Practicing What We Teach : How Culturally Responsive Literacy Classrooms Make a Difference

This readable book features K–12 teachers and teacher educators who report their experiences of culturally responsive literacy teaching in primarily high poverty, culturally non-dominant communities.  These extraordinary teachers show us what culturally responsive literacy teaching looks like in their classrooms and how it advances children’s academic achievement. This collection captures different dimensions of culturally responsive (CR) practice, such as linking home and school, using culturally responsive literature, establishing relationships with children and parents, using cultural connections, and teaching English language learners and children who speak African American language. This engaging collection:

• Provides a window into what teachers actually do and think when they serve culturally diverse children, including classroom-tested teaching practices.
• Depicts teachers enacting CR teaching in the presence of scripted curricula and rigid testing schedules.
• Covers childhood, secondary, and higher education classrooms.
• Helps readers imagine how they can transform their own classrooms through “Make it in Your Classroom” sections at the end of each chapter.
• Includes a “Becoming a Culturally Responsive Teacher” self-evaluation form.