CHILDREN'S LITERATURE ASSEMBLY
  • Home
  • Join/Donate
  • Members Only
  • Journal
  • Notables
  • Grants & Awards
  • Resources
  • CLA @ NCTE
  • About
  • CLA Blog

The CLA Blog

Three Tips for Biography Read-Alouds

11/24/2020

 

By Courtney Shimek, on behalf of The Biography Clearinghouse

2020 has changed our world in indelible ways. From navigating a global pandemic to fighting social injustices embedded into our everyday lives, we find ourselves overwhelmed, exhausted, and uncertain of the future. In response to these crises and the emotions they produce, we have found solace in picturebook biographies that deliver some much-needed perspective. Reading biographies have become a part of our self-care; they provide archives of the past, context for the present, and hope for the future. At The Biography Clearinghouse, we recognize the potential of biographies to shape readers’ understanding of the world, inform their connection to history, and engender empathy. Through our teaching ideas, we suggest ideas and resources for incorporating biographies into curricula. We also recognize that sometimes picturebook biographies come to life most vividly when read-aloud with young readers.

As we maintain our "new normal" of vacillating between online, hybrid, and in-class instruction, reading aloud continues to be a constant beacon of inspiration and connection in our teaching. Our youth are navigating the same chaotic and ever-changing world; given that biographies model the complexities of this world, sharing these perspectives with youth is vital. As such, I share here 3 tips for reading biographies aloud and a few illustrative examples of high-quality biographies.

Tip #1: Discuss the Visual Features

Cover of Spotted Tail
Picturebooks are unique artifacts where readers gain information not only from words but also from images. The visual features of biographies provide insights into the emotional experiences of distinctive individuals and offer a deeper understanding of humanity. As you read biographies aloud, begin examining the artistic elements (e.g., design and composition, font styles, use of color, artistic mediums, etc.) and see what you discern about the featured individuals, their emotions, and their experiences. For example, from the beautiful mixed media artwork in Spotted Tail (Weiden et al., 2019), we see how the history of the Lakota people connects to present-day issues through striking photographs, art, textural elements from nature, and quotes. Though Spotted Tail has a text-heavy narrative, the design and combination of photographs and art from Jim Yellowtail and Pat Kinsella provide readers numerous points of discussion and a perspective worth including in your read-aloud rotation. Additionally, in It Began With a Page: How Gyo Fujikawa Drew the Way (Maclear & Morstad, 2019), Morstad’s illustrations show the reader the detail and sense of color Fujikawa used in her work, and real photographs of her family are included throughout the book. In addressing the visual features of books with readers, we learn about people’s beliefs, histories, cultures, and emotions, and learn more information than from the words, alone.

Tip #2: Back Matter Matters

Cover of Planting Stories
Often, when we begin a read-aloud we skip to the beginning of the narrative and stop at the end, but creators of contemporary biographies share exceptional amounts of information in the peritextual elements, or everything in the book which is not the actual narrative. Instead of stopping your read-aloud at the end of the narrative, share some of the information included in the back matter such as authors’ and illustrators’ personal connections to the content, where they sourced research materials, and their creative processes. For example, in Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpré (Denise & Escobar, 2019), Denise provides descriptions of books by Pura Belpré, as well as films, books, and collections about Pura Belpré for further study. Similarly, in A Place to Land: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation, Barry Wittenstein and Jerry Pinkney (2019) provide notes expanding upon their decisions, short biographies about other civil rights leaders, along with sources and a bibliography. Biography creators also include additional content through the book jacket, endpapers, and their dedications. Sometimes, the back matter or other peritextual features might be more text-heavy or smaller in size than the narrative. We suggest projecting these features or displaying them on an interactive whiteboard so that these peritextual features can be explored and discussed collectively. When we only read aloud the primary narrative, we miss out on information that contextualizes the biography, describes the creative process, and inspires readers to search out additional sources.


Tip #3: Revisit Writer’s Language

Cover of Fight of the Century
Biographers don’t just share events with readers, they share the essence of a person’s life. After you read a biography aloud, reread the book like a writer and examine how the authors’ word choices shape your understandings of a person, place, or event. In Fight of the Century: Alice Paul Battles Woodrow Wilson for the Vote (Rosenstock & Green, 2020), for example, Rosenstock structures her biography as a boxing match between Alice Paul and Woodrow Wilson. By portraying major events as rounds and including commentary from fight announcers (e.g., “This fight determines whether the women of the United States can vote, folks!”), readers experience how progress is often a battle of wills and experience what a fighter Alice Paul was. Additionally, Nelson’s use of western idioms (e.g., “plain as the ears on a mule” and “fit like made-to-measure boots”) in Let ‘er Buck!: George Fletcher, the People’s Champion (Nelson & James, 2019), drops the reader into the cowboy language and culture of Pendleton, Oregon. Through similes and energetic descriptions of bull riding, we experience how Fletcher was discriminated against and, yet, became a hometown hero. Biographers’ language choices provide us with new ways of looking at historical events, embed us in particular moments of time, and supply inspiration for our own writing processes.

