Day 1

9:30 - 9:45

Welcome!

• Welcome from Renee and Luke, Independence National Historical Park.

  • • Benjamin Franklin's glass armonica

• Lenape means “original people,” the “first people,” the “true people.” When William Penn arrived to this land in 1682, there were some 8,000 Indigenous people here. Lenapehoking stretches from the Delaware River Valley to the lower Hudson River Valley (including Manhattan), covering all of New Jersey and Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New York.

  • • Video: Reverend John Norwood reflects on Lenni-Lenape and Lenapehoking (Philadelphia: The Great Experiment)

    • The original people and their land: The Lenape, pre-history to the 18th century (West Philadelphia Collaborative History Center)

    • Indigenous Peoples Day Philly

    • Learning in Places STEAM Resources

    • Be sure to lift up and acknowledge the advocacy work done by Indigenous Peoples

• We discussed what it might look like to go beyond a "land acknowledgement" during our institute. Land acknowledgements can be performative and may not result in changes sought out by Indigenous Peoples.

9:45 - 10:30

Re-introductions and Literacy Artifacts

• What's your name? What are your pronouns? Where and what grades do you teach? What is the story behind your literacy artifact?

  • • Sharing your pronouns/asking people's pronouns is a valued practice showing respect for the people with whom you interact.

    • In 2016, the School District of Philadelphia released policy 252: "A student has the right to be addressed by a name and pronoun that corresponds to the student’s gender identity.

    • We encourage you to think of "literacy" more broadly than it may be defined in your school blocks and curriculum.

    • As we share in a circle, we will use the serial testimony protocol.

    • Read more about the protocol: Making space, taking time, sharing power (Mahabir, 2012).

• What are some implications for broadening what we think of as "literacy"? Specifically, what connections do we see to Style (2014) and Delpit (2006)?

10:30 - 11:00

Reflecting on Working Agreements

• Reflect on three proposed working agreements: (1) fully engage, (2) equitable discourse, and (3) speak/write your truth.

• In pairs, discuss how we might practically honor and instantiate these agreements; designate a reporter.

• In whole group, share what your group discussed.

11:00 - 11:30

• Explore the Benjamin Franklin Museum. Consider the various literacies shown throughout the museum, both past and present.

11:30 - 12:15

Journal Groups

• Journal groups are a PhilWP ISI tradition.

• Small groups of teachers write daily and then convene to share their writing.

• Recommended: Write for 20 minutes, then meet together for 20 minutes to share and discuss.

12:15 - 1:00

Lunch and Reading

1:00- 1:45

Independence Park and Social Movements: Connecting with Primary Sources

• Notice and wonder about the following primary sources: 

  • The Liberty Bell (1830s-1850s)

  • Liberty Bell for Suffrage (1916)

  • Equality activists sit in at the base of the Liberty Bell (1963)

  • The Second Largest Minority (1968)

  • 06-04-20 Philadelphia Philly George Floyd Black Lives Matter BLM Protest Independence Hall Fist (2020)

  • Additional primary and seondary sources

• Reflection questions:

  • What ideas did you get from Delpit (2006) and Style (2014) about literacy roots and routes?

  • What literacies do we bring to “reading” historical images?

  • What are some benefits to teaching with primary sources?

1:45 - 2:30

Writers and Women's Suffrage in Independence National Historical Park

• • We first walked to Independence Square behind Independence Hall.

    • • We discussed that the official Park tour and signage primarily tell a story about the writing of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. As we saw in the primary and secondary sources earlier, the Park has a lot more history associated with it, some of which can be found on the Park's website. For instance, Susan B. Anthony disrupted the July 4, 1876, celebration at Independence Hall by reading aloud a Women's Declaration of Rights.

        • • Declaration and protest of the women of the United States by the National woman suffrage association. July 4th, 1876.

      • There are some tour groups that use the Park to tell additional stories.

      • What would it look like for teachers and students to partner with the Park to lift up additional stories? To broaden the narrative that is the focus of the official tour?

  • Then, we walked to the 18th century garden. On this site, there was one a clubhouse for suffragettes. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper visited the clubhouse and read poetry publicly there. We read one of her poems and shared lines that stood out to us.

2:30 - 3:00

Closing and Afternoon Activities

• Add a word to a shared slide to describe how you are feeling after day 1.

• Reaction Sheet

• Readings for Day 2:

• Muhammad, G. E. (2020). Cultivating genius: An equity framework for culturally and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic. [Chapter 5]

• Lytle, S. L. (2008). At last: Practitioner inquiry and the practice of teaching: Some thoughts on "Better." Research in the Teaching of English, 42(3), 373-379.

• Lytle, S., Portnoy, P., Waff, D., & Buckley, M. (2009). Teacher research in urban Philadelphia: Twenty years working within, against, and beyond the system. Educational Action Research, 17(1): 23-42.

• Cochran-Smith, M. & Lytle, S. (2009). Inquiry as stance: Ways forward. In Inquiry as stance: Practitioner research for the next generation (pp. 118-166). Teachers College Press.