Responding to Literature: Art-Full Writing in Challenging Times

During this session we will explore the ways, means, and modes to reflect upon challenging subjects in classrooms through art and writing. As a teacher educator, I often ask students to reflect upon their work and experiences both in and outside the classroom, and to expand their understandings of their community of learners and their needs. This session will involve hands-on activities based on picture books geared towards the junior grades, such as A Different Pond by Bao Phi, Kyo Maclear’s Virginia Wolf, and Birdsong by Julie Flett. To create inclusive learning spaces, these thought-provoking texts can stimulate opportunities to both reflect and respond through art and writing. I consider Gholdy Muhammad’s (2020) historically responsive literacy model: literacy as identity meaning making, literacy as skills, literacy as intellect, literacy as criticality. Using this model, participants will consider how they could utilize picture books to discuss social justice topics, learn about themselves and their learners/peers, and develop literacy skills. Uncover what it means to design and showcase art-full writing with literature in your elementary classroom!