Jaclyn DeForge, our Resident Literacy Expert, began her career teaching first and second grade in the South Bronx, and went on to become a literacy coach and earn her Masters of Science in Teaching. In her column she offers teaching and literacy tips for educators.
Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of meeting with a literacy expert who was SUPER involved with the creation of the Common Core Standards (!!!!!), and she gave me some important feedback about the Appendix B supplement I posted last week. To refresh your memory, what we’ve done is compiled a supplement to Appendix B that includes both contemporary literature and authors/characters of color, and that also meets the criteria (complexity, quality, range) used by the authors of the Common Core. We were lucky enough to have this literacy expert take a look at our supplement, and she gave some great suggestions:
- The texts selected for Read Aloud can be outside the text complexity bands for each grade cluster.
- Texts that are Read Aloud in lower grades can be read as Independent Reading in upper grades.
We’ve incorporated these ideas into our Appendix B supplement. So, without further ado, click here for a PDF of our new and improved multicultural supplement to the Common Core’s Appendix B.
Know who else is excited about the updated Appendix B list? This guy:

“Smiling Dog” by Benjamin Liew
Further Reading:
What’s in your classroom? Rethinking Common Core recommended texts
Why Window and Mirror Books are Important for All Readers
Filed under: Curriculum Corner, Resources Tagged: appendix b, Book Lists, common core standards, common core standards appendix b, common core standards ela appendix b, common core standards language arts appendix b, diversity, Educators, exemplar texts appendix B, guided reading, independent reading, multicultural books, Read Alouds, Reading Aloud, reading comprehension, smiling dogs
