Assembled here is a selection of final projects from ENGL 4395: Banned, Burned, and Challenged, an upper-division special topics course offered at the University of Minnesota Duluth in spring 2023. We studied frequently challenged texts from the last seventy years, including classics, memoirs, graphic novels, and young adult fiction, and we explored the controversies surrounding … Continue reading A College Class Responds to Book Bans by Kathryn Van Wert
#StayWoke: Empowering Students to Respond to Fake News by Mariah Morin & Heather Hurst
As my (Mariah's) own social media feeds were flooded with fake news and articles about fake news, my thoughts turned to students who must also be grappling with the tricky questions of reliability and veracity in this digital landscape. In English classes, we often ask students to be critical consumers of texts and media. The … Continue reading #StayWoke: Empowering Students to Respond to Fake News by Mariah Morin & Heather Hurst
Centering LGBTQ People of Color with Young Adult Literature in Secondary ELA by Cody Miller & Kathleen Colantonio-Yurko
As English language arts teachers, we believe young adult literature offers an avenue for voices and experiences that are largely ignored by canonical texts. LGBTQ voices are among those omitted from many English language arts textbooks. In the past, we relied heavily on young adult literature to provide our students LGBTQ texts. However, the mostly … Continue reading Centering LGBTQ People of Color with Young Adult Literature in Secondary ELA by Cody Miller & Kathleen Colantonio-Yurko
Centering Students’ Voices in a Public Speaking Genre Study by Burke Scarbrough
Today’s students have access to stirring, powerful text in an ever widening array of forms. As we invite our students to discover the power of the carefully crafted written word, many of those students are even more strongly inclined to celebrate the power of language in oral performance. I’m referring to the genres and media … Continue reading Centering Students’ Voices in a Public Speaking Genre Study by Burke Scarbrough
Infographic-Making Activity by Michael MacBride
[pdf version here: MacBride-Infographic-activity] Objective: To encourage the use of charts, graphs, maps, and other infographics in student writing. Approximate Time Required: 30 minutes Materials Needed: A computer with access to the internet and access to the video “Kurt Vonnegut on the shapes of stories” available a number of online locations, including: https://vimeo.com/53286941 or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-84vuR1f90 … Continue reading Infographic-Making Activity by Michael MacBride
What Is a Civic-Minded Student and How Can We Foster This in Our Classrooms? by Heidi Burns
[pdf version here: Burns, Heidi--News Summary Activity] (Burns also has a new book forthcoming, which contains similar activities ready to plug into your classroom. Check it out here: http://amzn.to/1U4195g) Civic-minded students are those who are both engaged and informed about the realities that exist outside of their world as students. College composition classrooms are a great … Continue reading What Is a Civic-Minded Student and How Can We Foster This in Our Classrooms? by Heidi Burns
The “Write” Track: Effectively Leading Your School to Incorporate Writing in Every Classroom by Jennifer Simpson
[pdf version here: Simpson-TheWriteTrack] Currently, 42 states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity have adopted the Common Core State Standards (NGA). Minnesota adopted the ELA standards, but not the math. Within the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts, there are specific writing standards that have been a … Continue reading The “Write” Track: Effectively Leading Your School to Incorporate Writing in Every Classroom by Jennifer Simpson
Implementing Tabletop Gaming in the English Classroom: Promoting Literacy through Interactive Gameplay by Mike P. Cook, Ryan Morgan, & Matthew Gremo
[pdf version here: cook-implementing-tabletop-gaming-in-the-english-classroom] Introduction Table-top gaming, at its core, is simply a term used to refer to any social game that is traditionally played in person around a table. Over the years, the term itself has become an umbrella for all forms of board games, but in gaming culture it is most commonly applied … Continue reading Implementing Tabletop Gaming in the English Classroom: Promoting Literacy through Interactive Gameplay by Mike P. Cook, Ryan Morgan, & Matthew Gremo
Students Teaching Teachers to Teach Students by Michael MacBride
Every semester I tell my students that I learned from them, and I'm sure this is something that most teachers say, or at least think, at the end of the semester. This last semester, Fall 2014, I thought my students should take this to the next level by writing their own pedagogical essays. The logic … Continue reading Students Teaching Teachers to Teach Students by Michael MacBride
Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen: Unusual History of Censorship by Laura Cattrysse
[pdf version here: Cattrysse-Sendak’s In The Night Kitchen] Every child has their favorite fantasy book that mom and dad read every night five times before they can actually fall asleep. Maurice Sendak's book In The Night Kitchen is a fantastical story that parents actually enjoy reading because of Sendak's clever rhymes and other-worldly, yet relatable … Continue reading Sendak’s In the Night Kitchen: Unusual History of Censorship by Laura Cattrysse
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