Digital Library of Diverse Short Texts

Resource guide. By Maddie Murphy and Joshua Vargas. In collaboration with Marco Cenabre.

The five-stanza poem “América” by Richard Blanco is the focus of one lesson plan meant to be taught in isolation. Students are asked to situate the poem within the context of Cuban-American history and immigration/exile experiences in America, and connect and relate the poem and the poem’s themes to something related to their life or identity through group discussion and personal reflection.

This digital library of culturally diverse, race-conscious literary and media sources aims to be a supporting resource utilized at a teacher’s discretion.

The resource library folder is divided into six subfolders that are categorized by the previously mentioned medium types: visual media, non-fiction, novel excerpt, poem, short story, and speech/letter/article. Additionally, there is a sample poetry lesson plan and supporting slideshow to act as a model for how a teacher may utilize the library’s sources in their own lesson planning. The sample lesson focuses on the poem “América” by Richard Blanco, emphasizing student discussion and reflection on identity.