Books That Celebrate Diversity 2017
Readers- especially young readers- should have access to texts that provide mirrors and windows. Mirrors in literature enable our readers to see reflections of themselves within the pages of books. Windows allow for glimpses into worlds, cultures and perspectives that are outside of a reader's personal experience.
These remarkable books of 2017 allow for both- and they are calling for a place on your classroom bookshelf.
EARLY READERS
This is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World
Matt Lamothe (Chronicle Books)
This visually engaging picture book follows one day in the lives of seven children from countries around the world. From Uganda to Russia, from Peru to Iran, we find that while differences do exist, we are all connected by our human qualities and the world we share.
My Beautiful Birds
Suzanne Del Rizzo (Pajama Press)
My Beautiful Birds is an eloquently written story of a boy who is forced to flee his home in war-torn Syria. He finds purpose in caring for the birds that surround him. Del Rizzo, through words and fascinating mixed-media illustrations, tells a story of human resiliency with clarity, compassion and a firm sense of hope.
A Different Pond
Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui (Capstone Young Readers)
Author Bao Phi relays the touching story of a father and son in honest, captivating simplicity. Each day, the father and son fish a Minneapolis pond for the family’s evening meal. During these precious moments together, the father reveals more of his own memories of fishing in Vietnam and of his migration to the United States. The illustrations are equally as moving, making A Different Pondan impactful and digestible sharing of the human experience.
A Family is a Family is a Family
Sara O’Leary, illustrated by Qin Leng (Groundwood Books)
This vibrant picture book tells the story of a young girl who lives with her loving foster family, but is hesitant to share this information with her classmates. When a class project reveals the diversity of other students’ home lives, she becomes empowered to share- and to find pride in- her own unique version of family.
All the Way to Havana
Margarita Engle, illustrated by Mike Curato
Full of energetic sounds and illustrations, All the Way to Havana highlights the adventures of a young boy and his parents while driving to Havana, Cuba. “Cara Cara”, the old family car, chugs and rumbles and zooms through streets filled with musicians, vendors, bustling activity and colorful buildings. All the Way to Havana is a delightful celebration of culture, sight and sound.
Danza!: Amalia Hernandez and El Ballet Folklorico de Mexico
Duncan Tonatiuh
Danza! celebrates the life of famous dancer and choreographer Amalia Hernandez. It tells of her dreams as a young child and her eventual founding of El Ballet Folklorico de Mexico. With this troupe, she performed all over the world, sharing her unique blend of ballet, modern and traditional Mexican dance. Danza! is engaging, informative, inspiring and a visual treat for young readers.
The Journey
Francesca Sanna (Flying Eagle Books)
Italian author and illustrator Francesca Sanna examines the kinds of journeys a refugee might take and the difficult decisions a family might endure when confronted with the unimaginable. The Journey does not detail the refugee experiences of a specific region, giving the main characters a sense of universal relevance. The book is expressive, beautifully depicted and incredibly timely.
The World is Not a Rectangle: A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid
Jeanette Winter
Zara Hadid, famed Iraqi architect takes the stage in this uplifting non-fiction picture book. Readers learn of Hadid’s struggles to achieve her dream of becoming a great architect, despite the obstacles she encountered because of her gender and religion. The World is Not a Rectangle encourages young readers to dream big and work hard to reach their aims.
Malaika’s Costume
Nadia Hohn, illustrated by Irena Luxbacher (Groundwood Books)
The culture of the Caribbean comes alive in this delightful picture book. Maliaka, living with her grandmother in Canada, work together to create the perfect carnival costume. Malaika’s Costume celebrates the values of family, cultural pride and imagination.
MIDDLE READERS
Refugee
Alan Gratz (Scholastic)
Refugee details three separate accounts of the refugee experience, from
Nazi Germany to 90’s Cuba to modern day Syria. Gratz weaves these stories together in suspenseful ways, making clear that each refugee experience is significant and deserving of human attention. While each character's search for refuge is unique, hope is the overarching sentiment throughout.
Amina’s Voice
Hena Kan
In this coming-of-age story, Amina and her best friend Soojin must navigate middle school and what it means to be American. Faced with the idea of “fitting in”, Amina contemplates changing her name and hiding her most obvious cultural markers. When her local mosque is vandalized, Amina is forced to reconcile with her own identity. Amina’s Voice is a brave story of finding balance between cultures new and old.
