Literacy Matters - Vol 21 - Winter 2021

VOLUME 21 WINTER 2021

Literacy Matters The Journal of the Palmetto State Literacy Association

This page left blank intentionally.

Literacy

Volume 21, Winter 2021 Matters

T he J ournal of the P almetto S tate L iteracy A ssociation

Make It Matter Letter from the President by Missy Lark.......................................................................................................................................................... IV Letter from the Editors by Lisa Aker and Koti Hubbard............................................................................................................................VII Critical Literacy Matters Reflections of Culture: Stories as Culturally Sustaining Literacy Practice in Early Childhood by Crystal P. Glover................ 7 Taboo Conversation in the Classroom: Using Young Adult Literature for Critical Witnessing and Testimony of Traumatic Experiences by Julia Kate Bentley & Rachelle S. Savitz..............................................................................14 Utilizing Literature Circles to Develop Racial Literacy Among Educators by Tiffany Hollis.........................................................21 Reading Matters What is Reading? Perceptions from Striving Readers by Priscilla Manarino-Leggett....................................................................30 Improving Academic Comprehension and Speaking Skills with Interactive Mental Imagery and Verbalization Strategies by Elke Schenider...................................................................................34 Using Early Learning and Development Standards for Intentional Literacy Instruction in Early Childhood Classrooms by Teressa Sumrall & Rebecca Payne Jordan...................................................................................46 Writing Matters Teachers as Writers by Katie Kelly, Brian Kissel, Maria Morrison, & Brie Leggat Johnson..............................................................51 Early Childhood Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions of Cross-Institutional Peer Reviews by Lori A. Caudle & Jennifer Barrett-Tatum....................................................................................................................................................57 Writing Marathon: An Authentic Writing Experience for Building Writerly Identities by Tamra W. Ogletree, Robert A. Griffin, Jennifer K. Allen, & Bethany L. Scullin...............................................................................65 Technology Matters Balanced Literacy in the Digital Classroom by Lindsay Yearta & Lisa Harris......................................................................................71 Disciplinary Literacy Matters Disentangling Content-Area and Disciplinary Literacy: Educators Analysing Their Own Reading Strategies As Professional Development by Britnie Delinger Kane, Jennifer D. Morrison, Charlene Aldrich, Rachelle S. Savitz, Kavin Ming, W. Ian O’Byrne, & Todd Li.............................................................................................................................................................77 Commentary Matters How Can We Support Black Boys in Teaching Self-Actualization? By Daneell D. Moore & Sophia B. Tarkhan......................85

Editors Lisa D. Aker, Ph.D., Clemson University Koti L. Hubbard, Ph.D., Clemson Universit y Editorial Review Board Jamie Colwell, Ph.D. Old Dominion University Michelle Cook The Pennsylvania State University Susan Fernandez, Ph.D. Lander University Kathy Fox, Ph.D. University of North Carolina Wilmington Susan King Fullerton, Ph.D. Clemson University Mihaela Gazioglu Clemson University Janie Riddle Goodman, Ph.D. University of South Carolina Kela Goodman, Ph.D. University of South Carolina Upstate Hayley Hoover Clemson University Emily Howell Ph.D., Clemson University Elizabeth M. Hughes, Ph.D. The Pennsylvania State University Sarah Hunt-Barron, Ph.D. University of South Carolina Upstate Jacquelynn Malloy, Ph.D. Clemson University Victoria Oglan, Ph.D. University of South Carolina Leslie D. Roberts, Ph.D. Georgia Southern University Elke Schneider, Ph.D. Winthrop University Jill Shelnut, Ph.D. Clemson University Kelly Tracy, Ph.D. Western Carolina University Amy Vetter, Ph.D. University of North Carolina Greensboro Lindsay Yearta, Ph.D. Winthrop University

PSLA Executive Board/Officers 2020-2021 President Missy Lark larkmissy@gmail.com President-Elect Cathy Jones-Stork PSLAConference@gmail.com Vice President Kaye Jamison jamisonkb74@gmail.com Treasurer Eddie Marshall eddieMarshall@lcsd56.org Secretary Karley Watkins kyoung@saludaschools.org Membership Director Jean B. Brewington jbrewington@spartanburg3.org

State Coordinator Pat Smith ptrcwsmith@aol.com

Conference Coordinator Vickie Brockman brockmanvickie@gmail.com Immediate Past President Susan Fernandez scira.drsusafern@gmail.com

CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS PSLA s Literacy Matters Classroom teachers, teacher educators, administrators, and rese archers are invited to submit manuscripts to PSLA’s professional journal, Literacy Matters . Authors are requested to submit unpublished work not under consideration by any other publication. Types of Submissions: Literacy Matters welcomes practical, theoretical, and research articles, generally no more than 15 pages (excluding tables, figures, and references), related to all areas of literacy. Articles should be clearly written, purposeful, and discuss the topic in some depth where treatment of the topic is interesting, insightful, and based on the writers’ experience. Brief commentary pieces on teaching literacy are welcomed, as well as short teaching tips, teacher or student poetry, vignettes of classroom experiences, and student writing and/ or artwork (with parental permission). Manuscript Form: Manuscripts should follow APA 7 style guidelines. Please be sure to include an abstract. As manuscripts are subject to blind review, content should not reveal author identities or affiliations. Full references for all citations should be Manuscripts should be typed in Microsoft Word and sent as an email attachment to ldaker@clemson.edu or kotih@clemson. edu . When naming your file, please use simple, clear file names. Include a cover page giving the author(s)’ names, affiliation, complete mailing address, email address, and home and work telephone numbers. Manuscripts will be peer reviewed and edited for style, content, and space limitations by the editors. The Review Process: Acceptance decisions are based on interest and relevance to PSLA membership, usefulness, clarity, timeliness, and cohesiveness. The overall balance of the journal’s content also influences editors’ selections. Manuscript Deadline: July 1, 2021 included, following APA guidelines. Submitting a Manuscript: Manuscripts undergo a blind-review process, with at least two reviewers from the Editorial Review Board.

Literacy Matters | Volume 20 • Winter 2020 | scira.org | V

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

Letter from the President

Missy Lark

Reading Matters Make it Matter Reading Matters Make it Matter

The Palmetto State Literacy Association (PSLA) would like to thank the educators of South Carolina for their tireless efforts to meet the needs of students physically, socially and emotionally during this unprecedented pandemic. The challenges for educators during the 2020- 2021 school year have been like no other. Across our great state, teachers have risen to the challenge of educating students, adapting classrooms and modifying teaching styles to provide safe learning environments for students. While it has been challenging for educators across the state, it has also provided the opportunity to try something new, experience new technologies, and discover new ways of working virtually. PSLA has experienced these same challenges as we support local councils. Meeting virtually has

given us the opportunity to keep abreast of current trends and issues when we are not able to meet face to face.

PSLA launched a newwebsite, www.palmettostateliteracy. org, this year! Our newwebsite offers online membership, grants, scholarships, awards, latest news, and upcoming events. In the comingmonths, PSLA will be announcing virtual opportunities for professional development to connect members to our larger community. Please visit and share our website with your colleagues.

We look forward to the future! Best wishes for a safe and healthy 2021!

Missy Lark President

Letter from the Editors

Lisa D. Aker & Koti L. Hubbard

article, Reflections of Culture: Stories as Culturally Sustaining Literacy Practice in Early Childhood , describes ways in which using children’s oral and written stories can center the lives of children of Color and those from historically marginalized populations in the classroom. In addition, you will find other articles that center on the experiences and voices of students and teachers. Educators in 2021 understand that literacy goes beyond the ELA block so we are pleased to share more information on digital literacy, disciplinary literacy, and critical literacy as these are clear paths for professional learning in our state and across the nation.

Dear Readers,

In 2020 we unexpectedly faced many challenges as educators, but as teachers, we rose to those challenges and worked hard to support our students. We learned. We reflected. We are better educators for the experiences of 2020. We are hopeful that 2021 will bring us back to some normalcy, but now more than ever we are charged to consider ways we can support all students in our care. In this issue, we invited a professor at Winthrop University, Dr. Crystal Glover, to be the first in what we hope to be a long line of invited authors for Literacy Matters . Dr. Glover specializes in culturally sustaining literacy practices for young children. Her

Lisa D. Aker

Be inspired and inspiring, Koti and Lisa

Koti L. Hubbard

Reflections of Culture: Stories as Culturally Sustaining Literacy Practice in Early Childhood by

by Crystal P. Glover Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Winthrop University

“ Storytelling is one of the oldest human art forms. Ancient cultures maintained their histories and culture of self through the stories they told and retold .” (Ladson-Billings, 2013, p. 41). Storytelling as Literacy Practice Throughout history, generations of people from societies around the world have practiced storytelling as a way to honor their heritage, uphold social practices and traditions, and socialize children into their cultures (Strekalova-Hughes &Wang, 2019). Daily social interactions within communities have served as a bedrock of culture, girding the evolution and objective of critical literacy (Gee, 1996). Children living and learning within communities are uniquely positioned to serve as reflections of culture, providing keys to the evolving, dynamic cultural ways of telling stories (Strekalova-Hughes &Wang, 2019). As children are immersed into the ways of doing and being within their cultures through storytelling, they gain agency and play significant roles in the reproduction of culture, histories, traditions, and practices (Jirata & Simonsen, 2014). In this way, storytelling is a culturally sustaining practice that centers multilingual, multicultural practices and knowledge within communities of Color. Honoring the Family Tree In our recent book, Toward Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy : Early Childhood Educators Honor Childrenwith Practices for Equity and Change (Nash, Glover, & Polson, 2020), my colleagues and I put forth a theoretical framework guided by the theories, pedagogies, sociopolitical movements, and people who have channeled the work towards humanizing and transformative policies and practices that provide equitable educational opportunities for historically marginalized populations. In the book, we present a family tree outlining our journeys as scholars committed to early childhood literacy instruction that sustains the cultural and linguistic repertoires of children of Color. Serving as the guide and narrator of our personal “stories’’as scholars of early childhood literacy education, our family tree represents the history, lineage, heritage, and legacies from which we draw as we teach, write, research, read, learn, and grow in our journey toward culturally sustaining literacy practice in early childhood education. For us, the family tree“signifies that for more than a century, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous thought pioneers have contributed to a rich expanse of literature urging us to develop educational programs, policies, and practices to create an equitable society and equitable schools”(Nash, Glover, & Polson, 2020, p. 7). We invite emerging scholars to consider the family tree model we created and tell their own stories as they critically reflect on the researchers, theorists, movements, and experiences that have shaped their theoretical outlook and worldviews on literacy teaching and learning in early childhood. In this article, I provide a brief overview

