Diversity Book Audit

Last week, we highlighted the need to increase diverse books in our school/class libraries or curricula, and examined the demographics of the population that you serve. 📊

So what’s next?

A book audit.

😯 I know that sounds intimidating…but basically, a book audit is when you take an inventory of your books in light of specific characteristics, such as the ethnicity of the protagonist.

You could use this helpful tally sheet from @sfpsmom (bit.ly/DiverseLibraryInventory) or create your own in Google Sheets or Excel. Including the titles of the books is optional. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, just do the tally marks. The point is to identify whose voices are being represented through the books.

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After you’ve gone through your school/class library and/or curricula, total up each column.

Now, sit with your data.

👉🏽 What patterns emerged? 

🗣 Whose voices are the loudest? Quietest?

🤔 How does this data compare with the demographics noted last week?

⭕️ What gaps need to be filled?

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These are hard questions. Feelings may arise that may not feel too good. Remember that diversifying your library/curricula is important work. We know better. Now we have to do better.

Next week, we will explore some notable nuances to consider when examining diverse books. Hope to see you then! ❤️💛💙💚🧡

Yours in Literacy,

Sheila 😊

Beverly, Right Here

How many of us - at some point in our lives - have thought that things would be better if we could just start over somewhere else? That things would be better once we got THERE…like, it didn’t matter where THERE was…as long as it wasn’t here?⁠⁠

Kate DiCamillo’s newest middle-grade fiction book, Beverly, Right Here, tackles this notion through the eyes of a 14-year-old who desperately wants to survive. Who has seen too much. Who has lived through so much heartbreak that she just wants to run, run, run away. ⁠⁠

Running is the easy part. Staying takes courage.⁠⁠

Beverly, Right Here is the final (😫) book in a trio of stories involving the Three Rancheros: Beverly Tapinski, Raymie Nightingale, and Louisiana Elefante. ⁠⁠

As always, Kate DiCamillo has crafted a story in a way that only she can. When I first started reading, my heart felt tight. Closed off. Then, slowly, my heart loosened up as the story went on. It wasn’t until I read the last line of the book that I realized that this feeling mirrored Beverly’s own transformation. ⁠⁠Kate DiCamillo sure knows how to use a slow simmer to fully develop a character. ⁠⁠

Beverly, Right Here will be a great addition to any home, school, or classroom library.⁠⁠

Suggested Grade Level: 5th⁠⁠

Author: Kate DiCamillo⁠

Cover Illustration: Amy Bates

Publisher: Candlewick Press⁠

Release Date: September 24, 2019⁠⁠

I received this book from the publisher @candlewickpress⁠and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.⁠⁠

Yours in Literacy,

Sheila 😊

How Deep Is Our Commitment?

{Infographic showing the results of a diverse books survey}

As this data shows, there is a clear need for increasing the number of diverse books in schools in order to accurately reflect the population served. 

But where to start?

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1) GOOGLE. 

👨🏻‍💻Go online and search the demographics of your school. If you can’t find that information, look for the district’s demographics. If you’re at a public or charter school, student demographic data is public information. You should be able to find it fairly easily.

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2) NOTE. 

✍🏿Write down the data. 

example.: Here’s the racial/ethnicity information for NYC as of 9/2019:

• 40.5% Latinx

• 26.0% Black

• 16.1% Asian

• 15.0% White

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3) REFLECT. 

💭 What does this data tell me?

💭 Is this data in line with my perceptions?

💭 What, if anything, surprises me about this data?

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4) SCAN. 

👀 Take a moment to mentally scan your school/classroom library and/or the books that you teach. Don’t do anything more than scan. The point is to just begin thinking about the discrepancies that may exist between #2 and #4. 

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🔜 Next week, we will venture into the second half of the auditing process and discuss tallying up the books in your school/classroom.

❤️💛💙💚🧡

Yours in Literacy,

Sheila 😊

We Need Diverse Books

{Image of a wooden bookstore sign that reads “BOOKS”}

As a new school year approaches, many teachers are getting their classrooms student-ready. Interactive notebooks, sharpened pencils, and germ-free desks (ha!) eagerly await the day when they will become an integral part of student life.⁠
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But what about the books? 📚⁠
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Powerful initiatives like @WeNeedDiverseBooks encourage educators to regularly place a broad spectrum of texts in students’ hands. Expert Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings posits that diverse books serve as both mirrors and windows to the world. Students who see themselves reflected in literature gain a sense of validation that their voices matter. That THEY matter. Concurrently, diverse books provide a glimpse into the lives of people who may be different from the reader in some way. From there, empathy grows. 💓⁠
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I first started taking a deep dive into diversifying curricula and my class library about twenty years ago. Back then, there weren’t as many published books featuring people of color in non-stereotypical roles. Today, books like The King of Kindergarten, Front Desk, and The Hate U Give are available for student immersion in ways that make my heart swell. 🥰⁠
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Over the next few weeks, I am going to share some of the lessons that I learned (and continue to learn!) about integrating diverse books in the classroom. ⁠
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Won’t you join me? ❤️⁠

Yours in Literacy,

Sheila 😊

Nonfiction Text Structures, We're Coming for You!

Most teachers know how important it is to teach students the structures of nonfiction text. But how should one approach this very daunting task?  It’s not easy!

Hopefully, this post can help you explicitly teach students how to identify and use nonfiction text structures.

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With nonfiction, there are five common text structures:

• Description

• Sequence

• Compare/Contrast

• Cause/Effect

• Problem/Solution

Pretty much every nonfiction text that a student reads (regardless of grade level) will follow at least one of these structures.

Wait. Why is it important to teach nonfiction text structures again? Asking for a friend.

