Iliana Alanís – författare

This timely book offers preschool and kindergarten teachers practical, research-based strategies for how to use culturally relevant picture books to discuss social justice and equity with young children. It includes activities and dozens of recommended children’s books that will help students understand their own social, cultural, and linguistic identities.Challenging outdated literacy norms, this book calls on educators to center picture books about children’s different identities, talents, and lived experiences. The authors show how picture books rooted in social justice and equity become powerful tools for fostering critical thinking, empathy, a sense of belonging, and meaningful dialogue. Through shared reading and thoughtful discussion, teachers can help young learners explore big ideas, such as fairness, culture, and identity.Now is the time to place powerful stories in the hands of young learners. Let this book be your guide to cultivating classrooms where equity is not just an ideal, but a daily reality.Book Features:Provides in-depth descriptions of effective classroom strategies for using picture books with social justice content and images.Alleviates teachers’ potential discomfort around social justice and equity by using children’s literature to identify and discuss unfair practices in the world.Highlights the capacity for young children to engage in critical conversations when developing their notions of themselves and the world they live in.Includes annotated lists of recommended children’s picture books, websites, podcasts, and videos.

This timely book offers preschool and kindergarten teachers practical, research-based strategies for how to use culturally relevant picture books to discuss social justice and equity with young children. It includes activities and dozens of recommended children’s books that will help students understand their own social, cultural, and linguistic identities.Challenging outdated literacy norms, this book calls on educators to center picture books about children’s different identities, talents, and lived experiences. The authors show how picture books rooted in social justice and equity become powerful tools for fostering critical thinking, empathy, a sense of belonging, and meaningful dialogue. Through shared reading and thoughtful discussion, teachers can help young learners explore big ideas, such as fairness, culture, and identity.Now is the time to place powerful stories in the hands of young learners. Let this book be your guide to cultivating classrooms where equity is not just an ideal, but a daily reality.Book Features:Provides in-depth descriptions of effective classroom strategies for using picture books with social justice content and images.Alleviates teachers’ potential discomfort around social justice and equity by using children’s literature to identify and discuss unfair practices in the world.Highlights the capacity for young children to engage in critical conversations when developing their notions of themselves and the world they live in.Includes annotated lists of recommended children’s picture books, websites, podcasts, and videos.

This book takes the reader through a journey into the practical and theoretical aspects of partner-based learning in bilingual early childhood environments. The authors begin by presenting compelling arguments for the significance of this approach noting the parallels between partner-based collaborative learning and developmentally appropriate practices for young learners. Part 1 weaves in tenets of a LatCrit perspective to highlight intersections of a social justice orientation to learning and teaching and a collaborative approach that capitalizes on Latinx bilingual children’s linguistic repertoire and cultural capital. The authors unpack the translingual partner construct unveiling the potential of bilingual children as meaning-makers and language problem solvers. Part 2 contextualizes the concept of translingual partner interactions in two early childhood classrooms. Then, to bridge theory and praxis, Part 3 reveals what the authors have learned after thousands of observations, conversations, and interactions with bilingual teachers and young learners throughout the United States. Readers will find considerations for the design of partner-based interactions. Specifically, the authors address criteria such as language proficiency, academic strengths, and learning styles. The authors include general guidelines for effective partner collaboration to assist teachers in the assessment of partner-based work. To bring the discussion full circle, the authors close with an example of a real-life partnership. Chicano leaders Dolores Huerta and César Chávez’s partnership is portrayed in terms of their agency, impact, and connectedness with the community.

