Reading Challenging Texts: Layering Literacies Through the Arts

Chisholm, J.S., & Whitmore, K.F. (2018). Reading challenging texts: Layering literacies through the arts. New York, NY: Routledge and NCTE.

In this book, Chisholm and Whitmore focus on challenging texts, specifically related to the Holocaust, and offer pedagogical ideas for seeing the text - visual literacies, being the text - embodied literacies, and feeling - emotional connections to the text. With the increased and often obsessive emphasis on accountability, this text offers multiple methods for students and teachers to engage with texts that privilege multiple modalities, critical thinking, and aesthetics.

They note that this book is "informed by the seminal transactional theory which explains the reading process as centered in meaning-making, the written word as reflective and transformative of the world, and readers as meaning-makers as they take aesthetic and efferent (Rosenblatt, 1978) and critical (Lewis, 2000) stances toward a text" (p. 7). "Critical transactional theory broadens Rosenblatt's ideas to include the political and social dimensions of texts and responses to them in order to push readers to consider dominant and embedded discourses of privilege, oppression, and racism" (p. 7). This lens, they argue, pushes readers beyond basic personal connections and a simplified story to a deeper understanding of all the actors - victims, perpetrators, resisters, and bystanders.

In my opinion, chapter 1 is key to understand the why beyond the "activities" shared in later chapters. It's not about an activity, but about developing students' abilities to think critically about text, and about valuing arts based literacies, in addition to print based literacies.

Chapters 2 -4:

Suggested arts based literacies include:

"Seeing the Text"

• Cordel - p. 21 - a string across the room with photos/short quotes that students view in a museum type format.

• Icons - p. 28 - silhouettes. Students develop a list of words to describe a character/situation - create a silhouette using white/tan and black paper to illustrate their word. Individually, it depicts one layer of a character. Collectively, they create a much more nuanced and complex character.

• Archives - p. 31 - a process of finding a similar picture from history and one of a student in a similar setting (building a snowman; at the beach, etc.)

"Being the Text"

• Tableau & Pantomime -p. 40 - This reminds me of Margaret Branscombe's work on tableau.

• Sculpture Gardens - p. 45 - Students are positioned in an inside/outside circle and one "sculpts" the other during the read aloud of a text. This may be done through mirroring, puppet type strings, or with permission - touching.

• Dramatic and staged performances - p. 48 -

Chapter 5:

The authors share the performance cycle instructional framework developed by Landay & Wootton (2012). At its center is reflection, with a focus on building community, comprehension, creation , revision, and performance.