Teachers' choices as they select texts have long been explored and considered by researchers. However, within such scholarship, there is limited research about how teachers, particularly Black women teachers, navigate the gauntlet of whitewashed standards, hegemonic curriculs, and dehumanizing school spaces to select texts that affirm students and…

Vocabulary learning is an essential component of early literacy instruction. However, choosing appropriate words for instruction can be a challenge, with many resources encouraging the instruction of words that are either too easy or too obscure. This article, based on a systematic review of vocabulary interventions, presents research-based…

The author introduces the literature selection bookmark, a tool that inservice and preservice teachers who are teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in international contexts can use to guide them in selecting authentic children's English literature and analyze its utility in the elementary English-language classroom. Authentic children's…

This article provides a critical literacy approach to reading picture books that represent individuals with disabilities. It details close reading with a critical literacy stance as a scaffolded method for teachers to support students' increased access to conversations about disability. A sample lesson plan and three prompting guides are provided…

Given the emerging evidence on the importance of learning content-specific vocabulary in the early years, many early childhood teachers try to incorporate science vocabulary teaching as part of classroom activities. In this article, the authors argue for the importance of teaching science vocabulary in engaging ways using read-aloud and the…

The authors closely analyzed 45 children's books featuring characters with refugee backgrounds that had been published since 2013. With the concept of culturally sustaining pedagogy underpinning the review, analysis revealed that these texts are rich and detailed, providing a starting point for discussing the global refugee crisis with students,…

Teachers spend a lot of time finding 'just right' picture books for their students. However, much of what is known about a book's difficulty level was developed with native English speakers. More needs to be developed with the distinctive characteristics of English Learners (ELs). This study reports on the selection of picture books to teach in an…

Learning how to choose and use diverse literature for students to read and as an inspiration for their writing has never been more important, as more than 50% of today's students in U.S. classrooms do not identify as white. This teaching tip explores the importance of finding high-quality diverse literature for all learners and how to use these…

Grounded in the work of critical literacy, the authors describe one preservice teacher's journey as she develops her own critical lens while selecting children's literature and designing instruction to engage second graders in critical conversations. She helps students unpack their biases and reflects on her own assumptions while becoming more…

This article presents the concept of tri-texts as a potential next step from paired texts following a collaborative inquiry with fifth-grade students. Paired texts are two texts intertextually connected, whereas tri-texts are three texts connected this way. The authors begin the article with a short literature review highlighting some of the…

Diverse classroom libraries offer opportunities for students to not only see themselves represented in books but also encounter lived experiences and perspectives that are different from their own. As classrooms increasingly include learners with cognitively and physically diverse abilities, teachers are faced with the challenge of selecting…

Selecting and integrating the use of digital texts/tools in literacy lessons are complex tasks. The DigiLit framework provides a succinct model to guide planning, reflection, coaching, and formative evaluation of teachers' successful digital text/tool selection and integration for literacy lessons. For digital text/tool selection, teachers need to…

This Teaching Tip describes how one second-grade teacher used whole-class repeated reading (WCRR) to promote social interaction and develop reading confidence with English learners (ELs). The authors share a brief review of professional literature on the challenges of ELs and the benefits of repeated reading and WCRR. The authors also provide…

Although many students spend a considerable amount of time online, teachers cannot assume that students have the skills necessary for online reading and writing. Instruction in locating, navigating, organizing, and producing information in the online world is integral to students' mastery of digital literacy. The authors detail the use of guided…

Given the increasing diversity in U.S. schools and the impact of texts that reflect students' identities and experiences in the world, it has become imperative for teachers to be able to effectively integrate culturally relevant texts. In this article, the authors show how to do this using five steps to guide the process. First, teachers need to…