of a portion of the framework embedded within the“leaves’’of our family tree . I illustrate its impact onmy story and its influence onmy views regarding literacy instruction in the early childhood classroom. Later, I outline storytelling strategies that frame culturally sustaining practice within the context of the early childhood classroom. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Steeped in the tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson- Billings, 1995), our theoretical family tree seeks to champion the cultural competence , critical consciousness , and academic achievement of young learners. As such, we advocate early literacy instruction that values children’s heritage and culture; prioritizes children’s intellectual growth; and promotes awareness of practices that drive injustice while supporting children in taking action against those injustices. We embrace culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012; Paris & Alim, 2014, 2017) and its “emancipatory vision of schooling that reframes the object of critique [within schools] from our children to the oppressive systems.” (Paris & Alim, 2017, p. 3). Just as culturally sustaining pedagogy builds on and “lovingly critiques” culturally relevant pedagogy, so too do we move beyond simply illuminating the ways in which the cultural and linguistic practices of communities of Color are relevant to White, mainstream literacy practices and toward literacy teaching and learning that normalizes and affirms the rich and varied ways of speaking, listening, writing and communicating that exist within historically marginalized groups.

Literacy Matters Critical Literacy Matters

Figure 1 Family Tree Framework Note. From Nash, Glover, & Polson, 2020, p. 8

Literacy Matters | Volume 21 • Winter 2021 | 7 |

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

As I critically reflect on these questions, and countless others like it, I am reminded that there are no shortcuts, no checklists, and no guidelines to culturally sustaining literacy instruction for young learners. One cannot merely ascribe to a list of characteristics, strategies, principles and practices and emerge victorious in the substance of culture for students. The deeply personal, dynamic, evolving, and nonconforming nature of CSP requires one to be curious, combative, and committed to CSP as a conceptual and empirical project (Paris & Alim, 2017). And though I offer strategies below for moving toward culturally sustaining practice in early childhood literacy, to be clear, these ideas represent merely a single leaf within the family tree that guides the ongoing, necessary, transformative, and exhilarating work towards culturally sustaining pedagogy. Storytelling with Young Learners Although common in early childhood classrooms, stories and storytelling- like other prevalent early literacy practices- are often couched within the context of exclusionary school curricula and based on the practices and values of the dominant culture (Hollins, 2015; Long, Souto-Manning & Vasquez, 2016). The stories that are most frequently told, and the ways in which they are relayed in the early childhood classroom, serve to reinforce mainstream ideology, elevate Whiteness and send messages of inferiority about people of Color (Hollins, 2015). Opportunities to make connections to culture through storytelling within the curriculum are often overlooked, ignored or vaguely referenced (Hibbin, 2016). According to Hibbin (2016) this hegemony of literacy devalues language and literacy forms that are closely connected to the cultural practice of storytelling that is ubiquitous within communities of Color. Since literacy acquisition is closely tied to the authentic learning experiences within one’s community (Heath, 1983; Ochs, 1988) multi-dimensional conceptions of literacy are necessary to recognize the rich and varied linguistic repertories children bring to the classroom (Gee, 2004; Hibbin, 2016). Storytelling allows us to sustain and expand those innate abilities. In the following sections, I describe three types of stories that can be used to support culturally sustaining literacy instruction in early childhood classrooms. Identity Stories Identity stories are native to the early childhood classroom. Young children enjoy and naturally gravitate towards stories with which they can relate, compare and connect. Identity stories, or personal stories written about one’s self, “blend languages, dialects, images, and sound that reflect the hybrid ways that children make sense of the world” (Machado, 2017, p. 318). For a young child whose concepts of self and community are in progress, an identity text can act as an ambassador, holding a mirror up to the child and reflecting her identity in a positive light (Cummins et al., 2006). When teachers draw on the breadth of children’s linguistic and cultural repertoires through the use of identity stories, they are able to “support students in strategically accessing knowledge, language, and literacy practices from their homes, schools, and communities” (Machado, 2017, p. 318).

