Connected Learning Content-Area Literacy

“They Carried Us:” Exploring our Literacy Roots and Routes with Joy and Genius

Building a More Perfect Union

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Summary:

 Teachers from the Philadelphia Writing Project and educators at the African American Museum in Philadelphia developed and hosted a series of events focused on the hidden histories of African American women in Philadelphia from 1700 to the present. They created a series of public discussion and open-source resources for teaching.

The Philadelphia Writing Project (PhilWP) at the University of Pennsylvania and the African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) developed and hosted a series of events focused on the hidden histories of African American women in Philadelphia from 1700 to the present. Using shared texts including They Carried Us: The Social Impact of Philadelphia’s Black Women Leaders (Baker-Rogers & Traylor 2020) and two books by Gholdy Mohammad—Cultivating Genius and Unearthing Joy—teachers engaged in inquiry together and then organized four public panel discussions and created open-source resources for students, educators, and community members to freely access.

Hear from the Dina Portnoy, Barrett Rosser, and Trey Smith about the project and the array of resources now available.

Webinar: Connecting Past and Present with Primary Sources and Civically Engaged Argument Writing

Related Resources:

Hidden Histories” of African American Women in Philadelphia, Building a More Perfect Union from the 1700s to the Present: The project website that curates a set of resource along with recordings from the public series that emerged from this project.

PhilWP Summer Institute 2022 website: For this Institute, PhilWP partnered with the African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) to engage teachers, young people, and community members in exploring The Hidden Histories of African American Women in Philadelphia from the 1700s to the present. Daily agendas and linked resources are available. The related Padlet resource is also available.

This post is part of the Building a More Perfect Union collection.

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