How to Apply Critical Literacy Strategies Across Children's Texts

As teachers it is our responsibility to prepare students for beyond the classroom and that includes teaching them how to comprehend, write, and think critically across texts that they read. More importantly, teachers should aim to facilitate a classroom environment that both encourages and challenges students to become critically literate. So, how can teachers model and apply this notion of critical literacy across the texts they share in the classroom?

Once great resource that teachers could used is McLaughin and DeVoogd (2004) text called Critical Literacy:Enhancing Student's Comprehension of Text, which includes a variety of critical literacy strategies and teaches teachers how to model these different strategies across different texts within their class.

Some of these strategies include:

Problem Posing
Patterned Partner Reading
Bookmark Technique
Connection Stems
Say Something
The Rest of the Story (an adaptation of problem posing)
Switching (e.g. gender switching, theme switch, setting switch, body-style switch, and clothing switch)
Character Substitutions (a strategy used for students learning about alternative texts)

These are just a few of the many strategies that teachers can use to encourage and help build onto students's critical literacy skills. By teachers helping students become critically literate, they will not only be able to read various children's genre's but also be able to comprehend what they are reading .

One strategy that I would like to focus on is called Connection Stems. This type of strategy involves using prompts to provide structure for students, so they can make connections while reading narrative and information texts. In addition, these prompts also serve the purpose of helping students when monitoring their thinking and to encourage reflection during reading (McLaughin & DeVoogd 2004). The following are some types of "Connection Stems" or prompts that teachers can use to help facilitate an insightful discussions for their students.

That reminds me of ...
I remember when ...
I have a connection ...
An experience that I have had like that ...
I felt like that character when ...
If I were that character, I would ...
I remember another book about this ...

In Matt De La Pena's (2015) narrative called The Last Stop on Market Street is written about a boy named CJ who is fighting the desires of always wanting something more beautiful in his world (things he does not have). All the while his Nana tries to show CJ that "sometimes when you are surrounded by dirt, you're a better witness for what's beautiful." In this beautifully illustrated book, the author tries to not only include a diverse set of characters, but also compelling imagery to convey his message that beauty can be found everywhere, especially inside of who we are.

So, how can teachers guide students thinking; in order to help them critically analyzing the author's underlying theme of beauty? Using the strategy Connection Stems, the teacher can read aloud the book to the class. Then pause at certain points in the book, to guide student's thinking about the text by using prompts. In doing so, teacher is encouraging students to make connections with the text, while also allowing them to check their understanding of what they just read. For instance, after the teacher has read:

"Sure wish I had one of those,' CJ said. Nana sat down her knitting. 'What for? You got the real live thing sitting across from you. Why don't you ask the man if he'll play us a song?"

By pausing at the end of this sentence, the teacher can then model the connection stem: I felt like the character when ...[ I wanted the new iPhone because everyone had one, but me.] to complete the sentence and to model HOW to use this critical literacy strategy. Then the teacher can ask the same connection stem to class, and allow students to orally share their response. By providing students the opportunity to make connections with the text and the characters in the story, they are able to make deeper connections to their lives and across other texts which is exactly what critical literacy is. More importantly, they will be able to identify and comprehension the author's main purpose for writing.

In Kensky and Downes (2018) children's book called Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship, tells a beautiful and true story about a girl named Jessica who becomes an amputee due to a recent accident, and Rescue a labrador retriever becomes a service dog yet he is unsure if he will be able to live up to such a big role. When Jessica and Rescue met for the first time, they quickly develop a developed a strong connection that helps them through tough times and also giving them a sense of hope when they need it most.

Through one of the most heart warming books that I have read, the author is also about to address several important topics about service dogs and the type of people who help to serve our own community.

One topic that was brought up in this book, that I really liked was the many roles of a service dog which I think a teacher could make into a great mini lesson out of it. For example, the teacher could have a K-9 or service dog visit the class in order to demonstrate a dog's special abilities to build student awareness. Then students can prose they own questions that they have about service dogs, the people who train them, and the types of people that service dogs can serve.

For more ideas on how topics to discussion with your class from this book, please see the link below for a Teacher's Guide on Rescue and Jessica.

Michael Hall's (2015) children's narrative book Red: A Crayon's Story address such a meaning message about accepting each others' differences, and fighting the labels of society. The storyline of this book follows how a crayon named Red struggles to fit in his label as a 'red' crayon because that is what society has told him who he is. However, by the end of the book Red soon realizes how instead of thinking that his differences are a problem, that they are actually useful and meaning as to who he is as a crayon: a blue crayon.

This mentor text would be great resource use in a mini lesson on equity and acceptance in the classroom, and how each other's differences are valuable in a world that wants to try to label us as something we are not. For more ideas on how to facilitate different classroom activities from this book, check out the Teacher's Guide for Red: A Crayon's Story.