Letting Go of Literary Whiteness

Rooted in examples from their own and others’ classrooms, the authors offer discipline-specific practices for implementing antiracist literature instruction in White-dominant schools. Each chapter explores a key dimension of antiracist literature teaching and learning, including designing literature-based units that emphasize racial literacy, selecting literature that highlights voices of color, analyzing Whiteness in canonical literature, examining texts through a critical race lens, managing challenges of race talk, and designing formative assessments for racial literacy and identity growth.

Book Features:

• Specific classroom scenarios and transcripts of race-related challenges that teachers will recognize to help situate suggested strategies.
• Sample racial literacy objectives, questions, and assessments to guide unit instruction.
• A literature-based unit that addresses societal racism in A Raisin in the Sun.
• Assignments for exploring Whiteness in the teaching of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
• Questions teachers can use to examine To Kill a Mockingbird through a critical race lens.
• Techniques for managing difficult moments in whole group discussions.
• Collaborative glossary and exploratory essay assignments to build understanding of race-based concepts and racial identity development.
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