Research shows that students who are explicitly taught nonfiction text structures become better comprehenders. If a reader is able to read closely to identify the text structure of an informational piece, s/he can get his/her brain ready to read, identify the author’s intent, and focus on how key details are related to one another. These are all critical reading skills, especially when presented with content-heavy nonfiction texts!

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Makes sense…But HOW do I teach text structures?

As mentioned before, teachers have to be explicit in their approach to teaching nonfiction text structures. I find that it is best to focus on one text structure at a time, deeply immersing students in an exploration of it over a period of 2-3 weeks. That means creating an anchor chart (listing the targeted text feature, its definition, and an example) and incorporating a Gradual Release of Responsibility model to teaching:

• I Do: (About 4-5 days, depending on level)

  • Teacher models, through Think–Alouds, how s/he identifies the text structure in a piece of text and how that identification helps him/her as a reader

• We Do: (About 3-5 days)

  • Students are invited to help the teacher identify the text structure and explain how it helps readers

  • Exploration of mentor texts, where students work in pairs and read through various texts together. The goal is to identify the targeted nonfiction text structure and discuss how it helps them as readers

• You Do: (About 4-5 days)

  • Independent practice of identifying the targeted text structure and discussing how it helps him/her as a reader; could also be done during Guided Reading

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Do you have a free resource that I could use?

I’m so glad you asked!

You can click here for a free copy of the Nonfiction Text Structures Anchor Chart above.

NOTE: If you’re looking for more text structure goodness, you should know that anchor chart is part of a bigger Nonfiction Text Structures resource on my TpT page containing:

• 35 pages of sticky notes templates, including nonfiction text structure graphic organizers, that you print on your 3x3 Sticky Notes (7 different sticky note templates for each nonfiction text structure)

• 5 pages of teacher support resources (Common Core standard alignment; “What is Text Structure”; “Why is it Important to Teach Nonfiction Text Structures”; “How Do I Teach Text Structures”; “How Could I Use This Resource”; and directions for printing the Sticky Note templates)

• 2 Nonfiction Text Structure Anchor Charts (includes the free one)

• a 5-page Booklist, outlining mentor texts to use with each nonfiction text structure

The resource could be used in a variety of ways.

• The Anchor Charts could serve as a teacher resource when planning /teaching lessons. You may also want to print out a copy for students to add to their Reader’s Notebook.

• Students could use the Sticky Notes during the “We Do” or “You Do” phase, placing them on the respective pages during exploration. It would be best to scaffold the Sticky Notes, starting with the “I’ve Found a _____!” first and then moving onto the Sticky Notes containing the more complex graphic organizers.

• The Booklist is designed to save you time so you can quickly find books that fit each text structure. You could use these mentor texts during your “I Do” Think-Alouds as well as during the “We Do” and “You Do” immersion studies. Picture books are fantastic because they are simple enough that 4th and 5th graders do not need to spend a lot of cognitive energy decoding them…leaving more room in their brains for identifying nonfiction text structures!

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I hope you find this post useful. It has worked really well with my students and I hope it helps yours, too!

Yours in Literacy,

Sheila ☺

Count on Me by Miguel Tanco

I love, loVE, LOVE this book! There are so many wonderful things about Count on Me, written and illustrated by Miguel Tanco: the images, storyline, message…everything! It’s been awhile since I’ve read a picture book that seems to have it all. 

Count on Me is a story about a young girl who lives with a family of people who know their calling; her mom is a scientist, her dad is a painter, and her brother is a musician.  Through subsequent pages, readers begin to see the girl’s passion take shape. It’s math. Math is all around and the girl just can’t get enough. Even though her peers don’t fully understand her passion, it’s ok. Because she knows that everyone has his/her own way of seeing the world, and hers is through the lens of fractals, polygons, and the like.

Count on Me is a great read aloud for grades 2-3 and will be published on June 11, 2019.

Author/Illustrator: Miguel Tanco

Publisher: Penguin Random House/Tundra Books

I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

READcycle - A How-to Kit for a Class or Schoolwide Book Swap Literacy Event!

A few years back, a colleague of mine approached me about starting a schoolwide book swap event in our school. We eagerly dove in and implemented our first READcycle event…which turned out to be such a huge success that we do it every year! We try to schedule our book swap around Earth Day to reinforce the idea of “recycling” books. A book swap would also be fitting for Read Across America Week, Summer Reading Kickoff, or just because!

Benefits of Doing a Class or Schoolwide Literacy Event:

• getting books into the hands of children

• promoting reading

• fostering a deeper sense of community

Since then, many teachers have reached out to me asking how to begin their own READcycle event in their schools. It’s no question that designing a class or schoolwide book swap event can be a valuable yet overwhelming event. As such, I have created a how-to kit for starting your own READcycle book swap event in your own school!

The how-to kit has all of the materials you need to successfully execute your own READcycle event, including:

• 3-Page How Does READcycle Work? Teacher Guide

• 2-page Frequently Asked Questions Tip Sheet

• READcycle Print Checklist

• READcycle To-Do List

• EDITABLE READcycle Flyer (*PowerPoint is needed)

• Certificate of Participation (Color & B/W)

• Book Donation Record Sheet

• READcycle Book Tickets (Color & B/W)

• Check-Out Table Sign (Color & B/W)

• Donation Box Sign (Color & B/W)

• READcycle Pennant Banner

• Grade Level and Genre Table Signs (Color & B/W)

Although this guide is primarily written to support a schoolwide book swap, it can easily be applied to a smaller-scale event (i.e. one or two classrooms).

This year, we will be holding our READcycle event after state testing, on May 20. I will return to post pictures of the event soon thereafter!

Yours in Literacy,

Sheila :)