One School, One Book

In my school district, teachers are engaged in a One School, One Book Project where every classroom reads the same book every month (10 books for the year). The books we select support culturally responsive education; we're cultivating a culture of love and empathy for the diverse lived experiences that exist in our community. By centering populations that have been historically marginalized, we're modeling for students the value of every human being. Below are excellent titles for educators looking to start a similar program.

Guidelines for selecting texts:

1. Our books are relevant to our students’ lives today and the texts easily allow us to communicate that relevance across K-5 grade levels.

2. The authors have authority in writing about the topic (through lived experience or in some cases, extensive study). 

3. The books show that people who live diverse experiences are the center of the story; we normalize differences.

4. The books are tools in building instruction around the Social Justice Standards which is a stepping stone towards Ethnic Studies. 

5. Ideally, the texts include authors' notes that support students in upper grades in deepening their background knowledge.

6. Although the books can be used to teach Social Emotional Learning and support multicultural education, the concepts must be deeper and foster critical consciousness.

7. Every teacher, regardless of social justice teaching experience, should be able to teach these stories.

8. The books can align with Heritage months but that is not the goal of the project. 

9. The books are examples of excellence in literature and can be used to teach multiple comprehension strategies.