The Series.
Do Things Accordingly is a professional learning series that centers Zora Neale Hurston as canon for AP/IB classrooms. Using various texts, film, and songs from the author, Do Things Accordingly helps teachers become reflective practitioners and intentional in their engagement with literature and curricular design.
Their Eyes Were Watching God appears consistently on the AP Literature Exam and her name is a constant presence on the IBDP Prescribed Reading List. Her work, by these measures, are intellectually sound. Zora.
As Zora was intentional in her anthropological and folkloric approach to writing; English teachers must also be intentional. We must do things accordingly.
We recommend engaging with the series in sequence, however you can participate in whatever way best fits the needs of your calendars.
The Cosmic Me: Reflective Inquiry and Your Literary Praxis
A full day workshop grounded in Zora’s 1928 essay “How it Feels to be Colored Me” in order to engage with CI Teacher Education’s approach to reflective inquiry, AP framework,, and building a literary praxis.
Participants will leave with:
- CIE Framework overview guide
- A reflective inquiry journal and curated learning list to support continuous learning
- CI lesson plan template
Gods, Horizons, and Curricular Design: Zora as Canon
A 6 week hybrid literary study and unit design lab engaging with Hurston’s canonical novel Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Participants will leave with:
- A complete Their Eyes Were Watching God unit plan aligned with AP Lit outcomes
- Curriculum tools: essential questions, discussion protocols, formative + summative assessments
- Access to an online resource portal with literary terms, literacy methodologies, and primary and secondary sources
The Porch and the Table: On Community Making and Verbal Literacy
A 2 day in - person literary and culinary workshop designed for educators to engage with Dust Tracks on a Road and Mules and Men in order to practice community making and instructing verbal literacy.
Participants will also practice dialogue over curated menus by award - winning chefs. Our guest chefs give culinary lessons about foodways present in Zora’s work.
Participants will leave with:
- A toolkit and text set to guide the instruction of verbal literacy
- Frameworks for community making in the classroom
Partner with us.
Schedule an initial consultation to learn more about bringing CIE Teaching and Learning Lab to your classrooms.