Reading With Purpose

Erika Thulin Dawes is a professor and chair of the Language and Literacy Department in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University. Katie Egan Cunningham is an associate professor of teacher education at Sacred Heart University. Grace Enriquez is a professor of language and literacy at Lesley University. Mary Ann Cappiello is a professor of language and literacy in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University. Together, they are the coauthors of The Classroom Bookshelf blog.

Contents


Foreword Xenia Hadjioannou  ix


Acknowledgments  xi


Introduction  1

Who We Are: The Classroom Bookshelf Story  3

Why This Book?  4

Purposes for Reading  5

Using This Book  6


Part I: Purposes for Selecting and Using Books


1.  A World of Purpose in the Pages of Books  11

Classroom Story: If I Were a Book  11

What Matters Most  13

Braided Purposes: The Reader, the Text, the Context  16

Many Books, Many Purposes  21

Purpose Matters: A Community of Readers  22


2.  Center Care for Ourselves and One Another  25

Classroom Story: Nurturing Care  25

Why Center Care?  28

Why Now? Supporting the Whole Child  29

Centering Care: Understanding Ourselves and Connecting to Others  31

Selecting Books That Center Care to Teach and Reach the Whole Child  38


3.  Connect to the Past to Understand the Present  40

Classroom Story: The Value of Knowing the Past  40

Why Connect to the Past?  42

Why Now? Barriers and Bridges  43

Connecting to the Past  45

Selecting Books That Connect to the Past to Better Understand the Present  55


4.  Closely Observe the World Around Us  57

Classroom Story: Idea Making and Learning to Look Closely  57

Why Closely Observe?  58

Why Now? The Climate Crisis and Disconnect With the Natural World  59

Close Observation: Strengthening Our Connection to Our World  61

Selecting Books That Inspire Close Observation to See the World in New Ways  73


5.  Cultivate Critical Consciousness  75

Classroom Story: Raising Critical Consciousness Across the Curriculum  75

Why Cultivate Critical Consciousness?  77

Why Now? Agency, Equity, and Justice in an Ever-Changing World  79

Cultivating Critical Consciousness: Creating a Better World for All  84

Selecting Books That Cultivate Critical Consciousness Toward Creating a Better World for All  91


Part II: An Invitations Approach to Encourage Purposeful Reading


6.  Invitations to Use Books to Center Care for Ourselves and One Another  95

Text Sets  95

Content Connections and Disciplinary Literacies  96

Critical Literacies  97

Reading Process  98

Visual Literacies  99

Writing Development  100

Multimodal Response  100

Social–Emotional Learning  102


7.  Invitations to Use Books to Connect the Past to the Present  107

Text Sets  107

Content Connections and Disciplinary Literacies  108

Critical Literacies  111

Reading Process  112

Visual Literacies  112

Writing Development  113

Multimodal Response  114

Social–Emotional Learning  115


8.  Invitations to Use Books to Closely Observe the World Around Us  116

Text Sets  116

Content Connections and Disciplinary Literacies  117

Critical Literacies  119

Reading Process  120

Visual Literacies  121

Writing Development  122

Multimodal Response  124

Social–Emotional Learning  125


9.  Invitations to Use Books to Cultivate Critical Consciousness Toward Creating a Better World  127

Text Sets  127

Content Connections and Disciplinary Literacies  128

Critical Literacies  131

Reading Process  132

Visual Literacies  133

Writing Development  133

Multimodal Response  135

Social–Emotional Learning  136


In Closing  138


References  139

Children’s Books  149


Index  157


About the Authors  164