Read Alouds With Heart: Literacy Lessons That Build Community, Comprehension, and Cultural Competency

Use thoughtfully chosen multicultural mentors texts, such as We are the Water Protectors, Dreamers, and Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, to build classroom community and honor the identities of everyone in your class. Companion mini-lessons offer reading strategies, discussion questions, and carry-over coaching prompts designed to hone students' comprehension skills, including character analysis, determining themes, and exploring perspectives. A must-have resource in every classroom!

Dana Clark is literacy staff developer with Gravity Goldberg, LLC. A former teacher and literacy coach with two decades of experience, Dana now spends her days supporting teachers from K–12 in implementing balanced literacy practices. As an educator, her greatest joy is working as a thinking partner with teachers as they explore ways to create supportive communities where students engage in purposeful and joyful learning. When she’s not visiting schools, Dana can be found curled up with a cat in her lap and a book in her hand, exploring trails and quaint towns up and down the New England coastline, and spending as much time as possible with her husband Yuma and her two sons, John and Tommy.

Keisha Smith-Carrington is an administrator in a public school district. For over 25 years, she has worked in community with others to transform classrooms and schools into the inclusive and responsive spaces of learning and belonging children deserve. She began this mission as a teacher assistant and became a classroom teacher before responding to a call to impact more children as a facilitator of adult learning at the state and district level. Across all spaces, her favorite remain those with children, who help her maintain hope for humanity. This includes in-person or tech-assisted opportunities for learning from her two adultren, Avey and Ashby, the greatest teachers she’s ever had. 

Jigisha Vyas is a university professor, instructional coach, a certified mindful educator, and yoga instructor. With over a decade of experience, she has worked with a variety of communities and with different age groups, with leadership in special and general education. She finds passion in the work of building student voice and student agency, while actively leading and promoting equity and anti-bias teaching in education. In her free time, Jigisha teaches yoga and meditation and enjoys traveling, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.