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Never Too Old For A Field Trip: Exploring Community Assets For Middle Grades Literacy Integration, Christine L. Craddock, Stacie K. Pettit 2949136

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Middle Grades teacher candidates participated in a “field trip” in an Integrated Reading course to model best practices in culturally responsive teaching. The college students visited their downtown city including a regional art museum and memorial sculpture garden commemorating local Black history to experience and contemplate possibilities for literacy integration in their pedagogy. Teacher candidates were encouraged to explore and understand community culture, history, and assets with respect to their future students’ lives, identities, interests, and experiences, and how these considerations should motivate their instructional decision making with literacy applications. A follow-up discussion was facilitated by the course professor along …