Reading Between the Lines: Activities for Developing Social Awareness Literacy

This book presents the work from a selection of contributors who aim to provide educators with hands-on activities to encourage reflection, awareness, and dialogue related to social justice issues. Highlighting the need for teachers to intentionally create spaces where students from all backgrounds can work together and appreciate their differences, teachers and teacher educators showcase hands-on literacy strategies that all educators can adapt and use in their own classrooms to enhance social justice awareness.

Table of Contents:
Introduction-Joanne Kilgour Dowdy Section 1: Addressing Social Justice through Literacy Activity #1 Read a Book, Watch a Movie: Exploring the Dynamics of Social Justice through Literature and Film Tiffany Powell-Lambright Activity #2 Using Children’s Literature to Explore Positive Gender Role Models Michelle J. Sobolak and April A. Mattix Activity #3 Wearing Your Words: Teaching Language Equity and Appropriateness Jennifer M. Cunningham Activity #4 Attitude Check: Students Interpret Texts from Multiple Perspectives Joanne Kilgour Dowdy Activity #5 Using Picture Books to Introduce and Extend Student Understanding of Social Justice William Bintz Activity #6 Sing, Dance, Act, Paint or Draw! Active Knowledge through Performance Book Reports Teresa J. Rishel Activity #7 Multicultural Literature as a Prompt for Teaching about Social Justice Claudette Thompson Activity #8 Can Creative Writing Be Taught? Mel Glenn Activity #9 “Pump It Up” Writing Prompt Activity Joanne Kilgour Dowdy Activity #10 Sentence Dissection Andrea Honigsfeld Activity #11 Teaching Peace Literacy through Literature: A Lesson On Skin Sandra Golden Activity #12 Using Reading Logs to Motivate English Language Learners from Multicultural Backgrounds to Read and Write Yang Gao Activity #13 Creating Shared Narratives: Using Language, Conflict and Choice To Break Down Cross-Cultural Barriers Gabriel Swarts Activity #14 Online Autobiographies and Discussions in Global and Multicultural Teacher Education: A Safe Place to Discuss Culture, Identify, Power, & Privilege Brad Maguth and Misato Yamaguchi Activity #15 Homegrown Heroes and Local Folks: Transdisciplinary Teaching Opportunities Margaret-Mary Sulentic Dowell and Leah Katherine Saal… Section 2: Addressing Social Justice through Co-Curricular Areas Activity #16 Widen the Lens: Expanding the Occupational Opportunities for Students With Disabilities Patrick J. O’Connor Activity #17 “Box It”: Resources are Limited: Creativity is Unlimited Davison Mupinga Activity #18 Giving Voice to the Moving Body Through Pictures and Drawings Jennifer L. Fisette Activity #19 Examining Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Within Physical Education Takahiro Sato and Jennifer L. Fisette Activity #20 Examining Sports in The Media: What Does the Media Actually Cover in Sports, and Could it Influence the Learning Environment in My Gymnasium? Jamie P. Ganz Activity #21 Boosting Social and Historical Imagination Through Process Drama Gumiko Monobe Activity #22 The Personal Collage and Director's Concept Board Exercises for an Introduction to Theatre Class Yuko Kurahashi Activity #23 Out in the Field: Transforming Pre-Service Art Educators Through Field and Other Experiences Linda Hoeptner Poling and Juliann Dorff Activity #24 Using Metaphor to Communicate Meaning Through a Visual Dillon Sedar Activity #25 Interpreting artworks through the “Question Tableau:” Cultivating Community in the Art Classroom Eryc M.P. Watson Activity #26 A Model for Environmental Literacy and Social Justice: Tourism in the Bahamas Sonya L. Wisdom and Thalia Micklewhite

About the Author :
Kenneth Cushner, Ed. D. is Professor of international and intercultural teacher education at Kent State University, author of numerous textbooks, chapter and articles in the fields of multicultural education and intercultural training, and a Founding Fellow and Past President of the International Academy for Intercultural Research. He also serves as director of the Consortium for Overseas Student Teaching (COST). Joanne Kilgour Dowdy is a Professor of Adolescent/Adult Literacy at Kent State University. The American Educational Research Association Narrative and Research SIG awarded her book, Ph.D. Stories: Conversations with My Sisters, the Outstanding Book Award for 2009.

Review :
Educators in the 21st century understand the importance of fostering a sense of social awareness in their students; however, it is sometimes a challenge to do so in ways that integrate seamlessly into curricula. Indeed, social awareness should not be developed as a skill unto itself but used as a lens through which to examine myriad disciplines and topics. In Reading Between the Lines, Dowdy and Cushner have compiled 26 lessons that offer educators useful resources for embedding social awareness instruction into their teaching in ways that are student centered and collaborative. The goal of these lessons is to develop social awareness literacy, and they help teachers simultaneously create a sense of community in their classrooms, reinforce content area concepts, and build basic and critical literacy knowledge. Lessons focus on a variety of subject areas, from social studies to art to vocational training. Because most lessons are intended for teacher educators' use, this book is recommended predominantly for professional developers and instructors in higher education. Summing Up: Recommended. Research and professional collections This powerful transdisciplinary collection of hands-on activities will motivate students to become culturally competent, critical thinkers who can move beyond the more simplistic individualized notions of cultural knowledge, social justice and diversity; toward intercultural competence frameworks where learners can truly see themselves as global citizens who can enact transformative connections and partnerships in their local and regional contexts in ways that acknowledge that we share our collective future with many others. This collection allows students to feel intellectually and emotionally safe to reflect upon, analyze, expand, and explore social issues and topics, presenting opportunities, pedagogies, resources and practical methods that expose and challenge dominant views and structural inequality; and to develop and understand the complexities of our multicultural homes, schools, workplaces, and communities, ... all with the goal of building a shared world fully committed to equity and justice. This body of work comes at an opportune time as many educators face curricular challenges in teaching about, within, and across cultures, into the process of teaching and learning. Reading Between the Lines positions literacy and art as a critical and essential framework that supports awareness and social action around challenging issues that emerge in today’s classrooms. Dowdy and Cushner have brought together the voices of scholars and teachers who have crafted hands-on literacy and arts-based activities that will inspire educators across disciplines to engage students in important discussions around social justice. Everyday, everywhere, academics committed to social justice look for resources on how to better train future educators to serve students who have been historically marginalized, neglected, and mistreated. We are in search of ways to operationalize definitions of social justice that not only increase learning opportunities for all students, but that are also engaging. Dowdy and Cushner have put together a comprehensive collection of writings in literacy education and the arts that support us in these efforts.