In the latest episode of The Teacher Think-Aloud Podcast, hosts Anna and Shé share a curated list of 13 impactful reads perfect for educators navigating language, identity, and culture in the English language classroom. They warn that these are not light summer reads—they are powerful stories that explore migration, memory, and belonging, offering teachers new ways to connect with students across borders.
The episode features titles like Solito by Javier Zamora, Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, and Airplane Mode by Shahnaz Habib—books that dive deep into lived experiences of displacement, resistance, and the search for home. Some titles, like The Covenant of Water and The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, offer immersive, intergenerational narratives rooted in specific places, while others like The Penguin Book of Migration Literature present a range of voices and journeys from around the globe.
Anna and Shé reflect on how these stories inform their teaching and inspire classroom activities. Some of the literature-based strategies they discuss for bringing these stories into ELT contexts, from leveraging memoirs for personal storytelling to practicing perspective-taking and rewriting stories through a different lens.
“Wherever you are right now—in a hammock, on a long train ride, or just taking a few minutes between lesson prep for the upcoming school year—we hope these stories find you well. And we hope they leave you changed, just a little. Because the best stories do.” - Shé and Anna
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