Literature Circles: Decolonizing the High School Canon
Help me give my students access to a diverse set of books: retellings of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
$969 goal
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Hooray! This project is fully funded
Celebrating Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
Whenever I ask my students about what we should continue or start in our classroom, I notice two common patterns, "more choice" and "more books about people like me." This project is designed to honor both of those requests.
Students will be working in literature circles to compare a canonical text with a contemporary retelling by a non-white author.
Then, students will be considering the question, is the canon universal, or are the most meaningful stories those that reflect one's own experience?
We've selected these books because they represent a range of experiences and also a range of reading levels. This will allow all of our students to be able to read and collaborate on a high level.
The books reimagine "Frankenstein" to address contemporary issues like police brutality and the War Against Terror. Additionally, our texts reimagine Elizabeth Bennet of "Pride and Prejudice" as an Afro Latina fed up with gentrification in Brooklyn and a Pakistani school teacher frustrated by the regressive cultural expectation that she must marry to be of value.
Our goal is that our students will be able to assert their own ideas about what should be included in the high school canon.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Malcolm and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
{"pmaHash":"","schoolCity":"Washington","showProjectRecommendations":true,"teachersOnPage":[580250],"isTeacherViewingTheirOwnProject":false,"hideTeacherDetails":false,"schoolState":"DC","teacherPossessivePronoun":"her","PMsManager":null,"schoolGradeType":{"id":4,"name":"High School"},"TeacherPMForms":{},"proposalId":7189775,"proposalMessageFormModel":null,"numActiveProjects":0,"completingDonationAmount":0,"teacherHasClassroomPhoto":true,"proposalURL":"https://www.donorschoose.org/project/literature-circles-decolonizing-the-hig/7189775/","verifyShowPhotos":"","eligibleToBeCopied":false,"mayHaveReplacements":false,"numStudents":75,"teacherScreenName":"Ms. Malcolm","isEquityFocus":false,"authorIds":{"580250":{"owner":"Ms. Malcolm","donationSalutations":{}}},"displayedPercentFunded":1.0,"proposalsOnPage":[7189775],"proposalHash":"1560065957","isApplePayMobileOnly":true,"progressBarPercentage":100.00,"pmaId":"","teacherProfilePhotoURL":"https://storage.donorschoose.net/dc_prod/images/teacher/profile/272x272/tp580250_272x272.jpg?width=136&height=136&fit=bounds&auto=webp&t=1455227639765","teacherHasProfilePhoto":true,"currentWorkflowStatusCode":21,"teacherChallengeId":65489,"photosPublished":false,"queryString":"","DonorPMForm":null,"isApplePayEnabled":true,"fundedByTarget":false,"activeProject":null,"donorIdsForImpactPhotoCheck":[],"teacherId":580250,"schoolCounty":"District Of Columbia","fullyFunded":true,"isStudentLed":false,"isExpired":true,"schoolStateObj":{"code":"DC","name":"District of Columbia"}}
