Reading for Social Justice

Overview:

It is often said that reading opens up new worlds. It also opens up the opportunity to ask deep questions about the world that we—and the literature we read—exist in. Book clubs or literature circles are one way to encourage children to embrace the interactive pleasures associated with literacy.

These lessons are intended to help guide children who are already working in such groups to respond to literature with an eye toward social justice. Reading critically does not necessarily involve reading texts dealing explicitly with particular social issues; rather, it means reading with a lens of understanding and responding to the social issues inherent in any text. These lessons work well as part of a unit on book clubs, but can be modified for use in a more general context. The activities can be used during the school year or to support a summer reading program.

Additional Resources

Stirring Up Justice: Writing and Reading to Change the World, by Jessica Singer (Heinemann, 2006), provides a detailed explanation of what critical literacy is and why it is so important to view literacy instruction as an opportunity to work for social change.
Whether or not your class has already explored the concepts of stereotypes, these anti-bias activities will help children fully understand these concepts:
Assessing Children’s Literature [4] discusses how to assess children’s books for stereotypes.
Specific literature useful for social justice reading, as well as ideas about how to inculcate critical reading habits, can be found at Social Justice Literature for the Elementary Classroom [5].

Primary Grades [6] (K-2)

Early Grades [7] (3-5)

Standards [8]

Activities and embedded assessments address the following standards (McREL 4 [8]^{th [8]} edition [8])

Language Arts

Standard 1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process

Standard 2. Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing

Standard 6. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts

Standard 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes

Standard 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media

Thinking and Reasoning

Standard 1. Understands and applies the basic principles of presenting an argument

Standard 6. Applies decision-making techniques

Working With Others

Standard 1. Contributes to the overall effort of the group

Standard 3. Works well with diverse individuals and in diverse situations

Standard 4. Displays effective interpersonal communication skills

Self-Regulation

Standard 2. Performs self-appraisal