Educator, Author, Coach, and Founder of Landrigan Literacy Consulting, LLC. Clare Landrigan is a teacher at heart. She believes that professional learning should center students, including side-by-side teaching in classrooms, respect, trust, and a good dose of laughter. Her work is customized to meet the needs of the district, school, and teacher. You can find her at ClareLandrigan.com.
Books create space for caregivers to invite children into a topic that may be challenging for them to articulate their feelings about and discuss. Books naturally scaffold and differentiate when we read with our kids, let them take the lead in conversations, and give them options for response like art, building, movement, discussion, and quietude. Here are some topics caregivers often request titles for and some texts I recommend to broaden the perspective on the topic so young readers can find mulitple connections and points of entry for response:
Learning about people who impact our world is compelling and empowering. The more people we encounter as we read, the more possibilities we see for how we can use our strengths to change the world. These picture books are collections of people who are history makers. Each text is organized around a theme, topic, time in history or character trait. It is important for young readers to read nonfiction literature within and beyond the content area curriculum. Students need to have choice in their nonfiction reading to nurture their curiosity and passions. These texts are perfect for independent reading, partner reading, read-aloud, and book clubs!