The Many Colors Of Harpreet Singh

“Alea Marley’s cover illustration screams JOY and LOVE. I love everything about this important and necessary picture book, especially Harpreet Singh and his big heart.” —Mr. Schu, Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic “This simple yet sensitive story about a child coming to terms with things beyond his control will resonate across cultures.” —Kirkus Harpreet Singh loves his colors—but when his family moves to a new city, everything just feels gray. Can he find a way to make life bright again? Harpreet Singh has a different color for every mood and occasion, from pink for dancing to bhangra beats to red for courage. He especially takes care with his patka—his turban—smoothing it out and making sure it always matches his outfit. But when Harpreet’s mom finds a new job in a snowy city and they have to move, all he wants is to be invisible. Will he ever feel a happy sunny yellow again?

What could happen if we viewed every read aloud as an invitation to learn more about literacy and ourselves? In Layers of Learning: Using Read Alouds to Connect Literacy and Caring Conversations , author JoEllen McCarthy explores read aloud strategies designed to enhance your reading and writing standards by capitalizing on the way literature can impact caring communities. Layers of Learning is structured around four key elements: Community, Agency, Respect, and Empowerment, or CARE. The book provides tools necessary to emphasize reading and writing connections, character education, and culturally responsive teaching, all while championing the power of read alouds. Inside you’ll find: Over 200 picture book suggestions introducing the Heartprint Framework , which demonstrates how you can layer literacy with life lessons 60 read aloud based connections that support caring classroom conversations, lesson planning, and extensions Instructional opportunities for nurturing readers and writers during workshop time, small-group gatherings, or individual conferring sessions Literacy Snapshot photo essays with ideas on how to adopt or adapt Continuing connections with additional resources and invitations for further learning Layers of Learning pulls together the ideas that the books we share not only serve an academic purpose, but also convey big, affective messages. This can lead to richer and more meaningful classroom conversations.

With the rise of teacher stressors, new and changing state standards, and high-stakes testing, it is more important than ever to remind literacy teachers and teacher-librarians about the reason that brought them to this profession: the love of story.The Gift of Story: Exploring the Affective Side of the Reading Life , by John Schu (affectionately known as Mr. Schu all over reading communities), invites readers to consider literacy beyond its academic benefits and explore how universal truths found in stories can change us, inspire us, connect us to others, answer our deepest questions, and even help us heal along the way. Using his experience as a teacher, librarian, book lover, and story ambassador, Mr. Schu asks readers to reflect on what it means to share their hearts through stories and how it can connect us to individuals and learning communities.The Gift of Story is presented through a study of five affective elements: Healer, Inspiration, Clarifier, Compassion, and Connector.Along the way, readers will encounter insightful contributions from educators, children's writers, and illustrators, as well as recommendations for sharing the gift of story with learning communities including: treasured book suggestions that stir reflection, engaging tips for celebrating literacy, and heart-growing applications to lift classroom and library practices.Celebrate the way we define and imagine ourselvesthrough literacy by using stories to connect to others, build and strengthen community, and honor the children we were called to teach.

Mindful Social Studies situates the field of social studies education as uniquely poised to integrate anti-racist, equity, and asset-based pedagogies with contemplative, mindfulness-based strategies. Chapters explore ways of cultivating critical mindfulness and SEL to meet the needs of diverse students, families, educators, and communities.

Learn how to use children's books during storytime to approach sensitive topics and increase children's social-emotional wellness-and how to create storytimes that are engaging, participative, and FUN! The emotional challenges many children experience consume the time of teachers, exhaust parents, and sometimes lead children toward behaviors that prohibit social and academic success. Storytime to the rescue! Library storytimes prepare children for kindergarten; storytimes at home and in preschools allow teachers, parents, and children to think and talk about empathy and the importance of honoring your own and others' feelings. In Bringing Heart and Mind into Storytime, Heather McNeil teaches librarians and teachers how to use books to open conversations with children to teach such concepts as patience, tenacity, kindness, and teamwork. McNeil shares research on brain development, social-emotional learning, and the importance of play, but she also emphasizes maintaining the fun of storytime. She recommends songs, action rhymes, games, and crafts that contribute to fun and healthy storytimes. Extensive lists of recommended books will help readers find the right ones for their audience.

This book offers 101 passive programming ideas that are extendable, adaptable, customizable, and above all, stealable-so your passive programming never runs dry. Passive programming is a cheap, quick, fun way to make all library customers feel like part of the community. It can support reading initiatives, foster family engagement, encourage visit frequency, and coax interaction out of library lurkers-while barely making a dent in your programming budget. Passive programming can be targeted at children, teens, adults, or seniors; used to augment existing programs; and executed in places where staff-led programming can't reach. It can be light-footed, spontaneous, and easily deployed to reflect and respond to current news, media, library events, and even the weather. But even passive programming pros run out of ideas sometimes, and when that happens, they want a fresh, funny source of inspiration.

With a focus on fostering a deep love for reading and prioritizing student growth, A Year for the Books: Routines and Mindsets for Creating Student-Centered Reading Communities is a must-have for educators from kindergarten through middle school. Discover a teacher-friendly resource crafted by Katie Walther, esteemed educator, and respected veteran teacher Maria Walther that will take you behind the scenes and through the school year as they share simple, practical strategies to design learner-centered literacy experiences. Starting with the first few weeks of school, each chapter highlights multiple ways to embed literacy experiences across the entire year that prioritize learners and literacy. To support you in your decision making, the classroom-tested ideas in each chapter are arranged around five grounding principles: Actionable strategies for launching and sustaining a vibrant reading culture Clear processes to define and communicate community beliefs Creative structures for establishing and maintaining reading routines Innovative ideas for cultivating an inclusive reading community Equitable techniques for partnering with families and caregivers Within each chapter you will also find nuggets of wisdom from the Walthers' collective years of teaching, practical ideas about how to keep it simple, and several book suggestions. As an added bonus, this book features companion podcasts or PDCasts where you can hear the authors tackle authentic classroom dilemmas and share their decision-making process. Whether you’re a novice or seasoned educator, you’ll want A Year for the Books by your side as you advocate for your student readers and promote independent reading in your classroom all year long.

Integrating Social and Emotional Learning with Content builds a framework for creatively and effectively using picture books to integrate social and emotional learning (SEL) with teaching across content areas. Thoughtful book choices in mixed-ability early elementary classrooms have the power to not only support gifted students as they develop academically, but also to provide an opportunity to address their unique social and emotional needs, such as asynchronous development and an early awareness of complex and challenging issues in their lives and the world at large. Picture books are an invaluable tool for this work because the characters, topics, and settings increasingly represent and celebrate the lived experiences of diverse student populations, supporting culturally responsive teaching. Packed with lesson plans, book lists, and more, this book is perfect for teachers in gifted and mixed-ability classrooms as well as homeschooling parents looking to help their children make meaningful connections between their culture, languages, and lived experiences and the academic content and SEL skills they are being taught in the classroom.