The six exemplar biographies referenced in this post are just some of the contemporary picturebook biographies that evoke engaging, artistic, and dynamic read-alouds. If you’re interested to know more about biographies and how to include them in your curriculum, join Tanya Lee Stone, Lesa Cline Ransome, Barb Rosenstock, and members of The Biography Clearinghouse and the Children’s Literature Assembly, Xenia Hadjioannou and Mary Ann Cappiello, as they engage in conversations about biographies on December 9th from 6:00-7:00 pm EST on Stimola Live.
Flyer for Real People Real Classrooms Stimola Live Event. Registration URL linked to image
Previous posts from the Biography Clearinghouse
Exploring Representation and Advocacy in Government with "What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?"

Studying Science Processes with Otis and Will Discover the Deep: The Record Setting Dive of the Bathysphere

20 Biographies for 2020

Ideas for Change with Tonya Bolden’s Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl

The Biography Clearinghouse: Creating, Crafting and Connecting

How do you read aloud biographies? We would love to hear your tips through our email, thebiographyclearinghouse@gmail.com, or through comments on Facebook and Twitter #theBiographyClearinghouse. No matter what 2021 brings, we know we will navigate the uncertainty equipped with high-quality, multidimensional biographies and share the reassurances and possibilities they provide through read-alouds.

References

Denise, A. A., & Escobar, P. (2019). Planting stories: The life of librarian and storyteller Pura Belpré. HarperCollins.
Maclear, K., & Morstad, J. (2019). It began with a page: How Gyo Fujikawa drew the way. HarperCollins.
Nelson, V. M., & James, G. C. (2019). Let ‘er buck!: George Fletcher, the people’s champion. Carolrhoda Books.
Rosenstock, B., & Green, S. (2020). Fight of the century: Alice Paul battles Woodrow Wilson for the vote. Calkins Creek.
Weiden, D. H. W., Yellowtail, J., & Kinsella, P. (2019). Spotted tail. Reycraft Books.
Wittenstein, B. & Pinkney, J. (2019). A place to land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the speech that inspired a nation. Neal Porter Books
Courtney Shimek is an assistant professor at West Virginia University and has been a member of CLA since 2015.

Join CLA at the 2020 NCTE Virtual Convention

11/17/2020

 

BY LAUREN AIMONETTE LIANG

Last year, right around this time, the Fall 2019 issue of JCL arrived in the mail. In the President’s Message I had written a bit about my excitement for the upcoming NCTE conference:
It starts for me with the airplane travel. Coming from my area, it is rare to board a flight heading to a major conference and not encounter fellow teachers, librarians, and researchers embarking on the same adventure. We wave, ask about colleagues and friends, and buzz a bit with excitement. (I often think the other travelers must later wonder about these groups of individuals who are all grading papers and reading thick books, while simultaneously winning all the in-flight trivia and scrabble games.)  

Once we arrive at the NCTE city, conference-goers from all over are grabbing bags, looking for shuttles and taxis, and heading off to the area hotels. Immediately there is a shared sense of purpose and anticipation. Conversations break out in the hotel elevators about whether registration is open, and the time of the opening session. Hordes of badge-wearing, tote-bag laden attendees appear in long lines at the coffee stands and take over the sidewalks in their sensible walking shoes as they head off for the day.

And then the conference! Hour after hour of thought-provoking sessions, with speakers addressing the important issues in our field, provoking new ideas, and sharing possible solutions. The vibrant displays of new books in the exhibit hall waiting to be shared by knowledgeable and enthusiastic publishers who offer sneak peeks that might be perfect for your classroom. And, best of all, that amazing shared sense of being present with each other—knowing that the people gathered here care just as deeply as you do about supporting children’s and teen’s literacy experiences and growth.

The Children’s Literature Assembly events at NCTE are a highlight for many attendees. A history of consistent excellence makes our CLA Notables Session, CLA Master Class, and CLA Breakfast the starred events on many personal conference schedules...

