Curating a Literacy Life

William Kist

With: Shannon Davis, Ga-Vita Haynes

Foreword By: Ernest Morrell

Publication Date: June 3, 2022

Pages: 144


Curating a Literacy Life spotlights the idea of curation as a process for inspiring student-centered learning with digital media. In this book, Kist shows educators how to empower students as they make sense of all the books, videos, websites, and social media they access. Packed with ideas and activities developed at Glenville High School, the book presents a model for learning to learn. Using smartphones, a Netflix account, and access to a variety of YA, canonical, and media texts, the teachers created a vibrant learning community where students could pursue their own interests, from community histories to documentary filmmaking to social justice advocacy. Along the way, students learned a way of processing, making meaning, and repurposing the multimedia texts that are already deeply important in their everyday lives. Curating a Literacy Life is for both teachers and parents who are interested in helping young people harness, manage, and learn from the multiple messages and texts they encounter every day.

In this video, author William Kist expands on the idea of curation and introduces the concept of “kid curators” and how to engage them in the classroom.