Multicultural Literature in the Content Areas: Transforming K-12 Classrooms Into Engaging, Inviting, and Socially Conscious Spaces

Today’s public schools represent a demographic of students that are more diverse than ever before. In turn, culturally responsive and affirming teaching practices should mirror the academic, social, and cultural needs of an ever-increasing population of diverse students. Through multicultural education students can discover the ways they are shaped by their own culture, as well as learn more about others. Multicultural education practices provide mutually beneficial dialogue between cultures, and the pedagogical practices increase learning outcomes for not just the ethnically and racially diverse, but all students who are participatory in the content. This book provides educational stakeholders with culturally relevant and affirming techniques for utilizing multicultural literature as a pedagogical tool in social studies, mathematics, science, and reading. Each chapter provides a brief summary about the selected multicultural text and also contains an instructional strategy to be used. Following this, an inquiry-based lesson is provided with supplementary materials and resources that allow for K-12 differentiation.

Lakia M. Scott, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at Baylor University. She currently teaches elementary reading methods and diversity issues courses to pre-service educators and graduate students. Barbara Purdum-Cassidy, Ed.D., is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at Baylor University. She currently teaches elementary language arts methods to pre-service teachers and graduate coursework in advanced methods of teaching writing.