Today, Scholastic Education is excited to announce the new Rising Voices Library, a collection of books for K–5 classrooms containing high-interest, authentic texts that celebrate the stories of Black and Latino boys—some of the historically most underrepresented people in children’s literature.
The collection was curated in collaboration with David C. Banks, President and CEO of the Eagle Academy Foundation and Founding Principal of The Eagle Academy for Young Men, an all-boys public school educating young men in grades 6–12 in New York City and Newark, New Jersey.
According to findings from the Scholastic Kids & Family Reading Report™, only one-third of school-age children say they have a classroom library that has enough of the types of books they'd like to read. Moreover, about half of kids ages 9–17 and parents overall agree, “I wish there were more books available that include diversity.” The Rising Voices Library is designed to provide equitable access to engaging texts that represent the cultures and identities of students. The collection features nonfiction, biographical, and fiction titles paired with robust teaching materials designed to help foster rich classroom communities through deep discussions about social justice and identity development, helping students grow as leaders and independent thinkers.
The complete Rising Voices Library for grades K–5 features:
- 300 total books, including two copies of 25 different titles per grade-level, in addition to storage bins and book stickers for organization. All books are centered on the Rising Voices Framework, which encompasses five key themes: Family, Culture, and Community; Someone Like Me/Memorable Characters; Heroes and Role Models; Strong and Resilient/Problem Solvers; and Thinking Beyond Today.
- Teacher’s Guides, which outline instructional support for educators of each grade level with implementation strategies for integrating the texts into book clubs, whole class, small group, and independent reading. The guide contains suggestions for supporting English learners and engaging discussion prompts, in addition to guides for building social-emotional awareness utilizing the CASEL framework, and ideas for conferring and connecting with families.
- Teaching Cards paired with each anchor text, including suggestions for exploring the text as an interactive read-aloud, building vocabulary, practicing reading strategies, and extending learning through writing, discussion, and art.
To learn more about adding the Rising Voices Library to your classroom, visit the Scholastic Teacher Store: https://shop.scholastic.com/teachers-ecommerce/teacher/programs-and-services/curriculum/libraries-programs/rising-voices.html.
