Abstract
Elementary social studies educators face many challenges in the classroom when teaching on the subject of Native Americans. In addition to outdated materials or a lack of resources that inaccurately depict Native Americans as well as stereotypes found in a variety of media, students are left with various misconceptions that they bring with them to the classroom. To begin to combat these hurdles, the author advocates for the use of high quality picture books written by Indigenous authors and shares a carefully curated list of texts and suggestions for classroom use. The list features both fiction and nonfiction that address both Native American histories and contemporary life that help young readers understand that Native people are still here as well as learn the cultures and histories of various tribes. Written from the perspective of an elementary classroom teacher, this article seeks to highlight the power of using children’s books as a starting point to begin breaking stereotypes and misconceptions by having important conversations with students that lead to building cultural competence.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Benzor, Lucia
(2026)
""We Are Still Here”: Curating a High Quality Native American Children’s Book Collection for the Elementary Classroom,"
Teaching Social Studies in the Peach State: Vol. 4:
Iss.
2, Article 6.
Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sspeach/vol4/iss2/6
Included in
Early Childhood Education Commons, Elementary Education Commons, Elementary Education and Teaching Commons
