2:00 - 2:50

Concurrent Sessions D

Teaching W.E.B. Du Bois and Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward

Rainey Auditorium

Lisa Yuk Kuen Yau (lyau@philasd.org, @LisaYau5 on X, @8yauway on IG, lisa.yau.73 on Facebook); Teacher, Key School, School District of Philadelphia; Teacher Consultant, Philadelphia Writing Project; Tyriese Holloway, Teacher, Overbrook High School, School District of Philadelphia; Jeannette Moon, Teacher, Penn Alexander School, School District of Philadelphia

Teachers participated in a seminar—“W.E.B. Du Bois and Philadelphia’s Seventh Ward”—with the end goal of creating a unit tailor-made for each teachers’ school community. Over the course of five months, Professor Amy Hillier facilitated discussions reading, learning about, and critically analyzing Du Bois’ The Philadelphia Negro. While Du Bois’ work is historic in nature, SDP teachers wrote distinct curricula to foster a connection for Philadelphia students’ across the city and ranging in age.

#InnovativeContent #TeachersInstituteofPhiladelphia #Curriculum #PhilWP

Finding Spaces: Using Primary Sources & Reflective Writing To Add Equity To The Curriculum

Room L1

Danina Garcia, Literacy Specialist, Vaux Big Picture High School, School District of Philadelphia; Greg Probst, Adjunct Professor, Drexel University

Philadelphia high school teachers share their process of developing lessons that create deep conversations on race and equity while adhering to District curriculum. Participants will leave with transferable classroom procedures in close reading, reflective writing, and primary source analysis that can be applied to more general curriculum.

#InnovativeContent #PrimarySources #Curriculum

Creating Anti-Racist, Humanizing English Classes: More Than Lip Service

Room L2

Maria Underwood, President & Educational Consultant, M Ideas Consulting Services, Inc.; Reshma Ramkellawan-Arteaga, Founder & Coach, Equity Consulting Group

Classes can function as sites for abolitionist and anti-racist activism. Literacy teachers can disrupt inequitable systems through their instruction. Session participants will be given a framework for examining race-related issues, challenging racism and social as well as linguistic injustices. Attendees will be presented with strategies for 'shifting' their existing curriculum.

#EnhancingLiteracyInstruction #Abolitionist #Antiracist

Engaging Elementary Students in Authentic Literacy through Critical Service-Learning

Room L3

Kyra Atterbury, Executive Director, Need in Deed; Helena Miller, Program Manager, Need in Deed (Need in Deed on LinkedIn, @NIDPhilly on X, @needindeed on IG)

An Nguyen, School Based Teacher Leader, Key School; Teacher Consultant, Philadelphia Writing Project; Rochelle Krauss, English for Speakers of Other Languages Teacher, Key School; Noga Newberg, Grade 3 Teacher, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander University of Pennsylvania Partnership School, School District of Philadelphia

Participants will engage in literacy-rich activities from Need in Deed’s MyVOICE framework and review related student work from NiD teachers’ classrooms to experience how assignments based in authentic, real-world civic action projects inspire all students to take academic risks as they develop their literacy skills and engage in their communities.

#EnhancingLiteracyInstruction #ServiceLearning #PhilWP #CivicAction

“I don’t think I can ever call her Emmy. That’s just so weird”: Shifting the Power Dynamic in Youth-Adult Partnerships in an Online Writing Community

Widener Auditorium

Emmy Talian, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education; Teacher Consultant, Philadelphia Writing Project; Sunny Ajitabh, Student, Rutgers University; Opal Jawale, Student, Conestoga High School (@write4change_youthwriters on IG)

This presentation shares an inquiry between a former teacher and two former students exploring how power dynamics were leveled during the co-design of a youth-led online writing community. Their main takeaways consist of consideration of context, boundaries, and student voice and expertise.

#ProblemofPractice #DigitalDiscourse #PhilWP #Technology #PractitionerInquiry

Reading Toward Freedom: Identity-Conscious Reader Response

Room M1

Tricia Ebarvia, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Greene Street Friends School; Sonja Cherry-Paul, Educator & Author, Red Clay Educators

Literacy is powerful when students are invited to bring all the beautiful, complex identities they have to their reading experiences. We’ll explore strategies to the query: How can we deepen our understanding of how our identities, experiences, and biases impact the way we read and respond to texts?

#EnhacingLiteracyInstruction #DisruptTexts #Identities