Celebrating Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage
Winners of the 2022 APALA Awards.
Colorín Colorado celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage all year long with books, activities, and classroom resources.
Explore the following:
- Booklists: Find great AAPI for children and teens.
- Author Interviews: Watch online interviews with AAPI authors.
- Classroom resources: Find links to other classroom resources to use across the curriculum.
Booklists: APA Heritage
These booklists celebrate the diversity, history, and resilience of the AAPI community.
- Asian Pacific American Heritage Booklists (Grades K-3)
- APA Heritage Booklist for Adolescents (Grades 4-12)
- Reading Rockets: AAPI Books and Resources
- AdLit.org: Asian American and Pacific Islander Characters and Social/Cultural Themes
- AdLit.org: Asian and South Asian Characters and Social/Cultural Themes
- Asian Pacific American Libraries Association Awards
Children's Book Publishers and Blogs: Asian Pacific American Interest
Blog posts
- Remembering Lee and Low's Co-founder, Thomas Low (Lee and Low)
- APA Creators Draw on Myth and Folklore to Craft Personal, yet Universal Stories (School Library Journal)
- 11 Nonfiction Titles for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (School Library Journal)
Meet the Author: Interviews & Websites
These author interviews are featured across Colorín Colorado, Reading Rockets, and AdLit.org:
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Information and Resources
Building Bridges: An Interview with a Chinese Educator of ELLs
Originally from China, Xiao-lin Yin-Croft learned English as an adult and now helps young Chinese students in the U.S. bridge the cultural and language gap that they face from an early age. In this interview, Xiao-lin shares her experiences coming of age as a student in China's Cultural Revolution, and describes the strategies she uses to help her students develop the language skills they need to succeed in the U.S.
From the Classroom: Working with Chinese ELLs
Xiao-lin Yin-Croft offers some insight on Chinese immigrant communities in the U.S. and how cultural influences shape Chinese students' experiences in the classroom. She also offers some ideas about outreach to Chinese parents and describes some particular nuances that Chinese students struggle with when learning English, including details of pronunciation, grammar, and language usage.
Multilingual Tips for Families
The following resources are available in multiple languages:
- Help Your Child Learn to Read: Tips in 16 Languages (Tip Sheets and Social Graphics for Sharing)
- Family Literacy Tips by Age (Birth - Grade 3)
- How to Support Your Child's Social-Emotional Health
- Special Education and Your Child: FAQ for Multilingual Families
Providing a Safe Environment for AAPI Students and Families
- How to Create a Welcoming Classroom Environment
- Making Students and Families Feel Welcome
- How to Build Partnerships with Immigrant Families
- Responding to COVID Bullying, Bias, and Violence Against Asian Americans
Video: How school leaders can respond to anti-Asian bullying and violence
Principal Victor Tam urges school leaders to consider how the rise in anti-AAPI violence during COVID-19 impacts their students and families — and how to respond as a leader in the community.
Video: What it felt like to be bullied
Principal Tam recalls his experiences being bullied as a young Chinese immigrant in the United States.
DREAMers & DACA: Information for Schools
Diverse backgrounds among undocumented immigrants
The undocumented population of the U.S. includes immigrants from around the world. Many of those individuals are advocating for more visibility in conversations about immigration. Here are some resources that highlight that diversity:
- Diversity Among Undocumented Students
- Meet Jin Park, the First DACA Recipient Awarded a Rhodes Scholarship (NPR)
- 'You Feel Invisible': How America's Fastest-Growing Immigrant Group Is Being Left Out of the DACA Conversation (The Washington Post)
- Raise Our Story: Undocumented Asian Youth Seek Higher Profile in Immigration Debate (Education Week)
Classroom Resources
Learn more about the resources that organizations such as the Smithsonian Institution and PBS offer about AAPI Heritage and History.
AAPI Activities and Lesson Plans
- Smithsonian Education
- Library of Congress
- Edsitement (National Endowment for the Humanities)
- Share My Lesson
- Learning for Justice
- Teacher Vision