This book takes the reader through a journey into the practical and theoretical aspects of partner-based learning in bilingual early childhood environments. The authors begin by presenting compelling arguments for the significance of this approach noting the parallels between partner-based collaborative learning and developmentally appropriate practices for young learners. Part 1 weaves in tenets of a LatCrit perspective to highlight intersections of a social justice orientation to learning and teaching and a collaborative approach that capitalizes on Latinx bilingual children’s linguistic repertoire and cultural capital. The authors unpack the translingual partner construct unveiling the potential of bilingual children as meaning-makers and language problem solvers. Part 2 contextualizes the concept of translingual partner interactions in two early childhood classrooms. Then, to bridge theory and praxis, Part 3 reveals what the authors have learned after thousands of observations, conversations, and interactions with bilingual teachers and young learners throughout the United States. Readers will find considerations for the design of partner-based interactions. Specifically, the authors address criteria such as language proficiency, academic strengths, and learning styles. The authors include general guidelines for effective partner collaboration to assist teachers in the assessment of partner-based work. To bring the discussion full circle, the authors close with an example of a real-life partnership. Chicano leaders Dolores Huerta and César Chávez’s partnership is portrayed in terms of their agency, impact, and connectedness with the community.

This book is for early childhood educators who work or will work with the growing number of dual language learners, within the age range of three to five in family home centers, private preschool centers, Head Start classrooms, or state funded preschool and kindergarten programs. General education teachers, bilingual teachers, English as a second language teachers, and special education specialists will find the information useful. Instructional leaders, such as program directors and administrators, who work with children in preschool and kindergarten, will also find the information beneficial as they develop partnerships with families and colleagues.This book answers the question what do early childhood educators need to understand to better address the linguistic, cognitive, and socio-emotional needs of all DLLs in their classrooms? The majority of the teachers in dual language programs with Spanish and English-dominant speakers learn academic content in two languages. It is through this lens that the authors have approached the writing of this text. There are however, over 350 languages spoken within the U.S (U.S. Census, 2015). This means emergent bilingual children come from a variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. While teachers cannot be expected to teach in all languages, the basic principles of this book help teachers gain a richer understanding of the interdependent relationship among culture, language, and learning. With this understanding, teachers can implement intentional practices that nurture children’s bilingual identities and augment their growth in all developmental domains through the concepts and strategies presented in this text.

What Does Developmentally Appropriate Practice Look Like in a Preschool Classroom?  If you’ve ever wondered how effective teachers actually do DAP, this is the book for you. Here, you can peek into classrooms to see teachers making intentional decisions in the six key areas of practice that form the six guidelines for DAP in action:  1. Building a community of learners where everyone is welcomed and supported to grow  2. Facilitating respectful partnerships with families  3. Observing, assessing, and documenting children’s development and learning   4. Using teaching strategies that enhance learning for each child  5. Implementing curriculum tied to meaningful learning goals  6. Demonstrating professionalism  You’ll discover  More about what each guideline means for preschool teaching  Chapters that showcase articles from Young Children and Teaching Young Children—plus brand-new content—illustrating excellent teaching strategies related to each guideline  Examples you can model, adapt, and implement in your own practice   Your teaching will be richer and deeper, and children’s learning will flourish!

Reimagining Early Childhood Education for Dual Language Preschoolers: Enhancing Children’s Agency through Inquiry, Writing, and Reading introduces the Interdisciplinary Biliteracy Sequence (IBS), a framework designed to support bilingual learning in preschool classrooms. The authors share insights from a year-long research project where dual language teachers implemented the IBS with preschool emergent bilinguals. Through classroom examples, they illustrate how this approach integrates active exploration, knowledge-building, and biliteracy development. Emphasizing the power of play and multimodal learning, they highlight how educators can leverage children’s cultural and linguistic assets to foster meaningful learning.

Reimagining Early Childhood Education for Dual Language Preschoolers: Enhancing Children’s Agency through Inquiry, Writing, and Reading introduces the Interdisciplinary Biliteracy Sequence (IBS), a framework designed to support bilingual learning in preschool classrooms. The authors share insights from a year-long research project where dual language teachers implemented the IBS with preschool emergent bilinguals. Through classroom examples, they illustrate how this approach integrates active exploration, knowledge-building, and biliteracy development. Emphasizing the power of play and multimodal learning, they highlight how educators can leverage children’s cultural and linguistic assets to foster meaningful learning.