Toward Culturally Sustaining Literacy in Early Childhood Literacy Our family tree situates culturally sustaining pedagogy as leaves or fruit produced from a healthy, vibrant, and vigorous system of deeply embedded roots of Black, Latinx, and Indigenous thought, branches of asset theories and based pedagogies, and the legal reforms and sociopolitical movements that sprout from a sturdy, metaphorical trunk . Firmly planted in the rich and fertile soil sown by the stories of our scholarly ancestors, culturally sustaining pedagogy “seeks to perpetuate and foster- to sustain- linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism as part of schooling for positive social transformation and revitalization.” (Paris & Alim, 2017, p. 1). It acts as a “counterstory to the myth of acultural teaching” (Souto-Manning & Rabidi-Raol, 2018, p. 213) and calls for schools to be “site(s) for sustaining -rather than eradicating- the cultural ways of being of communities of Color.” (Paris & Alim, 2017). Culturally sustaining pedagogy calls on educators to recognize the knowledge, agency, and ability of children to confront the oppressive and internalized messages they receive in school and society (Gutiérrez & Johnson, 2017). In choosing to focus on CSP, we shift “the discourse of who the mainstream is” (Paris & Alim, 2017, p. 6), and who in turn yields power within the community, by normalizing and centering early literacy practices that allow equal access and opportunity for children of Color while decentering the White, middle-class linguistic, literate, and cultural ways of being as a singular gatekeeper to success (Delpit, 1988; Paris & Alim, 2014). In upholding the key features of CSP we heed the call to: 1) center multilingual, multicultural practices and knowledge within communities of Color; 2) promote and support agency and input from children, their families, and communities, 3) connect classroom learning to the histories of racial, ethnic, and linguistic communities, as well as the histories of neighborhoods, cities, states and nation states in which they live, 4) acknowledge and contend with internalized oppression, counter messages, and systems that view marginalized as the problem, and 5) integrate these features into the early classrooms with which we study, work, learn, and grow. As I journey toward CSP, my story is shaped by its features and emboldened by its challenge to question, to interrogate, to disrupt and to problematize schools as complicit in the continuation of the colonial project. I am driven by the call to reimagine schools “as crucial sites of advocacy for freedom and legitimization of the continued struggles of all marginalized people” (Turner Nash, Polite Glover, & Polson, 2020, p. 9). Going about that work requires that I yield to the gentle nudge of my ancestral scholars who ask? What is it that we seek to sustain through CSP? ( Paris & Alim, 2014) What is the purpose of schooling in a pluralistic society? (Paris & Alim, 2017) How do we eradicate systems of injustice and “honor, leverage, and sustain the infinite capacity of young children of Color?” (Souto-Manning & Rabadi, 2018, p. 214).

Literacy Matters Critical Literacy Matters

| 8 | Literacy Matters | Volume 21 • Winter 2021

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

Identity stories express a child’s sense of self including the roles, attributes, behaviors, and associations that she considers most important in her life (Ylvisaker, 2006). An identity story might focus on a child’s hobbies, abilities, personality traits, or religious beliefs, and may be influenced by quality children’s literature designated as mentor texts (see Figure 2). Since identity is firmly nested within one’s culture, identity stories can function as a beacon substantiating the knowledge, experiences, language and literacy practices that are fundamental to a child’s ways of doing and being. Sharing identity stories with peers and teachers can help others understand the ways that prominent features of one’s culture may impact school performance. For example, a child whose community values independence, may exhibit high self-esteem, prefer individual choices, and display assertiveness in the classroom. A child whose community places an emphasis on interdependence may naturally express conformity, demonstrate concern for others, and favor group decision making. These key features of culture are likely to appear as prominent in a child’s identity story. Culturally sustaining educators recognize the ways that community values vary and work to eliminate hierarchical systems that prioritize singular worldviews. Extant research promotes the benefits of using identity stories as a culturally sustaining literacy practice with young children of Color. Cummins and Early (2010) worked with immigrant children living in Canada to create dual language identity texts as a tool for capturing the children’s views of themselves and their relationships with others within their new communities. As the children engaged in the process of translanguaging to create the identity texts, their socio-cultural relationships with teachers and community members and understandings of themselves as learners served as “funds of identity” in the learning process (Esteban-Guitart & Moll, 2014, p. 37). Taylor (2011) documented the experiences of preschool children of Aboriginal descent as they collaborated with teachers and caregivers to create picture books about identity stories involving Indigenous legends. In a similar study involving preschool-aged learners, teachers and caregivers used photographs, captions, and children’s dictated stories about their daily lives to create identity stories (Bernhard et al., 2006). The result was an increase in pride-about self and family-among the preschool children who participated in the study. According to the researchers, “experiences as authors allowed them [children] to see themselves in their self-made books and to talk about their own lives and interests’’ (Bernhard et al., 2006, p. 239). These examples position the process of creating identity texts as culturally sustaining pedagogy that forefronts children’s identity as an integral component of school curricula. In this way, the personal narratives co-constructed by children and teachers do more than serve as a bridge between home and family, they reframe the curriculum and “position cultural dexterity as a necessary good” (Paris & Alim, 2017, p.1). Family Stories Children’s stories are inextricably embedded within the cultures in which they live (Tsai, 2017). As they participate in daily literacy functions with their families, children

