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All of the books I've selected are ones that will help my students in three different, crucial areas: 1) see their own stories reflected in the books I choose to read to them, 2) see alternate perspectives and cultures with which they're less familiar to help them become anti-racist, and 3) develop their own social-emotional understanding. Racism has always been part of the US, but the murder of George Floyd was one of many reminders that there is much more that can be done to fight racism and injustice, starting with our nation's children. Discussing race and racism only during Martin Luther King Jr. Day or Black History Month is not nearly enough to teach anti-racism; it needs to be incorporated into daily teaching. While these books are not the solution, I have found that reading is a wonderful gateway into beginning these discussions around better understanding race, as well as LGBTQ+ identities and other marginalized groups. I plan to use these books to facilitate discussions around race, sexual orientation, and identity, as well as to guide student journal prompts. I teach my students "the dangers of the single story" based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk, and these books are a great way to emphasize the importance of having multiple stories in the world. My hope is that students will be able to sharpen their critical thinking skills by reflecting on stories they usually see in media compared to what they have been reading in class and by asking themselves why they have been seeing a single story so often. Furthermore, my students will be mostly learning at home this school year, and it will be even more important for me to affirm their identities through stories since it will be more difficult to build a classroom community virtually.

About my class

All of the books I've selected are ones that will help my students in three different, crucial areas: 1) see their own stories reflected in the books I choose to read to them, 2) see alternate perspectives and cultures with which they're less familiar to help them become anti-racist, and 3) develop their own social-emotional understanding. Racism has always been part of the US, but the murder of George Floyd was one of many reminders that there is much more that can be done to fight racism and injustice, starting with our nation's children. Discussing race and racism only during Martin Luther King Jr. Day or Black History Month is not nearly enough to teach anti-racism; it needs to be incorporated into daily teaching. While these books are not the solution, I have found that reading is a wonderful gateway into beginning these discussions around better understanding race, as well as LGBTQ+ identities and other marginalized groups. I plan to use these books to facilitate discussions around race, sexual orientation, and identity, as well as to guide student journal prompts. I teach my students "the dangers of the single story" based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's TED talk, and these books are a great way to emphasize the importance of having multiple stories in the world. My hope is that students will be able to sharpen their critical thinking skills by reflecting on stories they usually see in media compared to what they have been reading in class and by asking themselves why they have been seeing a single story so often. Furthermore, my students will be mostly learning at home this school year, and it will be even more important for me to affirm their identities through stories since it will be more difficult to build a classroom community virtually.

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