Reading Actively: Exploring Socially Conscious Topics through Middle Grades Literature

How can we facilitate civil, middle-grades appropriate conversations that build and support students’ development of social consciousness and social comprehension? How can we host safe spaces for our students’ honest dialogue about social issues such as inequity, racism and anti-blackness, Islamophobia, and homophobia? One way to open and to sustain this dialogue is through story. This session will spur thinking, discussion, and inquiry about the need for, options for, and instructional possibilities for a range of diverse middle-grades-facing literature. We will consider texts, topics, and pathways for conversation and shared thinking about hard, but real social topics for exploration within the middle grades classroom.

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