This book is a great choice for descriptive language or writing. It tells about a young girl who dreams of flying across New York City with her Abuela (grandmother). Abuela by Arthur DorrosĪnother favorite is Abuela by Arthur Dorros. It is a true story about a man named Luis Soriano. This book is a great one to use to introduce problem solving and needs versus wants. The librarian would ride the burro to homes where children couldn’t easily get to a public library on their own. It made it’s way into our LLI kits, and my students were fascinated by it. Next, I’ll share Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown. Waiting for the Biblioburro by Monica Brown Cesar Chavez was a civil rights leader, and this biography is a great one to show perseverance and history. She’s illustrated quite a few in this list actually. ( Wilma Unlimited is another by her.) Yuli Morales is the illustrator. It is a beauty about the life of Cesar Chavez. The second on my list is Harvesting Hope by Kathleen Krull. Books that Feature Hispanic/Latino Characters This helps students avoid going through life with misconceptions or stereotyped thinking. With careful selection, we can help each student connect and learn about others. Through these relationships, I learned the value of communication, seeing things from different points of view, and most importantly, that every child needs to be valued, needs to see themselves in the materials we use for teaching, and needs opportunities to connect with diverse authors too. In Virginia, the rest of my career was spent working in Title 1 schools with diverse populations. Moving to VirginiaĮventually, I moved with my husband east to Virginia where I continued teaching as a classroom teacher and eventually reading specialist. The children’s Mexican heritage and customs were such an integral part of our day to day school experiences. I think I cried for an hour leaving Arizona, but I never forgot those kids. At the end of that one amazing year, I got married and relocated to St. Since I was in my first year of teaching, I really did not have much in the way of books much less, diverse books. It was filled with lots of teaching growth, fantastic potluck lunches, rich classroom celebrations (fiestas), and the most amazing kids a teacher could ask for in a first class. It was the best first year a teacher could have. Superior was a small mining town outside of Phoenix, and my first class was 95% Hispanic and 5% Caucasian. When all you have to frame your understanding of others is what you see on TV or read in the newspaper, then how can you truly appreciate and understand other points of view?Īfter college, I took my first teaching job in Superior, Arizona, a LONG way from home. In fact, I may be the last person who should be giving advice on selecting diverse books.Īfter working with a diverse population of students, I discovered how important it is to see and hear points of view other than your own AND that regardless of skin color, we ALL benefit by reading diverse books. Certainly, I had no understanding of what growing up was like for people of color. I grew up in a small Midwest town, and I do not believe I met a person from another race until maybe high school. In my 27 years in the classroom, I’ve learned and grown a lot. How My Experiences Informed My Use of Diverse Booksīefore I share what I’ve pulled together from my research, I need to give a little background on my experience growing up and in teaching. In this post, I’ll be sharing is diverse books and resource options I’ve found to help teachers quickly plan ways to work these books into their lessons. There are often lots of misconceptions made out of a lack of experiences and knowledge about other people. Sadly, the books we tend to choose may not include characters from all cultures. Our teaching needs to be inclusive and reflect people from all parts of our world. No matter whether you are teaching a diverse population or not, there is a great need to incorporate diverse books into your instruction.
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