This year’s conference will be a little different. No elevator chats with fellow badge-wearing attendees—but more #NCTE2020 tweets taking their place. Less wearing of sensible walking shoes—but likely a lot more feet clad in comfy slippers. However, I am certain that the most important part of the NCTE experience will remain the same: that gathering to passionately share and learn together how to support the literacy experiences and growth of our youth. Perhaps the virtual experience may allow for more to attend this year without the burden or barriers of travel. How we gather is, in the end, much less important than the fact that we simply do—that we find a way to make assembly and community.

For those attending the 2020 NCTE Virtual Convention, we hope our two live events will provide that powerful gathering space.

Interested in registering for the 2020 NCTE Virtual Convention?
Registration

Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts AwardS

Join the members of the Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts award committee in a live event on Sunday afternoon from 1:45- 3:00 pm ET. Throughout the fall this blog has featured posts from members of this committee. Join them live for more outstanding 2020 titles and suggestions for classroom use.

NOTABLES live event on Sunday afternoon from 1:45- 3:00 pm ET at NCTE2020

Annual CLA Breakfast

Bring your breakfast to listen to amazing author Jason Reynolds, this year’s CLA Breakfast keynote speaker! In a live session Sunday morning from 9:00 – 10:15 am ET, the 2020-21 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature will talk about his writing and more.
Picture
Add to your experience by submitting a question from you, or from your students, to be answered live during the session! 
Submit Questions
Prepare by exploring our annual “table trivia” game, this year to be played virtually
Trivia Game
CLA MEMBERS

Explore the interview with Jason Reynolds featured in the Fall 2020 issue of JCL
FALL JCL ISSUE [46(2)]
Lauren Aimonette Liang is an associate professor at the University of Utah and the current president of CLA.

Living Literately and Mindfully at the Intersection of Mother Nature, the Animal World and Poetry

11/9/2020

 

BY PEGGY S. RICE

Consider...

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Be blown on by all the winds.  Open all your pores and bathe in all the tides of nature, in all her streams and oceans, at all seasons. Grow green with spring, yellow and ripe with autumn.  For all Nature is doing her best each moment to make us well.  She exists for no other end. Do not resist her.

Henry David Thoreau, August 23, 1853

Poetry! There is no other genre like it in the world.  A good poem can take you places you never thought possible, wake you up, shake you, make your every emotion quake with excitement and awe.  Writing poetry is taking a subject---be it a pigeon or a Popsicle—breathing new life into it, letting readers know they never experienced a moment such as this before.

Lee Bennett Hopkins, 2009.

Make the Earth Your Companion 
--J. Patrick Lewis

Make the Earth your companion. 
Walk lightly on it, as other creatures do. 
Let the Sky paint her beauty—she is always watching over you. 
Learn from the Sea how to face harsh forces. 
Let the River remind you that everything will pass. 
Let the Lake instruct you in stillness. 
Let the mountain teach you grandeur. 
Make the woodland your house of peace. 
Make the Rainforest your house of hope. 
Meet the Wetland on twilight ground. 
Save some small piece of Grassland for a red kite on a windy day. 
Watch the Icecaps glisten with crystal majesty. 
Hear the Desert whisper hush to eternity. 
Let the Town weave a small basket of togetherness. 
Make the Earth your companion. 
Walk lightly on it, as other creatures do  

North Padre Island, TX THE ROAR of the surf... Soaring seagulls' hungry screams... Serenity here.
Picture
Ruby-throated hummingbird [Public domain USFWA]
Hummingbird jewels
Necks gleaming like red rubies
In the morning light

                   Sarah Rice, 8 years old

Serenity can be found at the intersection of Mother Nature, the animal world and poetry. I have found that the more time I spend at this intersection, the less anxiety I feel. Following are materials and strategies, my students, daughter and I have found successful:

  • Writer’s Notebook: The notebook serves as a means to encourage young writers to value writing.  It creates a space for students/writers to save words in the moment; "seeds" for a longer writing project which might be expanded and developed (Calkins, 1994).
  • Banish Boring Words (Shelton, 2009): Use as a resource for interesting words.  It provides lists of specific, interesting words for several categories of words, such as sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, action verbs, colors and shapes.
  • The Book of Animal Poetry (Lewis, 2012), and the Book of Nature Poetry (Lewis, 2015) Mentor Poems: Before requiring students to write a poem at the intersection of Mother Nature, the animal world and poetry provide students with numerous opportunities to explore mentor poems. NTCE Award Winning Poet and former U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis has created the Book of Animal Poetry (Lewis, 2012), and the Book of Nature Poetry (Lewis, 2015) to inspire us to see poetry in the natural world. Each collection includes 200 poems that “squeak, soar and roar” or “float, zoom and bloom.”  Each poem is accompanied by a photograph to experience the wonder of Mother Nature and the Animal World.


