Hello 2014 Curriculum Fair Attendees!
It was so great to interact with you on Saturday! I love talking curriculum. Here I am with my red shoes, Reading Rainbow shirt, and Radical Literacy board in case you were so saturated with awesome information from all of the presenters that you forgot what you signed up for:
It is difficult to keep a written introduction to this curricular framework short. However, for the sake of your time-- here is a short(ish) introduction:
1. I developed this framework while I was teaching and completing my master's program in Socio-Cultural Studies of Education at Western Michigan University.
2. It eventually became my thesis.
3. While I was working on my research, I started talking about it with other teachers because it was going really well. They started using it in their classrooms. We all use it in our own way.
4. It is not a prescribed curriculum. It's a framework to help guide teachers who want to use materials based in social justice all the time, not just for a unit plan.
Now, here are the four parts of the framework as well as links to GoogleDocs of the everything I was giving away at the Curriculum Fair:
I- Identity:
Looking at Ourselves
Documents from the Curriculum Fair and how they might be used within the framework:
1. Heart Map Community Building: As most teachers know, the best way to establish a classroom community is purposefully. This is an easy "identity" activity. My students usually went crazy on these hearts, turning them into works of art.
2. Annotation Guide: Close reading is all the rage, amiright? On the serious side, teaching kids to annotate what their reading helps them interact with the text. This is an annotation guide we use from the beginning of the year with anything that we read throughout the year, through every part of our curriculum.
3. Annotation Guide Bookmarks: Because bookmarks are easier for some kids. Sometimes.
4. Close Read: School is Hell: Close reads are based on Kelly Gallagher's book Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It. He is all about the article of the week and so are we-- the short texts we pick to read each week are focused on whatever topic we're studying. It doesn't necessarily have to be an article. This close read was a precursor to a project students completed about their history of schooling. 2. Annotation Guide: Close reading is all the rage, amiright? On the serious side, teaching kids to annotate what their reading helps them interact with the text. This is an annotation guide we use from the beginning of the year with anything that we read throughout the year, through every part of our curriculum.
3. Annotation Guide Bookmarks: Because bookmarks are easier for some kids. Sometimes.
What this could look like in action: Professional portfolios, identity projects, memoir writing, community interviews, My History of Schooling project, and language narratives
A sampling of
resources we’ve used: Teaching for Joy and Justice by Linda Christensen,
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire, Modern American Memoirs edited by
Annie Dillard and Cort Conley, Starting With “I”: Personal Essays by Teenagers
(Youth Communication)
II- Reading Outside of Ourselves: Education on the Topics of Class, Gender, and Race
Documents from the Curriculum Fair and how they might be used within the framework:
1. Close Read: If I Were a Poor Black Kid: When we read outside of ourselves, we might read something that still relates to our identity-- however it is from a different point of view than the one we might have.
2. Close Read: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and A Raisin in the Sun: This close read gives students a way to again, read outside of themselves by exploring Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and how it relates to characters from A Raisin in the Sun.
3. Independent Reading Text Deconstruction: This set of questions gives students a way to think completing differently than they might usually think when reading a book they've chosen. It challenges them to read and think outside of themselves.
4. Knowledge of the Hidden Rules of Class Deconstruction: Many schools use Ruby Payne's work as part of their professional development. This is a deconstruction of one piece of her book. Students take the quiz and then we break it down. Chaos ensues.2. Close Read: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and A Raisin in the Sun: This close read gives students a way to again, read outside of themselves by exploring Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and how it relates to characters from A Raisin in the Sun.
3. Independent Reading Text Deconstruction: This set of questions gives students a way to think completing differently than they might usually think when reading a book they've chosen. It challenges them to read and think outside of themselves.
What this could look like in action: YA literature circles, film studies, media studies, analysis of the canon, privilege walks, and article of the week close readings
A sampling of
resources we've used: Anything from Rethinking Schools, Readings for
Diversity and Social Justice (edited by Maurianne Adams, Warren J. Blumenfeld,
Rosie Cataneda, Heather W. Hackman, Madeline L. Peters, and Ximena Zuniga), The
Real Cost of Prisons Project
III- Using
Critical Theory to Define and Read
Documents from the Curriculum Fair and how they might be used within the framework:
Critical and Literary Theory Question Grid Sampler: This is a sampler of the questions I introduced to my students after they were more comfortable interacting with texts through annotation and discussion AND thinking outside of themselves by deconstructing texts. This grid came to be after a year of trying different critical and literary theories.
Critical Race Theory Toolkit Piece: Each theory is rolled out to students in different ways. My favorite way is through popular media and independent reading texts. Each theory also has a notes page for students to annotate (of course) and discuss. This is a piece of the Critical Race Theory Toolkit.
What this could look like in action: Critical analysis of media, poems, YA books, and classical literature, My Theories of Choice personal narrative, inquiry based multi-genre research projects
Critical and Literary Theory Question Grid Sampler: This is a sampler of the questions I introduced to my students after they were more comfortable interacting with texts through annotation and discussion AND thinking outside of themselves by deconstructing texts. This grid came to be after a year of trying different critical and literary theories.
Critical Race Theory Toolkit Piece: Each theory is rolled out to students in different ways. My favorite way is through popular media and independent reading texts. Each theory also has a notes page for students to annotate (of course) and discuss. This is a piece of the Critical Race Theory Toolkit.
What this could look like in action: Critical analysis of media, poems, YA books, and classical literature, My Theories of Choice personal narrative, inquiry based multi-genre research projects
A sampling of
resources we’ve used: The Power of Questions by Beverly Falk and Megan Blumenreich, various children’s books (ex. The Inner City Mother Goose by Eve
Merriam vs. Mother Goose, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
and Lane Smith), Critical Encounters in High School English by Deborah
Appleman, various films (The Blindside, Gran Torino, Freedom Writers—all to
analyze, not uphold)
IV: Taking action
As I said at the curriculum fair, taking action looks different in every classroom. I'd love to discuss your ideas with you!
What this could look like in action: Student led community discussions around research, student organized community projects, and grant writing
What this could look like in action: Student led community discussions around research, student organized community projects, and grant writing
A sampling of
resources we’ve used: Helping
Teens Top Violence, Build Community, and Stand for Justice by Allan Creighton
and Paul Kivel, The Teen Guide to Global Action by Barbara A. Lewis
I'll be working on rebuilding this blog with more resources and guides over the next few months. Please subscribe for updates!
I'll be working on rebuilding this blog with more resources and guides over the next few months. Please subscribe for updates!
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