One of the most important decisions teachers make is the instructional materials and tools they choose to utilize in their classrooms. For Pre-K students, books and stories are the cornerstone for social, emotional, and academic development. They provide students with both familiar representations that help develop self-identity and introductions to the world far beyond their own home, neighborhood, and community. The “Broadening the World, One Page at a Time” project will create a culturally responsive PreK library of books.
Books and stories are fundamental to the social, emotional, and academic development of young children. Books and stories help children make meaning of their world. They allow children to formulate their own identity. They help children learn about experiences and people that are different from their own backgrounds. Books and stories provide the horizons for what children see as possible. The traditional canon of stories and children’s books, however, tends to be culturally limited.Through reading, discussions, and activities utilizing this collection of books, students will listen, learn, and speak about themselves, their families, their classmates, and the broader world. I hope to diversify my PreK classroom library to represent a wide spectrum of cultures, experiences, and perspectives. I am fortunate to have a wonderfully diverse classroom of students. I want each of these students to be exposed to several stories where the book’s hero or heroine looks and sounds like them. I also want each of my students to be exposed to stories and images that introduce them to the lives of others in their neighborhoods and those far beyond their neighborhood.
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One of the most important decisions teachers make is the instructional materials and tools they choose to utilize in their classrooms. For Pre-K students, books and stories are the cornerstone for social, emotional, and academic development. They provide students with both familiar representations that help develop self-identity and introductions to the world far beyond their own home, neighborhood, and community. The “Broadening the World, One Page at a Time” project will create a culturally responsive PreK library of books.
Books and stories are fundamental to the social, emotional, and academic development of young children. Books and stories help children make meaning of their world. They allow children to formulate their own identity. They help children learn about experiences and people that are different from their own backgrounds. Books and stories provide the horizons for what children see as possible. The traditional canon of stories and children’s books, however, tends to be culturally limited.Through reading, discussions, and activities utilizing this collection of books, students will listen, learn, and speak about themselves, their families, their classmates, and the broader world. I hope to diversify my PreK classroom library to represent a wide spectrum of cultures, experiences, and perspectives. I am fortunate to have a wonderfully diverse classroom of students. I want each of these students to be exposed to several stories where the book’s hero or heroine looks and sounds like them. I also want each of my students to be exposed to stories and images that introduce them to the lives of others in their neighborhoods and those far beyond their neighborhood.
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