Getting Beyond "I Like the Book" Creating Space for Critical Literacy in K-6 Classrooms

This book explores the ways in which teachers can use critical literacy as a framework for teaching and learning. The book shares the varied experiences of its authors as they attempt to put a critical edge on students' classroom discussions about books and other texts, and thus create spaces for critical literacy in the K-6 classroom. Each chapter in the book focuses on how the authors used children's literature in combination with other texts to introduce critical conversations and construct social action projects in their classrooms. The book shows how its authors used books in four ways: (1) Pairing everyday texts with texts written for children; (2) Focusing on social issues: Bringing the outside world into the classroom; (3) Using children's literature to unpack social issues in the school community; and (4) Integrating critical literacy, children's literature, and mathematics investigations. Central to each chapter are the issues that students raise about the world and the difference that critical literacy discourse makes in the classroom. The book provides classroom strategies and annotated lists of children's literature that can be used to encourage and support children's critical conversations. Interspersed throughout the book are "Reflection Points," which ask teachers to reflect on their own practice and to consider personal philosophies and strategies for teaching; classroom vignettes; excerpts of student dialogue; and suggested readings. (Contains 49 references and 37 children's book references.) (NKA).