Using Digital Libraries to Engage the Whole Student

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies, Trauma-Informed Classrooms, and Project-Based Learning

Abstract

Engaging students with an online library does not have to be limited to research purposes only. This essay includes lesson plan ideas that use the Louisiana Digital Library to engage middle and high school students in ways that help amplify their curiosity and explore their identities. To ensure the lesson plans engage the whole student, I ground them in three components (culturally sustaining pedagogies, trauma-informed classrooms, and project-based learning) and seven core values. These lessons could be used alone as writing workshops or can be used to introduce or make connections to other concepts. The activities are adaptable to fit different contexts and could be done in 60 minutes or could be extended or shortened depending how much time you want to give students to share their work with one another.