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Through Big Brothers, Big Sisters, I’ve been working with a little girl from the neighborhood where I used to teach. I think very highly of this group and have only had good experiences with them. However, at a recent area-wide picnic, I noticed something disturbing. Most (not all, but the vast majority) of the children being mentored were African American or Latino. Most of the adult mentors were white or Asian. Again, this was not without exception, but was apparent.

Take a cue from this teacher during National Book Month— audit your classroom library!

Seeking to push fellow teachers’ thinking around social justice issues, this teacher and her colleague started a book study group. Here’s how they did it.

This toolkit for “Shifting Out of Neutral” focuses on historical thinking development through critical literacy and builds on author Jonathan Gold’s call for educators to acknowledge and teach about power and bias.

This toolkit suggests ways to use primary sources to help students uncover the realities of segregation and how it was deliberately perpetuated in the United States.

Educator Jamilah Pitts introduces ways to discuss Black Lives Matter across all grade levels.

Silent Sustained Reading (SSR) is a staple of many classrooms. At my school it lives in Advisory, a 50-minute mixed-grade class that balances literacy development with study hall and school-culture building. The goal of SSR is simple: For 30 minutes twice a week the entire school population is reading silently—and enjoying it.