internalize the linguistic approaches, verbal and nonverbal language norms, and patterns of practice associated with the ways of doing and being within their culture. “Children as representatives of specific cultural backgrounds can serve as keys into the evolving and dynamic cultural ways of telling stories” (Strekalova-Hughes & Wang, 2019, p. 9). Family stories can act as a tool for promoting and strengthening school and family partnerships. A family story is a written collaboration between a child, her caregivers, and/or teacher that includes pictures, photographs, or illustrations and depicts an event, tradition, celebration, daily routine, or other family ritual. Family stories promote sustenance of culture and intergenerational learning while supporting literacy practice (Strekalova-Hughes & Wang, 2019). Family stories function as a means of “sustain[ing] the lifeways of communities who have been and continue to be damaged and erased through schooling” (Alim & Paris, 2017, p.1). Jennerjohn (2020) recommends five steps for co-creating culturally sustaining family stories with young children and their families using events or locations within the local community to bridge home school partnerships: Connect with a Family . Jennerjohn suggests that educators reach out to express their interest in creating a book about the child’s family. As part of the initial communication, educators should explain that the book will be read and shared by other children in the class and invite the family to meet to discuss the book. Select a location or event. Next, Jennerjohn encourages educators to invite family members to select an activity, event, or location within the community to use as the focus of the story. This might include a child’s soccer game, a trip to the park, or an afternoon making arepas at home. Participate in and photograph the event . Once an event or activity has been selected, the educator should join the family and document the activity or event through photographs and notes. As part of step 3, Jennerjohn (2020) notes “photographs for the student’s book are important but [educators should act as] a participant not a voyeur” (pg. 658). Make the book . The fourth step is to co-create a book with the child using the photographs from the event or activity to retell the story. Jennerjohn advises educators to use the language experience approach to support reading and writing development and integrate the child’s language within the context of the story. The student should select approximately 10 photographs and dictate their perspectives on what took place during the activity or event (based on what is featured in the photographs) while the teacher acts as a scribe. Share the book . Once the book has been made, Jennerjohn instructs educators to distribute the book, making copies for both the classroom and for the student to take home. Jennerjohn also advocates the use of digital tools that allow convenient reprinting and distribution of the books if needed.

Literacy Matters Critical Literacy Matters

Literacy Matters | Volume 21 • Winter 2021 | 9 |

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. First, Wantanabe Kganesto suggests that teachers learn about the literacy practices in your students’ cultures and communities . This important component of creating culturally sustaining informational texts may involve students, families, and community members. It requires informal observation of students and families and the places, events, activities, practices, traditions, and daily routines that are important to their lives and roles as members of their community. To facilitate this part of the process for young learners, teachers may inquire about these ideas by creating family surveys. The surveys can be used to solicit information directly from family members about what is valued and important. 2. Second, Wantanabe Kganesto encourages educators to create a plan for the text informed by the genre and authentic texts . After gathering information about potential topics, educators should identify a topic that is best suited for the specific type of informational text that is to be made. For example, a procedural, or how-to, text lends itself well to topics such as making your bed or riding a bike. An informative or explanatory text might describe the places in a community that a child visits on a regular basis such as the library, community center, or grocery store. Wantanabe Kganesto touts the importance of referencing examples of the text genre to ensure that the texts you create or co-create with students are authentic and reflective of the intended genre. 3. The third step in the process reminds educators to incorporate known content and new content into the text. In order to complete this step, educators must first identify what children know and need to know about the topic. A child co-creating a book on places in the community may be familiar with the local community center but may not be aware of all of the services it provides or the local historical figure for who it is named. It is the educator’s role to then identify how to best present the new information and make authentic connections between the known and unknown content for the text. step in creating culturally sustaining informational texts with young children. After writing an initial draft of the text, educators should reflect on what has been written and consider additional ways to support students who will read the text. This step might also occur after an initial reading of the text with students. Wantanabe Kganesto (2016) offers the following reflection questions for educators to consider as they read through the culturally sustaining informational text: “Does the text include the necessary content in an accessible way for your specific students? Does it accomplish the genre’s purpose, include important features, incorporate familiar content, and enable the use of genre-specific literacy practices?” (pg. 453). 4. Making adjustments to support future readers is the fourth

As part of culturally sustaining pedagogy, a child’s family story can become an essential component of the curriculum that is used to showcase the family’s experiences as a meaningful and relevant contribution to the classroom. In normalizing the lifestyles and daily practices of families from historically marginalized populations, early childhood educators can work to shift power dynamics and support students’ academic growth. Embedding family stories within the early childhood curriculum can ensure the critical and continual presence of students’ culture in our classrooms and communities (Gutiérrez & Rogoff, 2003; Paris & Alim, 2017). Informational Stories Like identity stories and family stories, informational stories can be used as part of a culturally sustaining curriculum to embody a critical centering on community languages, valued practices and knowledges (Paris & Alim, 2017). This is particularly important for children whose cultural background and identities are not typically included in informational texts found in the early childhood classroom. As students interact with informational texts in school, they gain knowledge in different content areas, develop vocabulary terms, encounter varied text structures, improve comprehension, and demonstrate higher levels of engagement (Rodríguez, 2009). Informational texts provide purposeful and authentic reasons for reading and can serve as an entry point into literacy for young children (Caswell & Duke, 1998; Gallo & Ness, 2013; Hall, 2016). Moreover, informational texts are useful in expanding children’s vocabulary and background knowledge through focused exposure to diverse topics and ideas, content-specific words and discourse, and a variety of text features that support the acquisition of information (Cummins & Stallmeyer-Gerard, 2011; Gallo & Ness, 2013; Hall, 2016; Pappas, 2016; Yopp & Yopp, 2012). Co-creating culturally sustaining informational stories with young children can work to “[center] the dynamic practices and selves of students and communities of Color in a critical, additive, and expansive vision of schooling” (Alim & Paris, 2017, p.3). For young children, a culturally sustaining informational story might provide information about a cultural or community practice, holiday, or religious observance. A child attending his older sister’s quinceanera could create a culturally sustaining informational story to outline the purpose and describe the festivities that occur at the event. Likewise, a Native American student could create an informational story to describe her collection of Native American Katsina dolls. Wantanabe Kganestso (2017) describes how informational stories written by young children “contain terms and illustrations from a child’s specific community, such as the word buggy for a shopping cart or a picture of a high-rise apartment building for a home” (p. 445).

