Why Use Artifacts in a Literature Class?
Bringing artifacts into the literature classroom serves several valuable purposes. A carefully chosen artifact can provide information about the historical period or cultural context in which a work of literature was produced or set. As students explore a political artifact, for example, they discover information about past politics, such as how the governing class felt about newly arrived immigrants. Examining artifacts allows students to explore this background for themselves and then apply it to literature, rather than relying solely on a teacher’s lecture for information about the literature. The use of artifacts is a particularly effective approach for engaging students, who find that literature comes alive when they can connect it to what actual people did, made, or thought-something you’ll see happen in the video classroom footage. Introducing artifacts into your classroom can also serve as a foundation for teaching more multicultural literature because exploring artifacts helps
