Library of Congress Professional Development

Task: 

In 1990, Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop wrote an essay, “Mirror, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors,” which explains how literature can be the vehicle for equity for our students. Books can be mirrors for students to see a reflection of their lives through the human experiences of others.

Books are also windows for students into other cultures and people different from themselves. Learning about the world invites comparison and different perspectives of what cultures value as important. 

Currently high schools are teaching a literary canon that is written by predominantly white European men and fails to reflect the identities in our classrooms. 

Tricia Ebarvia, high school English teacher and co-founder of the #DisruptTexts movement reminds teachers that we must ask ourselves tough uncomfortable questions about the way we have been teaching the text. When our teaching practices are not inclusive, we perpetuate systemic inequalities. Take a moment to reflect on these eight questions. 

“What’s next?” According to Tricia and the other co-founders of the #DisruptText movement, we need to “disrupt” the narratives of systematic inequalities found in our curricula and teaching methods. In 2018 they began the hashtag #DisruptTexts to focus on the perspectives of marginalized voices in student literature.

For this professional development session we will be using resources from the Library of Congress to #Distrupttext and champion the missing voices from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby.

• Read poem: Richard Wright: “Between The World and Me”

Session 1: 

• Get Up and Get Moving with the activity, Examining Class and Race.
• Use Question Formulation Technique (QFT) developed by the Right Question Institute with the image titled, A man was lynched yesterday
  • Question Formulation Technique’s four rules for producing questions:

1. 1. 1. Ask as many questions as you can.
      2. Do not stop to judge, discuss, edit, or answer any question.
      3. Write down every question exactly as it was asked.
      4. Change any statements into questions.

Session 2:

• Padlet Inquiry Activity Online: Ballad of Booker T.
• Watch these short videos:
• Watch Introductory Video: The Library of Congress is a treasure house of American creativity. In this 8-minute video co-produced with the History Channel, curators and experts from the Library staff describe the breadth and depth of the Library’s collections and services.
• Watch Primary vs Secondary Sources: This 4-minute film defines primary and secondary sources and explores the value of using primary sources in instruction. 
• Review Better Searches, Better Results ie site:loc.gov
• ZOOM Activity: We will analyze a primary source using Google Forms. As we go through this process, think about how you might use a strategy like this with your students. 
  • How to create a ZOOM Activity. 
• Explore the Library of Congress and find one resources you can use with the current literary canon text you are teaching. Post it to the #DisruptText Jamboard.

Session 3: 

• Examine the map, http://digitalharlem.org/ use the Primary Source Analysis Tool to guide you.

Wrap up discussion:  Who’s American Dream are we talking about? The primary resources presented illustrate that the novel represents a very small, narrow view of what it means to be American. Are there other primary sources available that would facilitate the conversation and answer the essential question: Whose voices, what points-of-view are not reflected in this novel? Which voices are marginalized or absent in the “American Dream”?

Consider: Interpretations of the novel through a queer lens, as illustrated through criticism like “Nick Carraway is Queer and in Love with Jay Gatsby.” https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/in-the-early-20th-century-america-was-awash-in-incredible-queer-nightlife

Resources: 

Library of Congress: Harlem Renaissance Teacher’s Guide

Mobile Apps from the Library of Congress

CitizenU Primary Source Nexus: Progressive Era Primary Source Set

Explore a few of my favorite Teaching Primary Sources Curriculum resources developed by Library of Congress partners and grantees.

• Barat Education Foundation

• National Association for Music Education

• SHEG: Stanford History Education Group

• Right Question Institute

• Eagle Eye Citizen

• Engaging Congress

• Case Maker

• DBQuest