The authors expand discussions about critical literacy with a focus on how quick writes can be used to facilitate critical literacy within the context of both teaching and learning. Quick writes, initiated by carefully crafted invitations, are presented as a low-risk space for students to address issues of social justice and civil rights. Writing…

Millions of teachers regularly turn to Internet sharing sites such as Pinterest and Teachers Pay Teachers for curriculum resources and ideas. While this innovative technology poses a number of advantages for teachers who are almost never given an appropriate amount of time to engage in curriculum planning, and who can supplement their…

"You, Me and Diversity" offers teachers and student teachers approaches for teaching children about development education and promoting intercultural understanding through carefully selected picturebooks. Research by the United Kingdom Literacy Association in 2007 found that few teachers are aware of such books. They feel unable to…

"Bridging Literacy and Equity" synthesizes the essential research and practice of social equity literacy teaching in one succinct, user-friendly volume. Extraordinary K-12 teachers show us what social equity literacy teaching looks like and how it advances children's achievement. Chapters identify six key dimensions of social equity teaching that…

This article provides a model for teachers to expand students' thinking about the liberating nature of literacy. Literacy is not just about making kids smarter or preparing them for future careers. Neither is it passive, neutral, or innocent. It is infused with values and ideology. It can be used by people to promote freedom or support tyranny. It…

This book overturns the typical conception of standards, empowering educators by providing concrete examples of how top-down models of assessment can be embraced and used in ways that are consistent with critical pedagogies. Although standards, as broad frameworks for setting learning targets, are not necessarily problematic, when they are…

A comprehensive update of the classic study that delivers both a passionate plea and strategies for teachers, parents, and community organizers to give working-class children the same type of empowering education and powerful literacy skills that the children of upper- and middle-class people receive. The classic, indispensable guide for teachers,…

In a test-driven society such as ours, the reasons not to take on the time-consuming and controversial topic of critical literacy are many; however, this article hopes to convince educators at all levels that the benefits of engaging students in questioning, reflecting, and taking action are well worth the effort. The article begins with a…