Date of Award

4-20-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Department

Education

First Reader

Dr. Carrie Sharp

Second Reader

Professor Jenny Slaton

Third Reader

Dr. Rachel Pool

Abstract

“This Class Was Made for You and Me!” is a children’s book inspired by Woody Guthrie’s 1943 folk song, “This Land is Your Land.” The book is a tribute to the gift of diversity within a classroom setting. Diversity is not limited to one area, but reflects: race, socioeconomic status, family structures, disabilites/abilities, interests, and so much more. Students possess the right to see themselves represented within literature. Whether seeing a character as a “mirror” of their personal life or a “window” into someone else’s situation- empathy is the skill we want readers to gain at the end of the day. This article tackles the research that explains why diverse read alouds are so crucial in an elementary classroom setting.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

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