Cover of the book of animal poetry
Cover of Book of Nature Poetry

Poetry Performance

I recommend regular poetry breaks that provide students an opportunity to perform a poem of his/her choice.  Repeated reading and poetry performance of a favorite poem can enhance students’ motivation and build/increase fluency skills as well as strengthen reading/writing connections. Renee M. LaTulippe at No River.com provides 5 tips for poetry performance that my students and I have found helpful.

Within the context of repeated readings and poetry performance, discussions about poet’s craft/poetic elements can occur, such as stanzas, use of white space, figurative language (similes, metaphors & imagery), personification, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, consonance and repetition. Performance of an original poem can provide a moment of pride and peer review of videotaped performances can strengthen literacy skills.

Power of Place

Locate a space surrounded in nature that you can visit regularly.  I am fortunate, because I live on 7 acres with a pond.  When visiting this space, be prepared to engage in mindful listening, see the world with a poet’s eyes and take notes in a writing journal.
  • Sit comfortably.
  • Close your eyes and breath normally for a moment.
  • Now imagine your belly is a balloon filling up with air and when it is full hold it. (Pause). Now slowly breathe out.
  • Listen mindfully: What are the sounds of nature? Consider poetic elements, such as figurative language, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, consonance, repetition
  • Repeat. Deep breath in and hold it. (Pause). Release.
  • Breathe normally.
  • In your writing journal, write down the sounds of Nature. See p. 22 and 23 in Banishing Boring Words for some specific interesting sounds
  • Sit comfortably.
  • Now imagine your belly is a balloon filling up with air and when it is full hold it. (Pause). Now slowly breathe out.
  • Relax your body.
  • Focus your attention on nature for 5 minutes.  What do you see? What do you smell? Hear? What can you touch? When you see a creature, use your imagination.  What would it be like to be this creature?
  • In your writing journal, write down what you have noticed in nature. Consider poetic elements, such as figurative language (simile, metaphor, imagery), personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, consonance, repetition and refer to Banishing Boring Words for some specific interesting words.
  • Take photograph(s) to capture the moment.
  • Continue mindful listening and writing as desired.

Poetry Writing

Writing poetry is all about playing with words.  Fletcher (2002) encourages us to play with the sounds of words.  Consider, rhythm, rhyme, repetition, onomatopoeia and alliteration. He also encourages us to think fragments/cut unnecessary words, consider shape, use white space/experiment with line breaks and end with a bang/sharpen the ending. Each of these aspects of language can be a topic of minilessons connected to poetry performances of mentor poems.  Lewis (2012, 2015) has included excellent resources for writing formula poems.

Savor...

In Beauty May I Walk
--Anonymous (Navajo Indian)

In beauty may I walk
All day long may I walk
Through the returning seasons may I walk
Beautifully will I possess again
Beautifully birds
Beautifully joyful birds
On the trail marked with pollen may I walk
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk
With dew about my feet may I walk
With beauty may I walk
With beauty before me may I walk
With beauty behind me may I walk
With beauty above me may I walk
With beauty all around me may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age, wondering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk
It is finished in beauty
It is finished in beauty

References

Calkins, L.M. (1994). The art of teaching writing. (2nd ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Fletcher, R. (2002). Poetry matters: Writing a poem from the inside out. New York: Harper Trophy.

Lewis, J. P. (2015). National geographic book of nature poetry: More than 200 poems with photographs that float, zoom, and bloom! Washington, DC: National Geographic Partners, LLC.

Lewis, J. P. (2012). National geographic book of animal poetry: More than 200 poems with photographs that squeak, soar, and roar! Washington, DC: National Geographic Partners, LLC.

Shelton, L. (2009). Banish boring words. New York: Scholastic

Peggy S. Rice is an Associate Professor of Elementary Education and Faculty Advisor for the Partners in Literacy Council at Ball State University in Muncie Indiana. She is a member of the Children's Literature Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Exploring Representation and Advocacy in Government with "What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?"

