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Re: Multiculturalism and the unending adventure/activism
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From: Crystal Brunelle <brucr_at_onalaskaschools.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2014 23:49:59 -0600
>
> Sarah Hamburg asked this question earlier in the month:
> I just wanted to ask in general, and across all of those spaces: what
> does/would activism on these issues look like to you?
>
> I have been meaning to address it and am finally getting to it. Here are
some of the things that I am doing or plan to do.
The Birthday Party Pledge - explained on Zetta Elliott's blog<http://zettaelliott.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/the-birthday-party-pledge/>
Buy more diverse literature for my personal library and read more diverse lit (I can better recommend it if I know it well myself). As part of this I am participating in the Diversity on the Shelf Challenge<http://littlepocketbooks.blogspot.com/2013/12/diversity-on-shelf-2014.html>and the Latin_at_s in Kids Lit Challenge<http://latinosinkidlit.com/2013/12/12/join-our-2014-reading-challenge/>this year. I am hoping that at some point in the near future, reading like this will be automatic.
Participate in social networking sites such as Twitter, Tumblr & more to be part of the larger discussion and to get the word out about diverse lit titles.
Participate in a blog that promotes diverse lit - Rich in Color<http://richincolor.com> (after a #diverselit chat through Lee&Low on Twitter last year, Audrey and I started this blog as part of our own desire to encourage diverse lit).
I also promote diverse lit on my personal blog Reading Through Life<http://readingtl.blogspot.com>
.
In my elementary school library, I include diverse lit in all displays rather than only singling it out at certain times of the year (though I have a Black History Month display happening right now too).
I have taught professional development sessions in my school district centered around diverse lit - sharing great examples and resources<https://sites.google.com/a/onalaskaschools.com/nh-lmc/home/diversity-resources>, teaching how to evaluate it and sharing uses for the classroom.
Purchasing for my school library also reflects a commitment to increasing the diversity of our collection. For example, sometimes it seems that the thinking would be that I don't need many books featuring Latino characters since we have a very small population in our area, but that perpetuates the idea that "white" characters are for everyone, but characters of other ethnicities are only for that specific group. I am looking for a wide variety of great literature that can speak to children across cultural lines providing them with "mirrors and windows."
I am also teaching my students how to read literature critically. Fourth and fifth grade are learning to ask questions as they read. They are learning to think about who is telling the story and if there is another perspective that is missing. They are looking to see if there is bias and watching for stereotypes.
These are a few of the ways I am moving forward in my little corner of the world.
Crystal Brunelle Teacher Librarian Northern Hills Elementary 511 Spruce St. Onalaska, WI 54650
Tweet _at_librarygrl2
Date: Sat, 22 Feb 2014 23:49:59 -0600
>
> Sarah Hamburg asked this question earlier in the month:
> I just wanted to ask in general, and across all of those spaces: what
> does/would activism on these issues look like to you?
>
> I have been meaning to address it and am finally getting to it. Here are
some of the things that I am doing or plan to do.
The Birthday Party Pledge - explained on Zetta Elliott's blog<http://zettaelliott.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/the-birthday-party-pledge/>
Buy more diverse literature for my personal library and read more diverse lit (I can better recommend it if I know it well myself). As part of this I am participating in the Diversity on the Shelf Challenge<http://littlepocketbooks.blogspot.com/2013/12/diversity-on-shelf-2014.html>and the Latin_at_s in Kids Lit Challenge<http://latinosinkidlit.com/2013/12/12/join-our-2014-reading-challenge/>this year. I am hoping that at some point in the near future, reading like this will be automatic.
Participate in social networking sites such as Twitter, Tumblr & more to be part of the larger discussion and to get the word out about diverse lit titles.
Participate in a blog that promotes diverse lit - Rich in Color<http://richincolor.com> (after a #diverselit chat through Lee&Low on Twitter last year, Audrey and I started this blog as part of our own desire to encourage diverse lit).
I also promote diverse lit on my personal blog Reading Through Life<http://readingtl.blogspot.com>
.
In my elementary school library, I include diverse lit in all displays rather than only singling it out at certain times of the year (though I have a Black History Month display happening right now too).
I have taught professional development sessions in my school district centered around diverse lit - sharing great examples and resources<https://sites.google.com/a/onalaskaschools.com/nh-lmc/home/diversity-resources>, teaching how to evaluate it and sharing uses for the classroom.
Purchasing for my school library also reflects a commitment to increasing the diversity of our collection. For example, sometimes it seems that the thinking would be that I don't need many books featuring Latino characters since we have a very small population in our area, but that perpetuates the idea that "white" characters are for everyone, but characters of other ethnicities are only for that specific group. I am looking for a wide variety of great literature that can speak to children across cultural lines providing them with "mirrors and windows."
I am also teaching my students how to read literature critically. Fourth and fifth grade are learning to ask questions as they read. They are learning to think about who is telling the story and if there is another perspective that is missing. They are looking to see if there is bias and watching for stereotypes.
These are a few of the ways I am moving forward in my little corner of the world.
Crystal Brunelle Teacher Librarian Northern Hills Elementary 511 Spruce St. Onalaska, WI 54650
Tweet _at_librarygrl2
-- This email adheres to the policy of the School District of Onalaska <http://www.onalaska.k12.wi.us/email_policy.htm> --- You are currently subscribed to ccbc-net as: ccbc-archive_at_post.education.wisc.edu. To post to the list, send message to: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu To receive messages in digest format, send a message to... ccbc-net-request_at_lists.wisc.edu ...and include only this command in the body of the message: set ccbc-net digest CCBC-Net Archives The CCBC-Net archives are available to all CCBC-Net listserv members. The archives are organized by month and year. A list of discussion topics (including month/year) is available at http://www.education.wisc.edu/ccbc/ccbcnet/archives.asp To access the archives, go to: http://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/ccbc-net and enter the following: username: ccbc-net password: Look4PostsReceived on Sat 22 Feb 2014 11:50:23 PM CST
