The podcast episode about Historically Responsive Literacy with Gonzalez and Muhammad was such a wonderful listen and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Muhammad goes a lot into education and the system, and her critiques about it. She says that the curriculum was never made with black and brown students in mind. The education system was grounded in racism and white supremacy, and that has never been dismantled and changed. They have created many program that are meant to be battling this racist system, but that still is just going around it and not directly changing it. Muhammad has made this model, Historically Responsive Literacy, which has 4 very important layers to it. Identity, skills, intellect, and criticality. I would like to take a look at each of these layers and connect them to ELA.
Identity-This is about letting, facilitating, and encouraging your students to learn about themselves and about others in a positive way. So many black and brown representation in media is shrouded in negativity, so that really messes up with someones identity. As an ELA teacher, I really love the "I am" poems that students can do. These poems are about yourselves and all of the different aspects that make up your identity. The most important part about doing the "I am" poems is inviting students to share their poems aloud to the other students in the class. This can help students make connections between each other and to see each other.
Skills- This is something that is still the current focus for both curriculum and the standards. It is still important, but it is better when it is applied with the three other layers. For ELA this can be something like reading comprehension skills. This is something that we all need in our daily lives so it is an important skill to be taught in an ELA class. When doing reading comprehension it is important to check it before, during, and after you read any type of text.
Intellect- This is beyond just gathering the facts, it is more about gaining knowledge. In an ELA unit it can be about learning the history surrounding certain texts. For example if you are doing a Frankenstein unit the class should try to learn about when it was written, who was it written by, and beyond that what was the cultural affect of the novel, how was it the start for horror and sci-fi?
Criticality- This is about getting students to question what they hear and read about. Trying to get them to be anti-racist and anit-other ism's. This can be looking at specific texts that have to deal with oppression and the activism that follows it. Or maybe looking at texts and asking questions like, how does this play into racial stereotypes?, 'What is the author NOT saying?".
Hi Krissy,
ReplyDeleteI love that you talk about “inviting” students to make connections and share--we want students to feel included and we want them to feel comfortable to share, and I love how you frame it as “inviting”! Using an “I am” poem also sounds like a fantastic way for students to explore their identities. I wonder, too, if it would be interesting to do an “I am” poem at the beginning of the year and another at the end of the year. I wonder if students’ perceptions of themselves and their identities would change during the school year, especially if in their ELA classroom, they’re learning through Muhammad’s framework.
Hello! That is such a good idea! I did not even think of that but I really love that. Maybe students who originally found it hard to write about themselves can now deep down and really celebrate themselves at the end of the year. That would be a really interesting and probably enjoyable thing to do.
DeleteHi Krissy,
ReplyDeleteYour Identity lesson plan idea reminds me a lot of Dr. Christensen. I am always trying to incorporate her ideas into my own work since reading her last semester!
I agree with you when you say, "When doing reading comprehension it is important to check it before, during, and after you read any type of text," but what would this look like in your classroom?
Yes! I found her reading to be very valuable and tend to try to incorporate her stuff too! I think before reading a text you have to know where your students are, and maybe doing something like frontloading some information about the text before you read it. During can be informal, such as asking certain questions pertaining to the text. After would be the summative part, either a quiz, essay, or project.
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