Illegal
Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin, illustrated by Giovanni Rigano (Hodder Books)
Illegal is an engrossing graphic novel that tells the harrowing story of Ebo, who is forced to leave his North African homeland. At only twelve years old, Ebo must make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean, experiencing a vast range of emotions and experiences along the way.
The Epic Fail of Artura Zamora
Pablo Cartaya
Growing up in Miami, thirteen-year-old Artura Zamora is about to embark on a summer of challenges, complicated by the presence of Carmen, who moves into the neighborhood and consumes Arturo’s thoughts. Artura becomes a hero in the community when he uses poetry and the art of Jose Marti as a form of protest against neighborhood gentrification.
Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History
Vashti Harrison (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
Little Leaders features forty inspiring role models in history, including Sojourner Truth, Bessie Coleman, Alice Ball and Maya Angelou. The text is beautifully illustrated and captures the imagination of readers of all ages. From science to poetry to advocacy, Harrison relates these true stories of determination with poise and clarity.
Somos Como Las Nubes/We Are Like the Clouds
Jorge Argueta (Groundwood Books)
We Are Like the Clouds is an honest collection of bilingual poems that relate the experience of child migration from Central America to the United States. The poems tell stories from a variety of perspectives and capture sentiments of fear, sorrow, adventure, desperation, hope, and resilience.
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
Karina Yan Glaser (Houton Mifflin)
Celebrated as a New York Times Notable Children’s Book of 2017, this book swallows readers up in the story of a large bi-racial family known as the Vanderbeekers, and the beloved brownstone they’ve always called home. When Beiderman, the not-so-nice landlord, refuses to renew their lease, the Vanderbeekers must use all of their combined creativity to keep their home.
YOUNG ADULT
The Stars Beneath Our Feet
David Barclay Moore (Knopf)
Lolly Rachpaul is a twelve-year-old boy living in Harlem. He and his mother are still grieving the loss of Lolly’s older brother, who was lost to gang violence. A gift of Legos changes the course of Lolly’s life, marking a path toward friendship, purpose, overcoming and eventual healing. This remarkable coming of age story is heartfelt and speaks to the combined power of self-determination and human connectivity.
The Hate U Give
Angie Thomas (Walker)
Thomas’ debut novel about Starr Carter is a Black Lives Matter inspired testament to our times. Starr’s friend Khalil is shot and killed by a police officer as she watches. The consequences are many, rippling into the community and rattling Starr’s existence. This is a potent look at modern race issues, tempered by the goodness of community and the strength of human resolve.
See You in the Cosmos
Jack Cheng
See You in the Cosmos is an endearing story of 11-year old Alex, who records his travels throughout the American southwest on his iPod, with the hopes of one day launching the device into space. Sharing in Alex’s adventures are his troubled mother and sidekick of a dog, Carl Sagan. Alex’s experiences lead him to recognize that the destination is the journey and that family is where- and what- you make of it.
American Street
Ibi Zoboi (Balzer & Bray)
Teenager Fabiola Toussaint expects to find joy and ease after making it from Port-au-Prince to Detroit. She is faced with a different version of reality when her mother is detained by U.S. immigration. Fabiola now wrestles with high school in a new country, the overbearing presence of her cousins, a feeling that must certainly be love- and at the forefront, a desperate drive to free her mother.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Erica L. Sanchez
Julia has always been compared to her “perfect” sister Olga. In fact, Julia's family struggles to understand her motive to leave the family and move away to college. When her sister is killed in a tragic car accident, Julia faces even more pressure to live up to the daughter Olga was. Julia is already juggling new life and new love- and now must face the loss of Olga and the truth about who her sister really might have been. In all of this, Julia begins to reconcile with the past, make peace with her Mexican heritage and discover her own self worth.
Piecing Me Together
Renee Watson
Jade is a determined and bright young women fighting an upward incline of social mobility. She has set out to leave her neighborhood to find success. She is awarded a scholarship to a predominately white school and is taken under the wings of powerful black female advisors. Yet, Jade struggles to identify completely with her old world or her new one. She eventually learns to value all that her less-privileged upbringing taught her. These lessons are part of her identity and become part of her own success story. Watson elegantly tackles race, privilege, and identity in this coming-of-age treat.
