Contents Foreword ?ix Acknowledgments ?xiii 1. ?Introduction ?1 What Is Trauma? ?4 Trauma in Schools ?6 How Does Trauma Influence Learning? ?8 How Can Schools Become More Supportive Places? ?9 The Purpose of This Book ?11 Who Are We and Why Are We Writing This Book? ?13 2. ?Five Pillars of Trauma-Sensitive Literacy Instruction (TSLI): The Framework ?14 The Research Base for This Book ?17 Five Pillars of Trauma-Sensitive Literacy Instruction: A Framework ?19 3. ?Curating Appropriate, High-Quality Literature in TSLI ?34 What Does Literature Have to Do With It? ?35 Curating Novels to Build Classroom Libraries ?47 Conclusion ?58 4. ?Critical Dialogue and Discussion in TSLI ?59 Dialogic Teaching and Critical Literacy Practices ?60 5. ?Using Writing in TSLI ?76 What About Teachers? Should We Be Using Expressive Writing to Support Students Experiencing Trauma? ?78 Teaching Writing in Trauma-Sensitive Ways ?79 Conclusion ?94 6. ?Critical Inquiry in TSLI ?95 Critical Inquiry as a Trauma-Sensitive Literacy Practice ?96 Guiding Principles for Designing Units of Trauma-Sensitive Critical Inquiry ?98 Conclusion ?108 7. ?Hot Moments-Teacher Self-Care ?110 Handling Hot Moments ?111 The Emotional Labor of Teaching, Compassion Fatigue, and Compassion Satisfaction ?125 Conclusion ?134 References ?135 Index ?151 About the Authors ?161
It is vital for educators to be aware of how traumatic experiences affect today's students, yet few teachers learn the tools needed to successfully teach these students. This book highlights how English Language Arts teachers, who are typically not licensed or specifically trained to work with trauma issues, can design and implement instruction that helps students see that they are supported. Readers will find specific strategies for teaching literacy based on the authors' extensive knowledge and experience in trauma-sensitive instruction, adolescent literacy, and culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies. The authors show how to support middle and high school students with specific literacy practices (reading, speaking, listening, and writing) that build resilience. Trauma-Sensitive Literacy Instruction is for the many teachers who are unsure how to invite students and their traumas into classroom instruction and embed critical discussions and learning within their teaching practices and pedagogy. It will help ELA teachers navigate student trauma in a way that empowers both students and teachers. Book Features: Responds to research that consistently shows how schools are often places that marginalize-and sometimes traumatize or retraumatize-children. Offers specific information related to literature, writing, discussion, and inquiry activities focused on various traumatic experiences. Provides rationales and research, along with examples, teacher vignettes, and steps for incorporating relevant practices in classrooms (grades 6-12).
Rachelle S. Savitz is an associate professor in the Department of Literacy Studies, English Education and History Education in the College of Education at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Britnie Delinger Kane is an associate professor of literacy education in the Zucker Family School of Education at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, where she also serves as the department head.