Alternative Texts in 21st Century Learning: A #slowchatELA Event

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away our fathers brought forth on this continent the Ministry of Truth, which concerned itself with news, entertainment, education, and the fine arts. The Ministry of Peace, which concerned itself with war. The Ministry of Love, which maintained law and order. And the Ministry of Plenty, which was responsible for economic affairs. Their names, in Newspeak: Minitrue, Minipax, Miniluv, and Miniplenty. 

Star Wars, the Gettysburg Address, and 1984.  It's a paragraph that represents my classes and how I teach. We use different texts from different genres to engage in critical thinking. Narrative texts. Informational texts. Speeches. Paintings. Movies. Classic Literature. Television commercials. Literary criticism. Together, they tell stories about our world and allow our students the opportunity to make connections.

This week in #slowchatELA, I'm going to give you the opportunity to think about your connections. How do you teach the recent economic crisis while teaching The Crucible, Beowulf, Hamlet? We all have canon materials that we teach, and we must continue to make it relevant, engaging, and educational. Be thorough, explicit. Share the texts you would use. No room for philosophy in this conversation!

My department has a mantra. "You can't be engaging unless you're engaged." Get engaged in #slowchatELA this week!

Questions for the week:

Monday, February 23 How can you teach the wealth gap/Occupy Wall Street movement?

Tuesday, February 24 How can you teach the Ferguson/#blacklivesmatter protests?

Wednesday, February 25 How can you teach the 2nd Amendment/gun control controversy?

Thursday, February 26 How can you teach the recent anti-vaccination controversy?

Friday, February 27 How can you teach American immigration reform?