Community Literacy in Elementary Classrooms

This book builds on the concepts of culturally relevant and responsive teaching by uplifting the role of a school’s community in creating meaningful and empowering literacy learning opportunities for elementary students. Practicing teachers and graduate students will gain new insights into the application of culturally responsive pedagogy by focusing on their students’ families and communities. Through reflective writing exercises and a variety of practical applications, readers will learn about the importance of creating literacy lessons that center their students’ families, cultures, and local communities. This book is comprehensive in its approach because it provides information on creating community literacy through the following ways: cultivating culturally inclusive children’s literature and community artifacts in classroom libraries, teaching skills in meaningful contexts, integrating the community’s arts across the curriculum, engaging students in civic and social justice learning opportunities, connecting with families and community leaders, providing ideas for inspiring teachers to become engaged in their school’s communities, and connecting the book’s concepts with literacy lesson plans. As teachers become increasingly required to focus solely on skill development, this book offers important information on how to create meaningful reading lessons that go beyond skill development and immerse students in cultural knowledge and civic engagement. Teachers will be empowered to reimagine their reading curriculum so that they can teach content and skills while honoring and elevating their students’ cultural wealth and community experiences in ways that move students’ thinking into realms of critical and analytical action.