11/3/2020

 

BY SCOTT RILEY AND MARY ANN CAPPIELLO, ON BEHALF OF THE BIOGRAPHY CLEARINGHOUSE

Cover of
The nation is rattled by a presidential impeachment trial. The economy is held in the grip of a recession. Black Americans demand an end to racism, redlining, and segregated schools. Women insist on equity in the home and in the workplace, control over their finances and their bodies. 2020? No. 1974.

The votes cast today, on Election Day 2020, along with the millions of votes cast over the last several weeks, will determine the next president and vice president of the United States of America. Today’s votes will also elect all members of the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 members of the U.S. Senate. How much do our students know and understand about these legislative bodies and the power with which they are endowed? About the people who serve within these institutions?

One small way to begin a conversation about these legislative bodies, the legislative process, and the people who fill those seats is with a reading of What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, written by Chris Barton and illustrated by Ekua Holmes. This 2018 picture book tells the life story of Barbara Jordan, the formidable Congresswoman known for her defense of the Constitution during the 1974 impeachment trial of President Richard Nixon:


Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, “We, the people.” It is a very eloquent beginning. But when the document was completed on the seventeenth of September 1787 I was not included in that “We, the people.”  I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake.  But through the process of amendment, interpretation and court decision I have finally been included in “We, the people.”

Today, I am an inquisitor; I believe hyperbole would not be fictional and would not overstate the solemnness that I feel right now.  My faith in the Constitution is whole, it is complete, it is total.  I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.

Barbara Jordan believed in the Constitution, and she believed in the power of the processes of government to enact change on behalf of the greater good. Throughout What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?, author Chris Barton uses the power and conviction of Jordan’s voice to demonstrate to readers how Jordan worked within the system to advocate for social justice. Through repetition, sentence variety, and precise word choice, Barton captures Jordan’s transition from studious young woman to tireless champion. Ekua Holmes’ mixed-media collages move from intimate close-ups to panoramic views, constantly shifting and changing perspectives to engage the reader in different portraits of Jordan.

Picture
Earliest known draft of VOICE, p. 6
Picture
Dr. Thomas Freedman, Barbara Jordan’s Debate Coach at Texas Southern University, Oct. 2, 2015
Picture
Barbara Jordan - Political Values and Ethics - Fall 1981
Operating within the Investigate, Explore, and Create Model of the Biography Clearinghouse, we designed teaching ideas geared toward literacy and content area learning as well as opportunities for socio-emotional learning and strengthening community connections using What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?

Create with What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?

Featured here is one of the teaching ideas inspired by What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?

“Making our Own Voices Heard.” Barbara Jordan used her voice and her education to become an advocate for the people around her and ultimately, for the American people, in her role as representative. At the end of his narrative, Barton writes, “...what do we do with a voice like that? We remember it, and we honor it by making our own voices heard” (unpaged).  What do your students already advocate for? What changes do they want to see in your community, the nation, or the world? How can they make their voices heard? In this activity, over 1 or 2 days, or 1 or 2 weeks, depending on the time you have available, your students have the opportunity to explore and advocate for their community in the footsteps of Barbara Jordan.

CHECK OUT THE BOOK ENTRIES @

Picture
What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?

Otis and Will Discover the Deep

Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl
If you have 1-2 hours….
If you have 1-2 days….
If you have 1-2 weeks….
After reading What Do You Do with a Voice Like That?, have students brainstorm the people in your community or in the world today who need a voice like Jordan’s from the Socio-Emotional Learning section above. How can students amplify the voices of those people and help them advocate for their needs as allies?
Have students conduct a video-conference conversation with members of a local or regional organization that advocate for the people and/or issues that your students have identified. Be sure to have students prepare questions in advance; help students to organize their questions by related subtopics.
Working with your school or local public librarian, gather print and digital resources your students can use to conduct more research on the people and/or issue they have identified. Work together to create and implement an action plan, to take your students’ advocacy work out of the classroom and into the community.
By investigating biographers’ research and writing processes and connecting people and historical events to our modern lives, we hope to motivate change in how readers engage with biographies, each other, and the larger world. To see more classroom possibilities and helpful resources connected to What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, visit the What Do You Do with a Voice Like That? The Story of Extraordinary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan page on The Biography Clearinghouse.
 
Additionally, we’d love to hear how these interviews and ideas inspired you. Email us at thebiographyclearinghouse@gmail.com with your connections, creations, questions, or comment below if you’re reading this on Twitter or Facebook.
 
If you are interested in receiving notifications when new content is added to the Biography Clearinghouse, you can sign up for new content notices on our website.

