Education Commons^™

Increasing Pre-Service Teachers' Awareness Of Children Experiencing Homelessness, Rachael Waller, Melissa Sullivan-Walker

The Reading Professor

As homelessness becomes a growing issue in the United States, children experiencing homelessness can be educationally at risk. However, teachers can make a significant difference for these children. In this study, we sought to increase empathy and understanding for children experiencing homelessness for the pre-service teachers whom we teach. Using the windows, mirrors and sliding glass doors framework (Bishop, 1990), we implemented an activity in which pre-service teachers read and discussed children's books portraying different types of homelessness. This paper will articulate how students made connections with the texts and deepened their understanding and empathy about children experiencing homelessness.

Growing The Use Of Multicultural Literature Through Accretion, Robert Kelly Jr., Lunetta M. Williams

The Reading Professor

Children's books play a significant role in students' academic progress as well as in social and cultural learning. The opportunties afforded children through picture books should be a result of intentional choices. In this article, we provide guidance to preservice teachers on intentionally selecting multicultural literature. Current research suggests that authenticity and accuracy are two important elements of multicultural literature. We add to the body of research on multicultural literature by presenting accretion, the concept of expanding breadth of a cultural aspect. Included is a list of suggested picture books that demonstrate three expanded areas of accretion: content, illustrator studies, …

Building Resilience Skills Using Children's Literature, Shannon Tovey

The Reading Professor

Nearly half of U.S. children have faced at least one social or family-related trauma. These Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have the potential for affecting physical and mental health, along with learning, and the effects often can be long-term and pervasive. The risks of these effects occurring, however, can be mitigated through the promotion of resilience strategies by parents, the broader community, and the children themselves. Teachers can help by teaching these strategies using children's literature. In personalizing these abstract principles, in showing rather than telling, and through the empathy that we develop for the story characters and others like them, …

Windows And Mirrors In Latino Children's Literature: A History And Analysis Of The Latino Cultural Experience, Priscilla K. Delgado

The Reading Professor

Abstract

This article discusses material about children’s books that reflect the Latino cultural experience. The need for windows and mirrors in children’s literature is addressed, followed by a review of three Latino children’s book awards that recognize exemplary literature that provides such windows and mirrors. A content analysis of Latino children’s books published in the past decade identifies common themes in Latino children’s literature, followed by examples of specific interactions and responses to these books with Latino children, pre-service teachers, and educators. A brief qualitative study is described involving the use of a recently-published Latino children’s literature title with university …