When Dimple Met Rishi
Sandhya Menon
Menon has crafted a lighthearted YA romance that places her protagonist at the crossroads of cultural tradition and modern aspirations. Dimple Shah has recently graduated high school and is off to a summer academy for web developers. There, she meets Rishi, the same boy her parents selected as her “suggested arrangement”. While Dimple shuns the idea of an arranged marriage, Rishi welcomes it. Despite their differences, the two are drawn together, and eventually discover a connection that surprises them both. New York Times bestseller and winner of multiple book awards
The Girl from Aleppo: Nujeen’s Escape from War to Freedom
Nujeen Mustafa and Christina Lamb
Lamb, co-author of I Am Malala has joined with Nujeen Mustafa to relate another incredible true story. Sixteen-year-old Nujeen was forced to flee Syria amid the destruction and terror of civil war. Her journey is complicated by the fact that she is has cerebral palsy is bound to a wheelchair, making her escape more challenging and dangerous. Nujeen’s quest for safety becomes a sixteen-month odyssey across the Mediterranean and through a number of countries before at last finding haven in Germany. A Girl From Aleppo offers a window into the tragic events in Syria and through one young woman’s story of hardship, perseverance, and overcoming.
Connecting ELD & Academic Language
Rights Reserved. RefugeeClassroom, 2018.
“Learning another language is not only learning different words for the same things, but learning another way to think about things.” – Flora Lewis
Language learning engages some of our most complex cognitive capacities. Growing our understanding of how language acquisition works helps us to better address the needs of our new-to-English learners. Indeed, "Academic Language is believed to be one of the most important factors in the academic success of English Language Learners, and it has been shown to be a major contributor to achievement gaps between ELLs and English-proficient students." (Willis, 2013).
We’ll look at language acquisition under two distinct umbrellas: English Language Development (ELD) and Academic Language. The first refers to direct language use and function (social expressiveness), while the latter addresses content-specific communication. New-to-English speakers typically achieve conversational language fluency at or around two years of practice; academic language proficiency can take five to seven years to develop.
Teaching for ELLs requires a dedication to English Language Development. ELD instruction is deliberately designed to promote language proficiency and overall school success. As a learner develops the ability to navigate basic language use and function, he or she can begin to access academic language components. Basic social expressiveness falls under the realm of ELD. These elemental mechanisms of inter-personal communication are essential for successful integration and can be heard in the hallways and lunchrooms and on the bus or playground.
Here’s what we need to keep in mind about English Language Development:
· It is the basic infrastructure for language learning
· It is necessary for communication
· Language acquisition is the primary goal
· ELD is structured around Tier 1 and Tier 2 words
· ELD instruction should be continued, even as academic language is introduced
· ELD instruction benefits cooperative structures, team building, classroom culture, information processing.
· ELD techniques can be effectively used in whole class settings across a range of language ability levels (including non-ELLs!) to grow command of the English language.
English, in the context of ELD, is explicitly taught using specific strategies that are shown to enhance and accelerate language acquisition. Instruction often occurs in small group settings and focuses on the domains of listening and speaking to build efficacy in the areas of reading and writing. ELD efforts provide opportunities to learn and practice English vocabulary, syntax, conventions, functions, grammar and registers. Student engagement is enhanced through the implementation of sheltered instruction techniques and consistent ongoing feedback toward student growth.
The goal of ELD is to provide ELs a foundation on which academic language constructs can be mapped, built and renovated. Students require academic language proficiency in order to navigate the classroom experience, to fully participate content learning and to express knowledge in school-appropriate ways. Students encounter academic language in learning objectives, textbooks, course/content exercises and standardized testing materials. Writer and researcher Todd Finley summarizes: "Academic language is a meta-language that helps learners acquire the 50,000 words that they are expected to have internalized by the end of high school."
Here’s what we need to keep in mind about academic language, or integrated ELD:
· It is discipline and content specific
· It grows from basic conversational fluency
· Academic language is explicitly taught in direct content context
· It is standards based and essential for school success
· Academic language is structured Tier 2 words and beyond
· Academic language includes and expands upon essential ELD principles (vocabulary, syntax, grammar, conventions and functions)
· Sheltered instruction techniques can also used for the purpose of teaching and clarifying academic language
· ELD/social language aptitude is not an accurate indicator for academic language proficiency
As educators, we can encourage the shift from social language to academic content language in organic ways. One approach is to assist language learners in making conscious moves to “upgrade” known language. In this way, we can scaffold the transition toward advanced content-specific vernacular, or “juicy” words, in elementary-teacher talk.
