For many across the globe, the month of June is recognized as a time of celebration for the LGBTQ+ community. Although it is not yet celebrated everywhere and by everyone, it is incredibly important that such a celebration be recognized as it works to unite and empower the voices of people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions. Marking the start of a 30-day celebration of a community who has fought and continues to fight for tolerance, recognition and acceptance, Pride is a distinctly special and significant holiday as it represents an entire month in which all forms of self-identity and love are celebrated. The books featured in this post attempt to celebrate the many different voices of those who make up the LGBTQ+ community and to bring awareness to the many ways that sexual and gender diversity can and should be recognized and celebrated in the classroom.

A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder is the autobiographical account of the life of Ma-Nee Chacaby, an Indigenous two-spirited lesbian. In this item, Chacaby shares with the reader her lived experiences, detailing the spiritual and cultural lessons she learned from her grandparents, the physical, domestic, and sexual abuse she suffered throughout her life, and her experiences coming out as a two-spirited Ojibwa lesbian. Undercutting this all is her journey in overcoming the legacies of colonialism that have many repercussions, and she speaks to the ways they have affected her social, economic, physical and mental health. Although she experienced severe backlash when she came out in the 1980s, Chacaby became an advocate within the LGBTQ+ community and went on to lead the first Pride Parade in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Chacaby’s story is one of resistance and empowerment, and a great source of inspiration to the LGBTQ+ community. This electronic resource can be virtually checked out through the UofT catalogue.

Based on the true events that occurred in New York’s Central Park Zoo, And Tango Makes Three is the loving tale of Roy and Silo, two male penguins who found their life-mate in one another. After it became apparent to the zookeepers that Roy and Silo loved each other and had mated for life—as penguins do—they gave the penguins an egg that needed to be cared for so that they could have a family of their own. This item follows the life of these three penguins and features the many acts of love that surround their family. A touching tale of love, family and acceptance, this children’s book is an excellent manifestation of the notion that love and family comes in many forms.

Set in a Toronto Catholic high school, the graphic novel Skim is a beautiful coming-of-age story about a young queer teen named Kimberly, who instead goes by “Skim”. This story follows Skim and her personal struggle with depression, and with discovering and coming to terms with her own sexual orientation. The story begins with the tragedy involving a student in Skim’s school, which leads the school’s administration to redouble their efforts in making students aware of matters concerning mental health. Overwhelmed with the feelings that these events trigger within her, first concerning her personal struggles with her mental health and then with her experience falling in love with a woman, we follow Skim  in her journey of self-discovery and acceptance. Skim is an excellent novel that bravely tackles issues concerning mental health and sexuality in a way that is both hard-hitting and profound.

Winner of both the 2018 Outstanding Book by the Michigan Council Teachers of English and the 2017 AERA Division K (Teaching and Teacher Education) Exemplary Research Award, Teaching, Affirming, and Recognizing Trans* and Gender Creative Youth: A Queer Literacy Framework is an excellent book that works to create a classroom environment that is safe and welcoming for  students of all genders  and sexual orientations. This book looks to correct the contemporary absence within classrooms and other educational environments of queer theoretical frameworks that work to implement practical strategies that would recognize, include  and respect students of the LGBTQ+ community, and especially those students who are gender nonconforming.  With chapters concerning topics such as binary language, gender normatives and Queer pedagogy, this item acts as a great tool which educational administrators can use to ensure they are affirming the experiences of differential (a)gender bodied realities. By highlighting the ways that the current operating social framework within schools has perpetuated or even caused violent climates for  students of the LGBTQ+ community, Teaching, Affirming, and Recognizing Trans* and Gender Creative Youth works to dismantle gender normativity in the classroom.

Also addressing the absence of materials surrounding the LGBTQ+ student experience in the classroom, Queering Classrooms: Personal Narratives and Educational Practices to Support LGBTQ Youth in Schools works to directly address the needs of students who do not conform to the gender normative or heterosexual standards of contemporary society. First tackling the problematic nature of an educational theoretical framework that only briefly and off-handedly mentions the needs of the LGBTQ+ student community, this item advocates for the need of both a teacher education and curriculum that directly and openly addresses LGBTQ+ topics and issues, as well as the needs of LGBTQ+ learners. By highlighting the many different ways that LGBTQ+ students may experience discrimination or oppression within schools specifically, Queering Classrooms is an insightful text that works to eradicate any educational ignorance surrounding the LGBTQ+ community so to ensure its educational and social empowerment.