Literacy Matters Critical Literacy Matters

Early childhood educators seeking to create or co- create culturally sustaining literacy texts with their students can access five basic steps as outlined by Wantanabe Kganesto (2017) to facilitate the process:

| 10 | Literacy Matters | Volume 21 • Winter 2021

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

5. Finally, educators should implement effective language and literacy instruction with the text . Students’ language and literacy practices should be the focus of the informational text as teachers build on students’ background knowledge and experience to assist them in moving from known content to new understandings about the topics (Wantanabe Kganesto, 2017). Allowing the students’ existing knowledge of language and literacy as a member of their individual culture and community to guide the process of creating the texts, normalizes their experiences and provides space for others to access and connect with the text as part of a culturally sustaining curriculum. Conclusion Although not exhaustive in nature, the classroom practices depicted above represent authentic strategies for centering the lives of children of Color and children from historically marginalized populations within the curriculum. Rather than perceiving children’s background and experiences as a detriment to their academic success, these instructional practices deem them as necessary components of a culturally sustaining curriculum. Each strategy accesses the culturally sustaining practice of storytelling to draw on differing principles of culturally

sustaining pedagogy (see Table 1). Within this framework, identity stories, family stories, and informational stories are adopted as part of early childhood literacy curriculum to: (a) center multilingual, multicultural practices and knowledge within communities of Color; (b) promote and support agency and input from children, their families, and communities; (c) connect classroom learning to the histories of racial, ethnic, and linguistic communities; and (d) acknowledge and contend with internalized oppression, counter messages, and systems that view marginalized populations as the problem. Storytelling in early childhood classrooms places an emphasis on sustaining rather than eradicating the cultural ways of being within historically marginalized groups and communities of Color (Nash, Polson & Glover, 2020). Identity stories, family stories, and informational stories have the unique ability to capture the individual lives of children and normalize their experiences, languages, and ways of being within their cultural communities. By adopting literacy practices such as storytelling with young children, early childhood educators can reimagine their classrooms as collaborative, collective, and critical spaces that support children’s cultural identities and academic investments (Kinloch, 2017) and as loving environments where diverse, heterogenous practices are “not only valued, but sustained” (Alim & Paris, 2017, p.3).

Literacy Matters Critical Literacy Matters

Early Literacy Strategy

Culturally Sustaining Features (Alim & Paris, 2017)

Evidence of Culturally Sustaining Features within the Early Literacy Strategy Validate students’ interests, background experiences, and expertise by making them the central focus of the story. Foreground students’ home language and literacy practices within the story. Engage family members as active participants in the storytelling process. Value the perspectives of family members and respected leaders within the community as part of the storytelling process. Highlight histories of students’ race, culture, language, neighborhoods, and communities within the stories. Address the ways that racism, immigration, social injustice, and discrimination have impacted students, their families, and communities using age appropriate language and descriptions within the stories.

Identity Stories Center multilingual, multicultural practices and knowledge within communities of color

Family Stories

Promote and support agency and input from children, their families, and communities

Informational Stories

Connect classroom learning to the histories of racial, ethnic, and linguistic communities, as well as the histories of neighborhoods, cities, states and nation states in which they live. Acknowledge and contend with internalized oppression, counter messages, and systems that view marginalized populations as the problem

Table 1 Culturally Sustaining Features of Early Literacy Storytelling Strategy

Literacy Matters | Volume 21 • Winter 2021 | 11 |

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

References Bernhard, J. K., Cummins, J., Campoy, F. I., Ada, A. F., Winsler, A., & Bleiker, C. (2006). Identity texts and literacy development among preschool English language learners: Enhancing learning opportunities for children at risk for learning disabilities. Teachers College Record , 108 (11), 2380.

Hibbin, R. (2016). Oral storytelling, speaking and listening and the hegemony of literacy: Non-instrumental language use and transactional talk in the primary classroom. Changing English , 23 (1), 52-64.

Hollins, E. R. (2015). Culture in school learning: Revealing the deep meaning . Routledge.

Boutte, G. S. (2015). Educating African American students: And how are the children? . Routledge.

Jennerjohn, A. (2020). School–family partnerships for culturally sustaining texts. The Reading Teacher , 73 (5), 657-661.

Caswell, L.J., & Duke, N.K. (1998). Nonnarrative as a catalyst for literacy development. Language Arts, 75 (2), 108–117.

Literacy Matters Critical Literacy Matters

Jirata, T. J., & Simonsen, J. K. (2014). The roles of Oromo-speaking children in the storytelling tradition in Ethiopia. Research in African Literatures , 45 (2), 135-149.

