Genre-Based Strategies to Promote Critical Literacy in Grades 4â¿"8

Danielle E. Hartsfield, Sue C. Kimmel

Draws on critical and radical change theory to equip both aspiring and practicing library and teacher candidates with practical, research-based ideas for enacting critical literacy practices in middle grade libraries and classrooms.Genre Based Strategies to Promote Critical Literacy in Grades 4-8 provides strategies and lesson plans with additional resources and tools for school librarians and teachers to engage middle grade students in reading children's literature through a critical literacy lens.To be critically literate readers and thinkers, students must learn to question what they read, asking themselves who wrote the text, why the text was written, and how the text positions its readers and others. Teaching students how to read from a critical literacy stance is a timely and relevant practice in a world in which text is available instantly and on nearly any mobile device. In many cases, preparation programs for school librarians and teachers do not teach candidates how to incorporate critical literacy practices in library and classroom settings. This book provides both pre-service and in-service school librarians and teachers with that professional development and guidance for teaching critical literacy in children's literature courses.

Introduction1 What Is Critical Literacy?2 Informational Books3 Examining Multiple Perspectives with Multimodal Text Sets (Lesson Plan)4 Narrative Nonfiction and Biographies5 Close Reading and Analyzing Word Choice in Narrative Nonfiction (Lesson Plan)6 Historical Fiction7 Pairing Texts to Expand Perspectives (Lesson Plan)8 Contemporary Realistic Fiction9 Making Disconnections in Literature Circles (Lesson Plan)10 Fantasy11 Unpacking Social Identities and Norms through Character Study (Lesson Plan)12 Picture Books13 Using Asynchronous Discussion to Unpack Visual Messages (Lesson Plan)14 Graphic Novels15 Reframing and Rewriting the Story from Alternate Perspectives (Lesson Plan)ReferencesAuthor/Title Index: Recommended Books for Grades 4-8Subject Index