Let's look at some examples in shifting from social to academic language:
· Know: recognize, experience, comprehend
· See: observe, examine, distinguish
· Think: determine, consider, summarize
· Guess: predict, wonder, imagine
· Show: demonstrate, prove, establish
· Write: record, compose, formulate
It is important to point out that social and academic English need not (and should not) be mutually exclusive entities in the classroom context. Each serves a unique purpose and supports the other. In fact, conversational English is an essential tool for teaching, clarifying and exchanging ideas around academic language.
We can refer to the structure of language building as an "iceberg". At the tip of the iceberg, above the surface, social language proficiency is demonstrated (as output defined under ELD). This is what we hear when we engage with our students. It provides a snapshot of an individual's level of BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills). Below the surface, we find the deeper, more complex tier of academic-content language, associated with CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency). The wide bottom platform of the iceberg represents language mastery.
We can make the (often overwhelming) task of learning a new language more manageable when we shape our instruction in purposeful, developmentally appropriate ways. That is, we can provide students opportunities to achieve language mastery by building on the brain’s holistic tendency to sequentially stack learning according to accessibility and complexity. We show intentionality in our work with language learners by building on known language and scaffolding into new domains.
School success for ELLs requires an integrated approach that combines English Language Development and explicit academic-content language instruction in a ways that are tailored to a student's English language capacity at a given time, in a given space. In this way, students are able to work toward the successful negotiation of both worlds on a continuum toward language mastery. After all, assures artist and intellect Edmund De Waal,
"With languages, you are at home anywhere."
Crafting a Language Rich Classroom
Traits of a Language Rich Classroom
Language rich environments promote direct interaction with contextual print and vocabulary in facilitative, non-threatening ways. These types of learning environments are especially critical for ELLs, who are likely to have had limited exposure to literacy in the new language. Classrooms can and should be designed to promote literacy accessibility across all language and reading levels. Print rich environments accomplish this by providing students many different opportunities to engage in many different components of language and literacy.
The key in creating an effective print-rich environment is to first evaluate the specific ages, interests and learning needs of a student population. An 8th grade Newcomer classroom should not reflect the learning or interest needs of an kindergarten Newcomer classroom, a 3rd grade ESL classroom or a sophomore Geography class. Print-rich planning should encourage rigorous, grade-level content learning by making language more accessible to developing readers and language learners.
The good news: creating a language rich learning environment is not rocket science. In fact, you are likely incorporating many literacy-promoting techniques in your school or classroom right now. Our aim, then, is to grow and refine our repertoire. The following ideas can be employed across multiple grade and content levels. Start with two or three; add on as the school year progresses.
Exposing children to more than one form of communication sparks interest and interest turns into learning. This connection quickly becomes the making of meaning for reading. –Leyva & McClure, et al.
· Rebus Labeling: Familiar items (door, bookshelf, glue) should be clearly labeled and in student view. Labeling works best when combined with an image. To avoid over-stimulation, refrain from labeling every item in the room. For example, one “ window” tag is sufficient, even if there are four windows in the room.
· Content Language Objectives: CLOs should be visible at child-height, clearly printed and worded in student-friendly ways. Objectives should be read aloud and together with students at the beginning of each lesson and revisited throughout. Eventually, academic frames used in Content Language Objectives will become predictable; and individual or small groups of students may have the responsibility of reading CLOs aloud to the class.
· Student-created books: Learners develop special relationships with stories and books they create. The act of physically and mentally composing text makes it relatable and “readable” in subsequent visits to the material, even if a child is not yet actually (or fully) literate in the text language. Student-created books also encourage sequencing and oral production and fluency, when shared aloud.
· Teacher-created books: Teacher-created books serve many of the same functions and advantages of student-created texts. Instructor-created books, however, are more deliberate in their use of content-based vocabulary, target sight words and proper grammar and punctuation.
· Name Labels: Students love seeing their name- it’s also a great way to encourage print concepts! Options: label student photos, desks, lockers, cubbies, notebooks, attendance markers
· Displayed Co-Created Work: These samples should remain in student view for the day or days for which they are relevant. Ideas include: morning message, whole group text summaries, co-created objectives, daily weather or “news” reports.
