Books make a difference in building Bookworms, so choosing them is extremely difficult work. Bookworms books have to be engaging and rich in opportunities for content and knowledge building. We have to be able to predict that each book will help students build skills and inclinations to read widely and deeply. For students to achieve this goal, they have to be willing to engage; they have to actually be interested in the content. Teachers initially proposed texts to us that they had direct experience using with students, and that they considered to have literary and/or knowledge-building merit. Some of these were familiar to us, but many were unfamiliar. So we read, we sorted, and we researched. In the end we chose some of the texts proposed by teachers and added additional ones to balance the offerings in different ways.
As we made our final selections, we used a broad representational lens within the grade levels. Simply stated, we wanted students to see themselves in books. For narrative texts, we thought about characters. Are we choosing books with both male and female protagonists? Do the characters identify with a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds? We also thought about the settings and actions. Will students have an opportunity to learn about historical periods, areas of the country or world, or experiences that they might not have had directly? Do characters experience real-world challenges that students themselves might be facing, including mistakes and triumphs? Finally, we thought about whether the books would inspire emotions and reactions. We chose to include selections that depict challenges and even sadness and loss—challenges that we know schoolchildren do face. Our characters make mistakes. Some are bullies. Some are bullied. Some experience loss or death. Some are jealous. Some are cruel to others. Some are heroic. Many change over the course of the book. We have seen students gasp, laugh, clap, and take real umbrage at twists and turns as they read. We have seen teachers worry that they will cry at the sad part. And we have seen classrooms with strong communities and caring teachers discuss these real-world challenges not typical in traditional curricula. It is these emotional connections with reading in general and with specific books that build lifelong readers, so we sought them out.
For informational texts, we began with a list of topics commonly taught in science and social studies across the nation, and selected texts that would provide content-specific vocabulary and background knowledge that would preview and enrich (but not replace) instruction in those subjects. We included captivating biographies at all grade levels, with a typical chronological structure, and straight informational books combining a series of text structures. In these selections, we asked ourselves whether learning this content through reading and demonstrating it in writing would build knowledge that could be extended in investigations in social studies and science instruction.
We grouped informational texts together. We did this because they are better read in sets, with the knowledge gained from one text applied immediately to another. Informational texts contain content-specific words that may be less frequent, but can be taught prior to reading. Our texts are important each in their own right, but they are also important when experienced together. Lesson plans contain full information about the goals of Modules and Units.
Both kindergarten and first grade have a larger number of read alouds than the other grade levels—one each week. We made that design choice to enhance knowledge- and language-building opportunities while we were building expressive language in kindergarten and beginning reading fluency in first grade. It also allowed us to balance our narrative-heavy shared texts with more complex informational books.
The Culturally-Responsive Sustaining Education framework adopted by the state of New York targets four levers of change: a welcoming environment, high expectations and rigorous instruction, inclusive curriculum and assessment, and ongoing professional learning. In our revision work, we targeted two pillars previously underdeveloped but related in our work—the welcoming environment and increased sensitivity to inclusion.
We adopted a style guide in the curriculum to capitalize both Black and White to represent the importance of racial identity and avoid the implication that White was the standard and Black an outlier. We adopted the term multilingual to replace English language learner to celebrate home language as an asset. We also were more attentive to the language choices that authors use in books. While we did remove some books from our list because of the language choices of authors, we built guidance for teachers to discuss language choices in context for others.
Our language choices and additional guidance for teaching with texts that include themes of racial and ethnic diversity and history are also part of our efforts to create a welcoming classroom environment. We have elevated the role of relationships in instruction by reserving time at the beginning of the year for community building, for setting of classroom norms, and for teachers to engage with students and learn about what they and their families bring to the classroom. We are also taking seriously our opportunities to increase cultural representation in the curriculum through text selection. We always looked for texts that included characters from different races, ethnicities, and cultures as well as consider the race or culture of their authors.
We want all students to be able to see themselves in books. And we want them to engage in instruction and practice that creates the skill and the motivation they need to pursue their own reading and writing and learning goals.