Cummins, J., Bismilla, V., Chow, P., Cohen, S., Giampapa, F., Leoni, L., ... & Sastri, P. (2006).

King, J. E., & Swartz, E. E. (2015). The Afrocentric praxis of teaching for freedom: Connecting culture to learning . Routledge.

ELL students speak for themselves: Identity texts and literacy engagement in multilingual classrooms. Accessed November , 19 , 2008.

Kinloch, V. (2017).“You ain’t making me write”: Culturally sustaining pedagogies and Black Youths’performances of resistance. Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World , 25-41.

Cummins, J., & Early, M. (2010). Identity texts: The collaborative creation of power in multilingual schools . Trentham Books Ltd. Westview House 734 London Road, Oakhill, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 5NP, UK.

Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal , 32 (3), 465-491.

Cummins, S., & Stallmeyer-Gerard, C. (2011). Teaching for synthesis of informational texts with read-alouds. The Reading Teacher , 64 (6), 394-405.

Ladson-Billings, G. (2013). Critical race theory—What it is not!. In Handbook of Critical Race Theory in Education (pp. 54-67). Routledge.

Delpit, L. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people’s children. Harvard Educational Review , 58 (3), 280-299.

Long, S., Souto-Manning, M., & Vasquez, V. (Eds.). (2016). Courageous leadership in early childhood education: Taking a stand for social justice . Teachers College Press.

Esteban-Guitart, M., & Moll, L. C. (2014). Funds of identity: A new concept based on the funds of knowledge approach. Culture & Psychology , 20 (1), 31-48.

Machado, E. (2017.) Fostering and sustaining diverse literacy practices in the early childhood classroom: Reviewing the literature in three areas. Literacy, Research: Theory, Method, and Practice , 66, 309-324. Morrison, T. (1998, March). From an interview on Charlie Rose . Public BroadcastingService. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=SHHHL31bFPA. Nash, K. T., Glover, C. P., & Polson, B. (Eds.). (2020). Toward culturally sustaining teaching: Early childhood educators honor children with practices for equity and change . Routledge.

Gallo, G., & Ness, M.K. (2013). Understanding the text genre preferences of third- grade readers. Journal of Language and Literacy Education , 9 (2), 110–130.

Gee, J. P. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourse . London: Routledge/Palmer.

Gee, J. P. (2004). Situated language and learning: A critique of traditional schooling . Psychology Press.

Gutiérrez, K. D., & Johnson, P. (2017). Understanding identity sampling and cultural repertoires: Advancing a historicizing and syncretic system of teaching and learning in justice pedagogies. Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World , 247-260.

Ochs, E. (1988). Culture and language development: Language acquisition and language socialization in a Samoan village (No. 6). CUP Archive.

Gutiérrez, K. D., & Rogoff, B. (2003). Cultural ways of learning: Individual traits or repertoires of practice. Educational Researcher , 32 (5), 19-25.

Pappas, C.C. (2016). The information book genre: Its role in integrated science literacy research and practice. Reading Research Quarterly, 4 1(2), 226–250.

Hall, A. H. (2016). Filling toolboxes: Empowering young researchers with informational texts. Reading Teacher , 69 (4), 429–434.

Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology, and practice. Educational Researcher , 41 (3), 93-97.

Heath, S. B. (1983). Ways with words: Language, life and work in communities and classrooms . Cambridge University Press.

Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (2014). What are we seeking to sustain through culturally sustaining pedagogy? A loving critique forward. Harvard Educational Review , 84 (1), 85-100.

| 12 | Literacy Matters | Volume 21 • Winter 2021

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

Paris, D., & Alim, H. S. (Eds.). (2017). Culturally sustaining pedagogies: Teaching and learning for justice in a changing world . Teachers College Press.

Tsai, M. L. (2017). Narrative characteristics of kindergarten children from three areas in Taiwan.

Rodríguez, A. D. (2009). Culturally relevant books: Connecting Hispanic students to the curriculum. Gist: Education and Learning Research Journal , (3), 11-29.

In S. Garvis & N. Pramling (Eds.), Narratives in early childhood education: Communication, sense making and lived experience (pp. 29–44). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

Souto-Manning, M., & Rabadi-Raol, A. (2018). (Re) Centering quality in early childhood education: Toward intersectional justice for minoritized children. Review of Research in Education , 42 (1), 203-225. Strekalova-Hughes, E., &Wang, X. C. (2019). Perspectives of children from refugee backgrounds on their family storytelling as a culturally sustaining practice. Journal of Research in Childhood Education , 33 (1), 6-21.

Watanabe Kganetso, L. M. (2017). Creating and using culturally sustaining informational texts. Reading Teacher , 70 (4), 445–455.

Ylvisaker, M. (2006). Self-coaching: A context-sensitive, person-centered approach to social communication after traumatic brain injury. Brain Impairment , 7 (3) 246-258.

Literacy Matters Critical Literacy Matters

Taylor, S. K. (2011). Identity texts as decolonized writing: Beyond the cowboys and Indians meta-narrative. Writing & Pedagogy , 3 (1), 289-304.

