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Picture-Books for Multilingual Classrooms: Stories of Migration, Belonging, and Language
with Erica Holyoke, PhD
Children’s literature offers a powerful pathway for multilingual and newcomer students to engage meaningfully in literacy classrooms while building language skills and academic confidence. This course equips educators with strategies for using picturebooks to foster belonging, participation, and rich meaning‑making in English‑dominant settings. Participants learn practical, inclusive approaches that help every student feel seen, heard, and ready to contribute.
Empower multilingual and newcomer students to thrive in your literacy classroom. This asynchronous graduate course shows educators how picture books and children’s literature can open welcoming entry points for students to build confidence, share their ideas, and participate fully, regardless of their English proficiency.
You’ll explore stories that reflect migration, multilingualism, and diverse cultural perspectives, helping students see their identities and experiences valued in your classroom. The course also introduces visual and wordless texts that make space for students to interpret, make meaning, and contribute using all their linguistic resources.
Through guided activities and hands-on practice, you will design engaging, literature-based invitations that spark storytelling, discussion, and collaboration. By the end of the course, you’ll walk away with curated picture book recommendations and ready-to-use literacy routines that elevate student voice and strengthen belonging in multilingual learning environments.
Audience: Early childhood educators, elementary teachers, ESOL teachers, literacy specialists, ESL/ML teachers, instructional coaches, community-based educators, and administrators interested in supporting multilingual and newcomer students through literacy.
| The Details | |
| Dates | Starts July 1 |
| Time | Asynchronous |
| Cost | $145 |
| Location | Online |
| Graduate Credits Available | 1 |
Purpose & Outcomes:
- Explore how children’s literature can support belonging and participation for multilingual and newcomer students
- Examine picture books representing migration, multilingual experiences, and cultural identities
- Analyze discussion routines that support interpretation and student voice
- Explore visual and wordless texts that allow multilingual learners to participate in meaning-making, and
- Develop literature-based literacy invitations that support storytelling and classroom discussion.
Erica Holyoke, PhD
Facilitator
Erica Holyoke, PhD, joined the School of Education & Human Development in 2022 as an assistant professor in the Responsive Literacy Education program.
Prior to coming to CU Denver, she was an assistant professor in elementary and special education at Keene State College in New Hampshire, a literacy coordinator, literacy coach, and assistant principal in Texas, and an elementary classroom teacher and special education teacher in Massachusetts and Texas. Her research has focused on early literacies in classrooms and teacher preparation. She investigates justice and equity-centered literacy learning, instruction, and learning communities. Her work also examines agency and activism in children's literature, classrooms, and preparation programs. Holyoke's work has been published in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored books.
She enjoys playing soccer, and hiking with her family and dogs in the Colorado mountains.