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Effective classroom libraries promote equity when they offer culturally responsive texts that empower students who see themselves reflected in those texts. This is especially true for students from lower-income backgrounds and students of color. In a 2014 Scholastic report titled, “The Joy and Power of Reading,” researchers note, “One important goal is for literature to offer readers a realistic and authentic mirror of their own lives and experiences. If children recognize themselves reflected accurately and sympathetically in the books they read, they may develop positive self-images and sense of worth (Lehman, Freeman, & Scharer, 2010).” Thus, in addition to critical skills development, reading relevant, culturally responsive literature is also an easy and powerful way to weave SEL goals into the daily curriculum. Effective teachers know this and “surround their students with culturally appropriate and relevant trade books that capitalize on the background knowledge and experiences that their students bring to school” (Joy and Power of Reading, 33). Additionally, such texts help to create awareness of other cultures so that students can begin to see the limitations of their own experiences and develop empathy for others who on the surface may appear so different from themselves. The benefits of choice reading go on and on. Having individual classroom libraries will make these culturally responsive texts accessible to our students and enable them to develop fluency, comprehension, and stamina with books that they feel ownership for.

About my class

Effective classroom libraries promote equity when they offer culturally responsive texts that empower students who see themselves reflected in those texts. This is especially true for students from lower-income backgrounds and students of color. In a 2014 Scholastic report titled, “The Joy and Power of Reading,” researchers note, “One important goal is for literature to offer readers a realistic and authentic mirror of their own lives and experiences. If children recognize themselves reflected accurately and sympathetically in the books they read, they may develop positive self-images and sense of worth (Lehman, Freeman, & Scharer, 2010).” Thus, in addition to critical skills development, reading relevant, culturally responsive literature is also an easy and powerful way to weave SEL goals into the daily curriculum. Effective teachers know this and “surround their students with culturally appropriate and relevant trade books that capitalize on the background knowledge and experiences that their students bring to school” (Joy and Power of Reading, 33). Additionally, such texts help to create awareness of other cultures so that students can begin to see the limitations of their own experiences and develop empathy for others who on the surface may appear so different from themselves. The benefits of choice reading go on and on. Having individual classroom libraries will make these culturally responsive texts accessible to our students and enable them to develop fluency, comprehension, and stamina with books that they feel ownership for.

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