Yopp, R.H., & Yopp, H.K. (2006). Informational text as read-alouds at school and home. Journal of Literacy Research, 38 (1), 37–51.

 Dr. Crystal P. Glover is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Winthrop University. She also serves as a Winthrop Faculty in Residence at Ebinport Elementary School in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Crystal’s research interests include culturally responsive and sustaining literacy practices in early childhood teacher education, preparing teachers to work with traditionally marginalized student populations, and the retention of preservice and practicing teachers of color. She recently co-edited the book Toward Culturally Sustaining Teaching: Early Childhood Educators Honor Children with Practices for Equity and Change along with Dr. Kindel Turner Nash and Dr. Bilal Polson. Dr. Glover may be contacted at crystalpglover@gmail.com .

Literacy Matters | Volume 21 • Winter 2021 | 13 |

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

Taboo Conversations in the Classroom: UsingYoung Adult Literature for Critical Witnessing and Testimony of Traumatic Experiences

by Julia Kate Bentley and Rachelle S. Savitz Clemson University

ABSTRACT—Although experiencing traumatic events may seem like an exception, research has shown it to be the norm for most school-age children. Every experience is different, and most teachers are not licensed trauma counselors. However, teachers can use complex young adult (YA) texts to open channels for discussions, prompting students to process traumatic experiences within a safe space. This article highlights a complex contemporary YA novel that contains multiple traumatic themes. We provide examples of how teachers can model reciprocal vulnerability by sharing their own experiences and then inviting students to connect with one another and the texts. Also, we provide instructional ideas for the focus novel and additional novel suggestions. Taboo Conversations in the Classroom: Using Young Adult Literature for Critical Witnessing and Testimony of Traumatic Experiences Mrs. Miller’s usually lively English Language Arts (ELA) class was uncharacteristically quiet as she attempted to engage them in a discussion about censorship in Fahrenheit 451. She knew the students’ reluctance to participate stemmed from a recent traumatic event. Xavier, an outgoing and popular student, had been killed the previous week. As his friends and classmates struggled to process the loss, they had little interest in analyzing texts from the state’s exemplar list. As Mrs. Miller is not a licensed trauma counselor, she wondered how she could help students process this and other traumas in a safe space. Although Mrs. Miller and her students are fictional, real students face trauma much more often than some teachers realize. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic experiences that include: (a) abuse, (b) neglect and maltreatment, (c) household challenges (i.e., substance abuse, violence, divorce, illegal activity), and (d) mental or physical illness (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019). Many may believe such distressing instances are the exception; 71% of children ages 2–17 experience at least one traumatic event in a year (Finkelhor et al., 2007). Additionally, low-income and minority children are much more likely than their White and middle- to high-income peers to experience multiple traumas in a year (NSCH, 2019). Problematically, experiencing traumatic events can lead to diminished cognitive abilities and heightened school failure (McLeod et al., 2012).

they can demonstrate care and provide support by building strong teacher-student relationships; ultimately supporting students’ resilience. Teachers can weave components of social and emotional learning within their classroom to create safe and nurturing environments by incorporating texts, instruction, and dialogue that promotes valuing students’ opinions, experiences, and questions (Fisher et al., 2020), making it easier for students to speak about their traumatic experiences. Young Adult Literature and Trauma Diverse young adult (YA) literature, defined by the American Library Association as being all-inclusive in terms of characters and settings (e.g., gender, race, religion, disability, and neurodiversity) (LaRue, 2015), addresses sensitive topics that are often considered taboo (Batchelor et al., 2018; Coleman-King & Groenke, 2019). The use of such literature can be therapeutic to students, helping them understand themselves and others, building resilience, and sparking social action (Mirra, 2018; Wolfsdorf, 2018). Additionally, it provides students options for dealing with serious situations and potentially normalizes conversations on challenging topics (Mirra, 2018; Dutro, 2019), promoting the development of student agency and identity (Fisher et al., 2020). As Ekholm (2017) posited, discussing moral dilemmas is not an either/or issue, but a “how do we get there” question, stressing a need for balance between teaching book content, discussions focused on moral lessons and incorporation of reading strategies and skills. Through YA literature, teachers can provide students a venue to question their own beliefs and biases, leading to new understandings of relevant cultural and societal issues (Ivey & Johnston, 2013; 2018). Through character actions, students can consider their potential responses in these situations (Fisher et al., 2020; Mirra, 2018). In connection to the novels, teachers invite students to share their authentic testimony (personal experiences), allowing their peers and others to bear witness to their experiences (Dutro, 2019). These opportunities lead to empathy, as students begin shifting attention away from only themselves and focusing on others’ worldviews (Mirra, 2018; Turner & Reed, 2018). Inclusion of students’ lived experiences within daily instruction (Dutro, 2019) begins with the teacher being vulnerable, instituting a reciprocal process of giving testimony of experience and becoming critical witnesses of others’ (Johnson, 2017). When addressing trauma in classrooms, teachers must understand each traumatic experience cannot be “extricated from inequities in society and schooling,” such as racism, sexism, lack of health

Literacy Matters Critical Literacy Matters

Although educators are not licensed trauma counselors,

| 14 | Literacy Matters | Volume 21 • Winter 2021

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS