have found the school year 2021-2022 difficult due to concerns over the pandemic, catching students up, and filling learning gaps. This may be particularly true for populations of students at risk for learning such as at the Title I school where I teach inclusion classes. The school is in central Massachusetts and houses grades 5-7. Some of my colleagues called our school a war zone during the 2021-2022 year because it had been thick with stress– even the students were emitting stress. It may have seemed appropriate to administrators and stakeholders to require teachers to deliver copious amounts of material to students in a frantic concern over learning gaps, utilizing a teacher-centered learning environment, but this did not always serve students well.

During the 2021-2022 school year, I noticed students passively completing assignments, while some were not completing tasks. I observed a distrust of the school among my eighth graders, such as disinterest and a sense that they could do without it. After all, they may have thought that since we were without school during the pandemic, school held little value. This attitude resulted in behaviors that interfered with learning even further, such as altercations in the hallways, vacant stares in the classroom, conversations that interfered with learning, and the appearance of video games students tried to sneak onto their computers. In short, my students seemed unhappy and not learning.

Case Study

In the spring of 2022, I recognized the urgent need for change. To begin, I used Deci & Ryan (2008) as a guide, focusing on belongingness, competency, and autonomy. I needed my students to have the comfort of belonging to a group with which they were familiar. I asked the students to share three names of students with whom they preferred to work and created groups using this information. I set up a project that allowed a variety of approaches. Students worked well when their group preferences were honored. It was more fun to work with friends, and the groups completed the project despite our fear they would goof around. For this project, students were to create television shows with commercials. They read a short story and found a justifiable theme with the option of using this theme in their performance. They had practiced theme as a class many times, so there was competency. We studied demographics and products related to the demographics of certain shows we watched together. The practice supported competency. I gave students the autonomy to make their shows out of any topic; some were uncomfortable with the freedom. Students would ask permission to try a creative idea, and I would tell them to discuss it with their teams to help the project remain student-centered.

Although autonomy for this project allowed students to create any television show they desired, there were guidelines, such as requirements for show length and procedures for commercial advertising. I gave students job titles to help them work well together. Students organized the work together with rules and procedures. Student-centered learning is not complete freedom but helps students become independent.

Student Agency

According to Poon (2018), the concept of student agency can be confusing, as many people have different definitions of student agency. I will use the definition of agency defined by Zeiser et al. (2018):

1. Self-efficacy, which is the belief to succeed 2. Self-regulated learning, which involves planning a task, executing it, and reflecting on the outcome 3. Perseverance or the ability to struggle with a problem without quitting

Building student agency involves passing the responsibility of learning onto the students. Students with agency become willing to improve their work after receiving feedback (Dweck, 2017; Ruiz, 2020). Instruction aimed at building agency is necessary because students with a strong sense of agency do not give up in facing challenges - they don’t quit.

This inclination to persist is crucial because it helps students grow and succeed. Teachers may provide students with opportunities to gain self-efficacy by helping adolescents recognize their effectiveness and efforts (Dweck, 2017; Ruiz, 2020). Self-regulation is a valuable part of agency and provides long-term benefits by instilling habits for students to accept feedback and take ownership of their work.

Understanding motivation is essential to promoting student agency. According to Deci & Ryan (2008), there are two types of motivation. First, AutonomousMotivation,which is a motivation that provides choice and the chance to own the task. Autonomous motivation is composed of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards that individuals have internalized (Deci & Ryan, 2008). Teachers can accomplish autonomous motivation by providing choices with assignments. Projects or tasks have guidelines and expectations, as it is not complete freedom for students.

However, autonomous motivation allows an individual to personalize the outcome of the task. For example, students may have a project to complete with a team with several options for possible products to create inclusion to the learning. Students may be making an artistic response to a novel, such as a video response to the theme, or write and recite a speech, or create art that applies. The project has guidance and requirements, and students

have a personal investment in their work that drives their motivation. When students have choices in their tasks, they can invest in learning by personally contributing to a project or assignment (Ruiz, 2020). A student involved with an assignment that allows for a personal touch and a sense of autonomy often experiences autonomous motivation (Deci & Ryan, 2008). Students own their learning, which leads to self-efficacy, determination, and the ability to self-regulate, which deepens knowledge. Autonomous motivation usually leaves the student motivated long after completing the task, and students remain interested indefinitely after the event (Deci & Ryan, 2008). Autonomous motivation is a practical part of student agency (Deci & Ryan, 2008). These motivational strategies may affect students’ ability to deal with obstacles, such as a pandemic or simply the difficulty of paying attention in class. Autonomous motivation may increase the optimism for students’ overall feelings and their adaptability to the changes in school practices. For example, autonomous motivation provides an opportunity to give the student a chance to own their assignment personally and intrinsically remain motivated to learn.