Scott Riley​ is a middle school instructional coach at Singapore American School where he supports professional learning in and out of classrooms and the debut author of The Floating Field: How a Group of Thai Boys Built Their Own Soccer Field (Millbrook Press 2021).

Mary Ann Cappiello teaches courses in children’s literature and literacy methods at Lesley University, blogs about teaching with children’s literature at The Classroom Bookshelf, a School Library Journal blog, and is a former chair of NCTE’s Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction K-8. 

    Authors:
    CLA Members

    Supporting PreK-12 and university teachers as they share children’s literature with their students in all classroom contexts.

    Disclaimer
    The opinions and ideas posted in the individual entries are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of CLA or the Blog Editors.

    Blog Editors

    Xenia Hadjioannou
    Lauren Liang
    Liz Thackeray Nelson

    contribute to the blog

    Instructions to Authors

    If you are a current CLA member and you would like to contribute a post to the CLA Blog, please read the Instructions to Authors and email co-editor Liz Thackeray Nelson with your idea.


    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020

    Categories

    All
    Activism
    Advocacy
    African American Literature
    Agency
    All Grades
    American Indian
    Antiracism
    Art
    Asian American
    Authors
    Award Books
    Awards
    Back To School
    Biography
    Black Culture
    Black Freedom Movement
    Bonnie Campbell Hill Award
    Book Bans
    Book Challenges
    Book Discussion Guides
    Censorship
    Chapter Books
    Children's Literature
    Civil Rights Movement
    CLA Auction
    Classroom Ideas
    Collaboration
    Comprehension Strategies
    Contemporary Realistic Fiction
    COVID
    Creativity
    Creativity Sponsors
    Critical Literacy
    Crossover Literature
    Cultural Relevance
    Culture
    Current Events
    Digital Literacy
    Disciplinary Literacy
    Distance Learning
    Diverse Books
    Diversity
    Early Chapter Books
    Emergent Bilinguals
    Endowment
    Family Literacy
    First Week Books
    First Week Of School
    Garden
    Global Children’s And Adolescent Literature
    Global Children’s And Adolescent Literature
    Global Literature
    Graduate
    Graduate School
    Graphic Novel
    High School
    Historical Fiction
    Identity
    Illustrators
    Indigenous
    Indigenous Stories
    Innovators
    Intercultural Understanding
    Intermediate Grades
    International Children's Literature
    Journal Of Children's Literature
    Language Arts
    Language Learners
    LCBTQ+ Books
    Librarians
    Literacy Leadership
    #MeToo Movement
    Middle Grade Literature
    Middle Grades
    Middle School
    Mindfulness
    Multiliteracies
    Museum
    Native Americans
    Nature
    NCTE
    Nonfiction Books
    Nurturing Lifelong Readers
    Outside
    #OwnVoices
    Picturebooks
    Picture Books
    Poetic Picturebooks
    Poetry
    Preschool
    Primary Grades
    Primary Sources
    Professional Resources
    Reading Engagement
    Research
    Science
    Science Fiction
    Self-selected Texts
    Social Justice
    Social Media
    Social Studies
    Sports Books
    STEAM
    STEM
    Storytelling
    Summer Camps
    Summer Programs
    Teacher
    Teaching Reading
    Teaching Resources
    Teaching Writing
    Text Sets
    The Arts
    Tradition
    Translanguaging
    Trauma
    Ukraine
    Undergraduate
    Using Technology
    Verse Novels
    Virtual Library
    Vocabulary
    War
    #WeNeedDiverseBooks
    YA Lit
    Young Adult Literature

    RSS Feed

CLA

About CLA
CLA Board & Committees
Membership
Merchandise
Endowment Fund

Grants & Awards

CLA Research Award
Bonnie Campbell Hill Award
CLA Early Career Award
CLA Student Travel Grant

Journal of Children's Literature

Write for JCL
JCL Editors

The CLA Blog

Notables

Current List
Notables Archive

Resources

CLA-sponsored NCTE Position Statements
Children's Literature Course Syllabi
Children's Literature Blogs

CLA @NCTE

Children's Literature Assembly Breakfast
Master Class
Other CLA-sponsored Sessions

Art Auction

Members-Only Content

CLA Video Library
CLA Newsletter Archive

JCL Past Issues Archive

Current JCL Issue
JCL Podcasts

© COPYRIGHT 2018.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
  • Home
  • Join/Donate
  • Members Only
  • Journal
  • Notables
  • Grants & Awards
  • Resources
  • CLA @ NCTE
  • About
  • CLA Blog