· Print-based charts: Essential charts are very helpful. Again, the caution is in not overdoing it. Too many posters create clutter and issues with over-stimulation. Pick and choose carefully, and re-adjust as students’ specific learning and unit needs change. Examples: days of the week, months of the year, weather, colors, sight words, planets, homonyms, life cycle, Pledge of Allegiance. Alphabet, calendars, schedules, directions, number line, teacher helpers, anchor charts and rubrics are posted in clear student view and referred to often.
· Frequent Read-Alouds: Listening to teacher read-alouds and audio read-alouds of text encourage auditory processing and help students learn to identify and use appropriate intonation and emphasis. Tip: Read like an adult. Learners should hear (and learn to mimic) natural tonal fluctuation.
· Language Based Technology and Media: Computer-based programs that support language learning and literacy can be incorporated as station work. Watch for: computer use as a crutch, diversion or means of “occupying” a learner during mainstream instruction.
· Displayed Student Work: This is a very powerful tool for promoting student confidence and encouraging learners to read and reflect on peer accomplishments. Posted teacher celebrations on the work (or peer celebrations) also encourage reading!
· Writing Centers: Writing centers are a chance for students to explore print and practice skills in differentiated ways. Provide different sized writing tools to develop fine motor skills and interesting paper sources that invite participation. Suggestions: shopping lists, thank-you cards, Pen Pal writing, journaling, invitations, notes to teachers and school personnel, postcards, reading response logs. Early writers will benefit from sentence stems and graphic organizer choices.
· Teacher-print: Teacher-printed dictation, summaries of student expression, daily vocabulary or other relevant items are meaningful to students as models for appropriate spelling, spacing, punctuation and print.
· Murals: Whole class murals invite students to contribute understanding and insight on a theme in ways that are accessible to each at his or her own language development level. A mural on the story, Swimmy, by Leo Leonni, for example, might include a story line or multiple story lines; labeled pictures of fish, characters with thinking or speaking bubbles; pictures or descriptions of the environment; single or multi-sentence structures about the story; opinions on characters or plot; or non-fiction statements about fish. A word of note: language development is key. That is, while illustration is an important element of mural work, it should not be the only element. Encourage students to exchange topic-focused thoughts with their peers as they work and to include some variation of print expression with every illustration.
· Classroom Libraries: Inviting, comfortable classroom libraries are an essential component of the Newcomer classroom (or any classroom!). Exemplary classroom libraries are age, ability and interest appropriate, and they are representative of a global community. Newcomer classrooms are especially diverse and include an incredible range of reading and interest levels; libraries should reflect this diversity. Books should be organized and clearly labeled. Students will benefit from reading books at their level and also exploring other texts in interest areas that are outside of reader ability. Early readers, especially, will learn to explore print concepts, picture cues, captions, directionality and broad content idea-shaping. Depending on the age and grade level, Newcomer classroom libraries areas should include:
o Picture, dual language (where applicable), English dictionaries
o Tactile and Predictable Picture Books
o Special-interest books
o Multi-cultural books
o Dual-language books, where accessible
o Grade-level content texts with supports
o Maps and atlases
o Magazines
o Play-based and life-based print: magnetic letters, menus, phone books, recipes, bus schedules, business cards
· Word Walls: As many thoughts and ideas exist on word walls as word walls themselves. Alphabetically, by unit, by tiers, by reading group, by color code? Growing throughout the year or rotating through? So many choices! Bottom line? They work! Ask around, try different variations… see what works best for you, then modify and refine.
· Theme displays: Theme displays are helpful in anchoring ideas related to an ongoing unit. These are excellent areas to post unit vocabulary, charts, pictures, student work and teacher dictation related to a topic.
· Involve parents: This may be the most important trait of all. Most Newcomer parents do wish to help their students learn English and succeed in school. The most commonly heard Newcomer parent frustration? The feeling of helplessness that arises in wanting to aid their child in at-home learning, while working through language learning themselves. In the vast majority of cases, Newcomer parents are eager to take part in their child’s successes and are open to guidance from the teacher and school. So- make this process fun! Allow for activities that can be completed as a family. Host parents at the school to discuss cultural expectations around parent involvement in learning and creating quiet “homework” spaces at home. Invite parents to share their strengths with students. Parents can gain confidence by working with their children on math, teaching them the history of their heritage country, creating regional maps, or explaining in-depth science concepts in the native language. Learning is a collaborative process- and parents are an essential link!