Second, Controlled Motivation allows individuals to work for a test or teacher-centered lesson when individuals have extrinsic rewards for their work. With controlled motivation, individuals engage and focus on completing the required task. For example, the student could take a state-mandated or teacher-created test or participate in a teacher-centered lesson. Little autonomy is involved, making it difficult for students to become personally involved. Although students can become motivated by these controlled tasks, such as a teacher-centered activity, a controlled type of motivation often causes students to focus on extrinsic values, such as grades or teacher praise. Thus, the inspiration usually ends with the task, such as when the exam is over (Deci & Ryan; Ruiz, 2020).

In addition to these two types of motivations, are an individual’s three basic needs to maintain motivation: relatedness, competency, and autonomy. Relatedness is a sense of belonging, with students feeling comfortable among peers and teachers and safe to take academic risks. Competency involves having the skills and knowledge necessary to do the task. Autonomy involves an individual having choices and opportunities to personalize and own the task (Deci & Ryan, 2008). These components of motivation are requirements for all individuals, including students and teachers. For example, students need to connect with their peers and the teacher for relatedness, and a teacher needs to feel a connection with other teachers. A sense of belongingness for teachers would appear as solid relationships with staff and administration. Such connections help teachers’ morale and prevent teacher burnout (Aguilar, 2018).

Students must understand the material to work with it, and teachers must be comfortable teaching the material. Autonomy allows the teacher to teach a class the best way and to give students a chance to make their work personal (Deci & Ryan, 2008; Havener-Ruiz, 2020). When teachers acquire their motivational needs, especially if they have autonomy, they

are likely to provide students with independence that improves their motivation and promotes agency (Daniels, 2017). Teachers may dislike relinquishing some authority while allowing the class to be student-centered; however, student-centered learning does not mean students have a chaotic, rule-breaking time without guidelines, procedures, or boundaries.

Results

Throughout implementation of this project, my classroom felt different as students were active instead of passive. Students discussed plans with their groups and looked at computer screens together, gathering ideas. The tension and passivity were gone, and I could observe their project ideas and discussions without making judgmental statements. I could ask students what was needed, and how they would plan to solve problems, and I encouraged them by not providing qualitative remarks and suggesting they could accomplish the work. Seeing students active, and teachers and students experiencing reduced stress was exciting.

John (students’ names changed for protection) struggled most of the year, blaming his ADHD for his forgetfulness and inattention. During this project, he designed a television show he found hilarious and video-taped the performance. John’s demeanor changed from passive to active, and he showed more enthusiasm while working with friends.

Laura, a special education student who had difficulty keeping up in class all year, became the leader of her group. She helped create the plot. Laura video-taped her group’s performance. When group needed to edit and add music, Laura researched free applications to help with this. Laura was taking the initiative.

A Latino special education student, Juan, spent the class period directing practice versions of his show. He “hired” classmates to perform for him. His directing approach was authoritative, as he yelled “cut” when he wanted to redirect students. Typically, Juan failed to finish assignments throughout the year and tried to sneak his air buds on, so he was half listening or not listening at all.

The project also positively affected students who were not special education students. Emily said she worked harder on this project than anything else, and she thought it was fun and challenging. These students made elaborate commercials that impressed their classmates. While we worked, it did look a little like controlled chaos. Students were acting out their scenes in various locations in the hallway. I allowed them to use their cell phones to record their shows, and I noticed that they did not abuse the privilege.

Sometimes students read through a scene loudly, and I needed to call my fellow teachers to let them know what the students were doing and ask them to let me know if we were too loud. Students created murder mystery shows and dragged students by the legs down

the hallway as if collecting the dead. Students made plans to meet outside of school to put the finishing touches on shows. The idea of students meeting in their free time to complete assignments surprised me and was not the norm throughout the school year. What did students learn? They gained a review of finding a theme in literature. Students learned to work on a team to create an original show; they faced the challenge of performing in front of the class. The students looked proud and relieved when we watched shows.

The pride was self-efficacy as students independently finished a task, and the activity reminded them of what they could do in the future. A teacher does not need to set up a daily project as I described. That might be exhausting and not practical. However, such projects help students learn and make a valuable contribution to education.

Conclusion

Since autonomous motivation supports academic drive long after the task, selfefficacy, perseverance, and self-regulation support student learning and may help students past K-12. Student agency supports college students and prevents them from dropping out. According to Duckworth (2016), the two- and four-year college dropout rate in the United States is among the highest in the world. For a focus on autonomy, competency, and relatedness, students worked with their favorite peers to complete a television project of their invention while gaining knowledge about demographics. The result is that students own the learning and become more involved in the process. When we support student agency, students absorb education and become successful. The television project emphasized competency, belongingness, and autonomy, which creates students’ self-efficacy, persistence, and self-regulation.

References

Aguilar, E. (2018). Onward:Cultivating emotional resilience in educators. Jossey-Bass.

Daniels, E. (2017). Curricular factors in middle school teachers’ motivation to become and remain effective. Research in Middle LevelEducation, 40. http://dx.doi.org./11080/19404476.2017.1300854

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M, (August 2008). Self-determination theory: A macro theory of human motivation, development, and health. CanadianPsychology, 49(3), 182-185. DOI: 10.1037/a0012801

Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit:Thepower ofpassion andperseverance. Simon and Schuster. Dweck, C. S. (2017). Summaryofmindset:The newpsychologyofsuccess. Random House.

Havener-Ruiz, K (2020). Perceptions ofNewEnglandpublic middle school teachers:A qualitativestudyofteachermotivation and studentagency. Dissertation, American International College.

Jones, S. E., Ethier, K. A., Hertz, M., DeGue, S., Le, V. D., Thornton, J., Lim, C., Dittus, P. J., & Geda, S. (2022). Mental health, suicidality, and connectedness among high school students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey, United States, January–June 2021. MMWRsupplements, 71(3), 16. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su7103a3

McTigue, E., & Liew, J. (2011). Principles and practices for building academic self-efficacy in middle grades language arts classrooms. TheClearingHouse, 84, 114-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/00098655.2010.543191

Poon, J. D. (2018). Part 1: What do you mean when you say “student agency”. Retrieved from https://education-reimagined.org/what-do-you-mean-when-you-say-student-agency/

Yung-Chi Chen, C. (2022). Educational andcommunityprograms. Queens College of the City. University of New York, 43(3), 719-740. https://doi.org/http://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X21994153

Zeiser, K., Scholz, C., & Cirks, V. (2018). Maximizing studentagency: Implementing and measuring student-centeredlearningpractices. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServle t?accno=ED592081

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

In her more than 20 years of teaching, Dr. Karen Havener-Ruiz has primarily taught at the middle school level. Her first three years of teaching experience were for court-appointed youth in a locked facility, which sparked a curiosity for motivating students and encouraging student agency. Dr. Ruiz has taught in a variety of suburban and urban settings and continues to teach at Oxford Middle School. She earned her doctorate at American International College, where she explored student agency and became interested in sharing this knowledge with colleagues.

Making School Connections

FIND THAT LIGHT, BE THAT LIGHT

LISA KING

When walking down a dark hallway, you use a flashlight or a cell phone to guide the way. That is the light that guides you down a path to your destination. Imagine if you had more than one light. Imagine if you had seven or more lights that guided you, or if you had one big flood light. Ask yourself, would that help you to your destination? Who or what is the light that guides all our young diverse learners? Within this article, I explore the many facets including who or what that can be the guiding light to students’ progress: teachers, staff, custodians, lunch workers, volunteers, substitutes, administration, support staff, specialists, families, administrative assistants, books, culture in the building, and more. Who will light the way for inclusive teaching and learning?

In order to find the light, we need to understand how inclusive learning and teaching are defined. According to the Center for Teaching Innovation at Cornell University, 2022, inclusive teaching strategies refer to any number of teaching approaches that address the needs of students with a variety of backgrounds, learning modalities, and abilities. These strategies contribute to an overall inclusive learning environment in which all students are perceived to be valued and are able to succeed. Many people are confused by the word inclusive and immediately think it is about students with disabilities, and that is not the case. We need to first understand that inclusive is for all students, and the practices included in it, even by making the smallest of changes, can help all students regardless of abilities.

The culture within your building, classroom, and environment is essential. Working in a small suburb, it has been difficult to recruit and hire people of color. We are continuing to work on this as a district and group of districts in the area. This has a tremendous impact on students of color, and schools must include resources such as books, bulletin boards, videos, and much more to reach all students, but especially the small ratio of students considered to be high risk or students of color. How do we do this in a building and classroom? This is not something that can happen quickly. Staff have to build up their classroom libraries, by looking at and analyzing what they have. Becoming aware of diverse literature, and the lack of it, can then spark what is lacking for all students. This cannot just come from the classroom teacher. It is included in music class, health class, PE, library, and art. Inclusive practices start with how the teacher presents materials through read alouds, books, or YouTube videos. We live in a world where we can learn about diverse topics that may not be present in your school through the internet.

