Sankofa Black Heritage Collection for Grades 4–10

Sankofa is a culturally responsive literacy series for students in Grades 4–10, designed to help promote the narratives of people of African decent. Each book includes a variety of genres, including primary documents, reader’s theatre, biographies, essays, fiction, and poetry.

Written by authors of African descent.
Thought-provoking essential question to introduce the book’s big ideas to students.
Online teacher’s guide helps support teaching culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy.
Provides motivation for literacy success.

Jump to Books Learn More about 4-10

Sankofa

Looking to the Past, Moving Forward

Each book in Sankofa Series:

Showcases diverse perspectives and experiences.
Features inquiry-based learning and differentiated instruction.
Is written by a Black Canadian author.
Features both historical and contemporary content.
Offers past and present perspectives on the experiences of Black Canadians and those of African descent.

Free Teaching Guide

Why Sankofa Belongs in
Your Classroom

The Sankofa Series
A CRRP Resource
Features
Using Sankofa

The Sankofa Series

Inspires leadership by offering profiles of historical and present-day role models from Canada and around
the world.
Includes a wide range of empowering activities that build understanding and address a variety of social justice issues.
Provides motivation for literacy success, features differentiated instruction, and includes topics that have students’ interests in mind.
Supports curriculum expectations and features
cross-curricular connections for use throughout the school year.

A Culturally Responsive and Relevant Pedagogy Resource

Serves as an authentic, engaging, and culturally responsive resource that carefully acknowledges and respects the complexity of difference and culture.
Improves confidence and self-esteem by offering opportunities for students to see themselves reflected in classroom materials.
Models the use of inclusive and respectful language
and approaches.

Each title in Sankofa is carefully designed to engage students.

A thought-provoking essential question encourages inquiry while introducing readers to the book’s topic.
Think About It activities encourage students to use
their own prior knowledge and experiences to engage in a topic.
Connect It activities invite students to extend their understanding of a topic by conducting their own activities, either individually, with a classmate, or in
a group.
A variety of text types are used in Sankofa, including informational texts such as news articles and interviews, as well as fiction, poetry, and traditional stories.

Use in a Variety of Ways in Grades 4–10 Classrooms

As a Class

Teachers are encouraged to use Sankofa to work with small groups or the whole class in shared reading experiences. Thought-provoking Think About It questions activate prior knowledge, allowing teachers to assess the levels of student interest in and knowledge of the topic of the selection. Inquiry-based Connect It questions encourage students to engage in purposeful talk about topics that are meaningful to them and relevant to their life.
Independently

Independent readers will enjoy the highly visual and engaging selections in each Sankofa book. Scaffolding questions and notes, along with highlighted vocabulary, are designed to aid students with little or no teacher support.
Gradual Release of Responsibility — Class and Independent Reading

Sankofa can also easily be used within the gradual release of responsibility instructional framework as students move toward more responsibility for their own learning. To begin, one or more selections in each text can be used as part of teacher-centred focused instruction, where, using a Sankofa selection, teachers set goals for the selection and model reading and responding strategies. At this point, students are active participants under their teacher’s guidance.
Since the initial selections will establish the theme and focus for the book, with following Sankofa selections, guided instruction can replace focused instruction in order to prepare students for the collaborative and independent learning that follow. Because of their engaging selections and accessible nature, Sankofa books work well as students move along the learning continuum to gradually assuming more responsibility for their learning.