For these and more books on LGBTQ+ topics, visit the Lobby Display on the ground floor of the OISE building. Please feel free to take out the materials found in the lobby display—OISE staff would be happy to take these out for you. Happy Pride everyone!!!

Primarily, the way that the classroom and other educational environments have been conceptualized within Western society centers around a space that is enclosed and indoors. Oftentimes, recess and gym are the only school-time activities associated or deemed appropriate for the outdoors. However, there are a number of benefits to outdoor education and learning environments that take place outside. These benefits not only affect a student’s motor skills, but also their ability to discover, synthesize and comprehend all aspects of their education in its entirety—including subjects like math, science and languages. The books included in this lobby display attempt to help reconceptualize the classroom environment, break down the associated physical boundaries and extend the classroom outside.

Based around the concept that “if you can do it indoors, you can probably do it outside”, Cultivating Outdoor Classrooms: Designing And Implementing Child-Centered Learning Environments by Eric Nelson analyzes the many ways that outdoor education can benefit a child’s learning and development. By offering suggestions and strategies concerning ways that outdoor spaces can be harnessed and transformed into places of learning, Nelson helps to promote ways to help children spend quality time with nature in a more stimulating environment conducive to discovery and learning. Along with a full range of outdoor educational activities, this item also includes recommendations concerning ways to collaborate with other teachers when creating outdoor learning spaces, as well as methods to measure the success of an outdoor environment or activity.

Perfect for those teachers interested in implementing outdoor education within their classroom but don’t know where or how to begin, Let’s Take it Outside! Teacher-Created Activities for Outdoor Learning acts as a great guidebook for getting started. Filled with more than 100 outdoor learning activities and activity ideas, Let’s Take it Outside! helps education administrators better imagine how the classroom can be effectively implemented outside of the walls of a building. Organized by themes such as colours, counting and touch, the activities outlined in this manual help to build upon and expand a child’s intellectual education while stimulating both their bodies and minds. Helping to build skills in areas like math, literacy and science, this item works to prove that outdoor education helps to develop more than just a child’s motor skills and physical health.

Created by the noted environment education expert David Sobel, Nature Preschools and Forest Kindergartens: The Handbook for Outdoor Learning has been cited as a revolutionary source that will “change the way that you think about early childhood education.” Based from a framework rooted within the European educational scene, this item explores the stimulating benefits of nature and outdoor education and promotes an educational environment that incorporates those aspects. Identified as “Nature Preschools” and “Forest Kindergartens”, this item works to create a framework that would help to reconceptualize the classroom into a stimulating, nurturing and entirely outdoor space.

While focusing on the visual and physical benefits of outdoor education, A Little Bit of Dirt: 55+ Science and Art Activities to Reconnect Children with Nature also highlights the many ways that a child’s skill and education within the field of science can be expanded with outdoor play. Filled with more than 55 suggested outdoor activities, this item acts as a great way to get children excited about going outside and taking advantage of the physical and intellectual stimulants that are so intricately associated with any outdoor environment. By featuring many activities that are more geared toward the scientific field, this item is a great resource in stimulating a child’s natural curiosity with the world around them in such a way that expands their knowledge concerning nature.

A colourful reminder of all the fun that can be had outside, On Meadowview Street by Henry Cole is an inspiring children’s picture book designed to get children excited about exploring the outdoors—even if it’s just their front yard. This item follows the story of a girl named Caroline, who is confused why her house on Meadowview Street doesn’t have a view of a meadow at all! Bored with her grassy but plain front yard, Caroline sets to work in creating a meadow of her own creation that would act as a nice home for all the birds and butterflies of the street. Offering a great lesson concerning the potential of the outdoors and the capability of young children, this item helps to encourage children to go outside, play, and learn new things by discovering nature.

For these and more books on outdoor education, visit the Lobby Display on the ground floor of the OISE building. Please feel free to take out the materials found in the lobby display—OISE staff would be happy to take these out for you.