One simple example could include updating your read alouds with picture books about names. Instead of Chrysanthemum (Henkes, 1991), how about Calvin (Ford & Ford, 2022); BecomingVanessa (Brantley-Newton, 2021); AlwaysAnjali (Sheth, 2018); or MyName is Aviva (Newman, 2015)? According to the Wisconsin-Madison College (2015) that researches and creates a bi-yearly data chart to acknowledge where diversity in children’s books is, and how far we still need to go with student literature for diverse main characters, in 2015, .9% were American Indians/First Native, 2.4% were Latinx, 3.3% were Asian Pacific/Asian Pacific Americans, 7.6% were African/African Americans, and 73.3 % White. In 2018, small gains were made according to the data with 1 % American Indians/First Native, 5% Latinx, 7% Asian Pacific/ Asian Pacific Americans, 10% African/African Americans, and 50% White. As you can see from these data, more work needs to be done with filling our classrooms, libraries, and hallways with inclusive and diverse literature. All students should be able to look at a book like they are looking in a mirror and see someone relatable. Data on books by and about Black, Indigenous and people of color published for children and teens has been compiled by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison (n.d.).

I have uncovered one area of light. Shine the light on inclusive and diverse literature that students can see themselves in as a mirror, and literature that students cannot see themselves in to learn about others.

Not only are the books important, but what about the hallways and the offices? The décor in your buildings matters. It matters not just for inclusive purposes for students but for staff as well. Everyone needs to spread that light through bulletin boards, classroom libraries, videos, and book displays. This should not be just during holidays or celebrations but all year through. Exploring the concept that all stakeholders take a part in being that light has to start with the mindset that all individuals in your building can make a difference. It starts with an understanding of inclusive practices, what that means, and how understanding where we are and who our population is is the first step. For example, the administrative assistant when making fliers, posting on Twitter, or on a communication screen can make a difference by acknowledging and choosing pictures/topics that are inclusive. Handbooks and paperwork from the main office should be available in other languages or with the option to have them translated. Newsletters from the office or principal can be sent via email with an option to listen to the person speak or with a QR code and translation. These are things that only take a few minutes and can become a habit that is worth maintaining.

The cafeteria is a great way to work in inclusive practices. The lunch workers can be your lunch heroes and will rise up to the challenge by supporting students with English as a second language. Having picture cues by the food and celebrating different cultures can help. In the cafeteria, where everyone is, can be a great place for a bulletin board that celebrates diversity. One idea is creating a map on the wall and having push pins to indicate students’ and staff’s cultures. Another idea is incorporating an art theme and decorating the cafeteria by sharing student work.

Parents and guardians will join in on supporting inclusive practices, if you can invite them. Find a catch and go with it. Parents will begin to see the culture of the building by the way in which you communicate and send information home, and by the images you share on social media. When considering messaging, think of parents/guardians and families and students. They all process information differently and may need a different approach to messaging. Meeting them where they are will shine a light for them to engage with the school community and contribute.

Find the light, be the light. There are many ways to be that flashlight for staff, students, and families. The more flashlights you have, the bigger the shine will be to light the way to inclusive learning. It is not going to happen quickly but start with one light at a time.

References

Cornell University Center for Teaching & Learning. (n.d.). Inclusiveteachingstrategies https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/assessment-evaluation/inclusionaccessibility-accommodation/building-inclusive-4

Cooperative Children’s Book Center. School of Education. University of Wisconsin-Madison. (n.d.). Booksbyand/oraboutBlack,Indigenous, andpeople ofcolor(allyears). https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/literature-resources/ccbc-diversity-statistics/books-byabout-poc-fnn/

Children’s Literature Cited

Brantley-Newton, V. (2021). BecomingVanessa. Random House Children’s Books.

Ford, JR, & Ford, V. (2021). Calvin. G. P. Putnam’s Sons.

Henkes, K. (1991). Chrysanthemum. Greenwillow Books.

Newman, L. (2015). Myname isAviva. Lerner Publishing Group.

Sheth, S. (2018). AlwaysAnjali. Bharat Babies. www.bharatbabies.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa King has been an educator for over 25 years, and during this time, she taught first grade and special education. After several years of teaching, Lisa went into administration as an assistant principal for 5 years and has been the Principal at the Shawsheen Elementary School in Wilmington, MA for 10 years. Lisa has her BA in early childhood education and psychology from Bridgewater State University. After receiving her BA, Lisa continued on to receive her Clinical Master’s Degree in Education at Bridgewater State University, and then her CAGS in Educational Leadership at Salem State University.