In this episode of Corridor Conversations, host Gary R. Gray Jr. talks with Canadian educators and authors Kenisha Bynoe and Angelique Thompson about creating joyful, inclusive early literacy experiences that help children develop foundational reading skills while seeing themselves reflected in the books and learning spaces around them. They discuss the power of relationships, thoughtful text selection, and play as a vehicle for learning and offer practical ways educators can weave playfulness into evidence-based literacy instruction. From choosing texts that serve as mirrors and windows to using movement, music, hands-on materials, and co-created texts, Bynoe and Thompson invite educators to consider how small shifts can make literacy learning more engaging, responsive, and meaningful for young readers.
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Biographies
Nadia Kenisha Bynoe has been teaching for 16 years in the Toronto District School Board as a French immersion kindergarten educator and is presently an early literacy intervention coach. She is the coauthor of The Gift of Playful Learning: A Guide for Educators, a resource that highlights culturally relevant approaches to support play-based learning in the early years. Kenisha currently instructs the kindergarten, Teaching English Language Learners, Teaching Leadership, and Reading Additional Qualification courses at Toronto District School Board and the Elementary Teacher Federation of Ontario. Recently, she coauthored a series entitled “Everyone Belongs Read Alouds,” curated collections of books that provide lessons with foundational literacy skills and play-based strategies to support literacy development for K–2 educators. She has published a few children’s books and is the author of Shades of Me, Shade of Happiness and The Right Shade for Me. These books address issues of social justice and unearth the complexities of skin complexion and shadeism. Kenisha has a Master of Education degree in education from the Ontario Institute of Studies in the department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education and a Bachelor of Education degree with a focus on urban education and native studies from Windsor University. She is passionate about fostering equity, culturally relevant pedagogy, and antibias approaches to teaching and learning that foster play in the early years. Kenisha is an educational consultant for Coaches Corner EY. Follow Kenisha on X: @booklamations.
Angelique Thompson is a reading and kindergarten specialist who has many years of experience teaching in primary, junior, and intermediate divisions in the Toronto District School Board. She is currently the program coordinator for early years and K–8 literacy for the TDSB. As a former learning network school improvement process coach and early reading coach, Angelique supported many schools by guiding teams to strengthen instructional practices, analyze literacy data with purpose, and build coherent plans that elevated reading outcomes for all learners. She is the coauthor of The Gift of Playful Learning: A Guide for Educators, a resource that highlights culturally relevant approaches to support play-based learning in the early years. Recently she coauthored a series entitled “Everyone Belongs Read Alouds,” curated collections of books that provide lessons with foundational literacy skills and play-based strategies to support literacy development for K–2 educators. Angelique is passionate about infusing issues of equity and social justice into early years classrooms using play-based approaches to learning. She graduated from York University with a Bachelor of Education degree and a Bachelor of Arts Honors degree in psychology. She has been a curriculum writer and substantive editor for many documents for the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario. Angelique is the recipient of the 2009 Elementary Teachers of Toronto Excellence in Teaching Equity Award and the 2010 Toronto District School Board’s Celebrating Excellence in the TDSB Award for Program/Project Excellence, along with a team of educators. She is also the recipient of the 2019 Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario Writer’s Award for Women’s Programs for her article “Sisters in the Struggle: Racialized Women and Microaggressions in the Workplace,” published in ETFO Voice. Angelique is a dynamic facilitator and educational consultant for the Coaches Corner EY. Follow Angelique on X: @a_thompsonclass.
