Ready, Set, Spark
Spark Reading Newsletter | Feb 2022
This month you’ll find tips to help you bring more DEI into your classrooms, tools to reinforce your literacy lessons, a sneak peek at our upcoming DEI titles, and a Book Spotlight on Canadian content.
Resources To Help
So how do you begin (or expand) your DEI education? Su recommends starting or sustaining your own learning with the following resources and then slowly incorporating what you learn into your classroom’s books, posters, discussions, lessons, and more.
- Bakau Consulting’s expansive resource list “This extensive resource database is a hugely generous gift for anyone who has questions and wants to learn, whether you’re just starting or looking to dive deeper,” says Su.
- Learning for Justice has many PD resources for educators.
- Woke Kindergarten has a helpful Pinterest account.
- Anti-Oppression Educators Collective’s Twitter account is full of resources and ideas.
- Elaine’s blog and Twitter account are also excellent resources.
Begin With Books
Looking at your library and thinking deeply about what students are reading is a great place to begin your DEI journey. While there are many things to consider, the following tips can help as you start.
- Watch for and learn about problematic tropes (around age, weight, disability, and more)
- Include racialized, queer, disabled, and other traditionally marginalized authors.
- Watch for stereotypes and other issues in illustrations.
- Add stories that reflect diverse lived experiences, cultures, countries, races, genders, ethnicities.
PD Is the Key
Su suggests teachers take small, consistent steps forward to avoid feeling overwhelmed. “Prioritize your own PD and development to become aware, and the rest will come.”
Use Spark’s Presentation Tools to Keep Focus on your Lessons
Did you know that with Spark’s Presentation Tools, you can use Spark books for more than independent reading? Project or share your screen and use arrows, text boxes, a spotlight, a highlighter, and other tools to focus on parts of a book, vocabulary, artwork, etc. (whatever works for your lessons).
These tools are only available to teachers and can be used with your entire class or small groups to enhance shared reading, book previews, guided reading, and more. And here’s a helpful bonus: whether you are in the classroom or virtual, you can use the tools in the same way without changing your teaching practice!
Try using Presentation Tools with your students. This quick how-to video can help you get started.
*Teacher Tip: You’ll need to close the presentation tools to turn the page in a book.
As DEI reviewer Elaine Su mentions above, books are a great way to include diverse perspectives and cultures in your classroom. To help share diverse Canadian stories, we’re adding 12 new DEI titles to Spark Reading this spring.
Written By, About, and For Canadians
These DEI stories focus on uniquely Canadian topics, including the Black community's rich history in Nova Scotia, Canadian families, Muslims in Canada, Chinatowns across the country, and more (as you’ll see below.) These books are written by well-known and up-and-coming Canadian authors such as Marty Chan, Randy Boyagoda, and Barbara Yebuga!
Here’s a sneak peek at the book list and the stories they’ll bring to your classroom.
Canadian Content
Did you know Spark is full of Canadian content? Here are some examples of the high-quality books you’ll find in Spark that focus on Canadian stories or are written by Canadian authors.
Annick Classics
We have partnered with Annick Press to offer great Canadian trade books including classic Robert Munsch titles and the award-winning Not My Girl.
Search “ANNICK” in Spark to see all Annick titles available.
