From the mid-90’s through the spring of 2004, Children’s Book Press worked closely with educators in underserved communities through LitLinks, our program in schools. CBP donated quality multicultural literature; planned projects with teachers; and brought authors and artists to work with classrooms as Artists-in-ResidenceÑin person and through the Internet. LitLinks brought books and authors and artists to racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse classrooms in the San Francisco Bay Area and across the country. By encouraging students to engage directly with literature, LitLinks provided hundreds of students with a unique opportunity that helped to offset systemic barriers to education. Due to a change in the Press community partnership priorities, LitLinks has been discontinued. CBP continues to work in the community by developing new partnerships with schools, community-based organizations, and other sites. We’re happy to share some of the outstanding curricula our authors and artists developed through LitLinks. Below, you can find examples of our workshops that you can adapt for your own classroom, along with samples of work that students produced.

In his Internet-based residency, Juan Felipe Herrera shares poetry-writing techniques in a workshop designed to take students from their homes on "a poetry journey across space and time." Read an adaptation of Juan Felipe’s workshop below.

For her Internet-based residency, Toyomi Igus created the writing workshop below. She asked students to use family pictures to interview their elders about their family histories. Students then wrote children's books telling their own stories. Read how Toyomi explained this project to students. In one of her school-based residencies, artist Maya Christina Gonzalez has students create quilt squares that echo the themes and patterns in Going Back Home. The squares are then sewn together to create a class quilt reflecting African American history. For a lesson plan that describes this project, click here.

Author Chiori Santiago has students in her Internet-based residency practice descriptive writing to hone their skills in communicating both what they see and what they feel. Read an adaptation of one Internet-based lesson below.

In his visits to schools, artist Mark Dukes teaches students what makes an icon a unique piece of art. He then helps students make icons that honor their own ancestors. For a summary lesson plan, click below.

Toyomi Igus leads students participating in her Internet-based residency through a research project designed to honor African American musicians. In the lesson below, she asks students to research historical figures and share what they've learned in the form of "tributes" to the musicians.

In his Internet-based residency, author Francisco X. Alarcón introduces students to the basic elements of poetry. The workshop below is designed to build on the lessons taught in his Laughing Tomatoes workshop, but it can also stand alone.

Using her self-portrait from Just Like Me, artist Maya Christina Gonzalez helps students create self-portraits that express who they are, inside as well as out. For a project description, look below.

In his first writing workshop for students, author Francisco X. Alarcón teaches the importance of using sensory imagery in poetry. Look below for a lesson asking students to use sensory imagery in poems about family members.