Kids, Books & Anti-Racism Series

The benefits of book clubs extend far beyond reading comprehension and academic gains. Together, we’ll explore the possibilities of book clubs as brave spaces where students reflect on their racial identities, read and discuss books that affirm them, and challenge inequities.

We’ll bring greater clarity around the term “culturally relevant” and construct book clubs as spaces to disrupt normalized models and exclusionary practices of “knowing” in order to honor and affirm the racial and cultural identities of students. Book clubs have an indelible influence on students as they develop as critical thinkers, lifelong readers, and change makers in the world. They have the potential to shift the teacher/student power dynamics and become liberatory spaces where students take ownership over their own reading lives.

For full details and pricing for this workshop with Sonja Cherry-Paul, click this link.

As educators, we often wonder how to be responsive to students when their needs, communities, backgrounds, and experiences are different from ours. We strive to provide reading and writing opportunities for all children that are engaging and responsive to them. But too often current reading instruction leaves too many with negative reading identities, complicating the work even further. We know that reading does not happen in isolation. However, because so many people treat it this way, many kids are left out of a positive culture of reading that will contribute to their success.

Participants will leave this institute with concrete ways to think about how to connect reading to students’ lives, communities, and aspirations. We will examine reading identity and how it intersects with racial, gender, and class identity. Throughout the institute, participants will learn how to effectively respond to the students in front of them through exploring student identity; observing students; and conducting authentic assessment. We will consider how powerful reading experiences are the means for both student reading growth and for building and shifting powerful learning communities.

The institute will be led by The Minor Collective, a community-based movement designed to foster sustainable change in schools, established by Kass Minor, an inclusive educator, and Cornelius Minor, literacy leader and author of We Got This. Equity, Access, and the Quest to Be Who Our Students Need Us to Be​​​​​​. Lesley University faculty will also guide you in your thinking around these topics.