Teaching Civic Literacy Projects Teaching the Hudson Valley 2015 Institute Shira Eve Epstein, Ed.D. The City College of New York (CUNY)

Inspiration and Interests  My experiences  Your experiences

Defining our Terms  Civic  Literacy  Project

Three Key Phases

What does problem identification entail?  Taking students’ knowledge and experiences seriously  Using strategies that will surface students’ voices and pressing concerns  Independent writing  Open forums  “Take a stand” activities

What does problem exploration entail?  Building a historical framework  Analyzing multiple perspectives  Utilizing various multimodal resources  Journalism and other informational texts  Poetry and song  Film, television, and photographs  Community-specific knowledge  “Expert” knowledge  Student knowledge  Studying the resources through critique and conversation

What does action entail?  Reaching outside of the classroom  Projecting a clear message for real change to an authentic audience  Using multiple modalities  Persuasive and investigative writing  Poetry and narrative writing  Speeches and presentations  Workshops and lobbying  Murals  Filmmaking  Reflecting on the action

Reactions and Questions  Which phases seem exciting?  Which phases seem daunting?  What openings exist within your organization or school’s curriculum for civic literacy projects?

Reference Epstein, S. (2014). Teaching civic literacy projects: Student engagement with social problems. New York: Teachers College Press.