Engaging with historically marginalized voices through blackout poetry

Purpose This paper seeks to provide instructional methods for using blackout poetry and primary sources to learn about marginalized voices from history within a social studies classroom. Blackout poetry provides students with authentic opportunities to engage in meaningful learning experiences using primary sources and marginalized voices that are both hands-on in nature and promote the use of critical thinking. Design/methodology/approach This paper opted to describe an approach to teach students about marginalized voices in history through the use of primary sources and blackout poetry. Step-by-step instruction was provided via an included table so that readers can recreate the lesson in readers' own classrooms. Findings This paper offers insights about how blackout poetry can be used to provide students an authentic experience with primary sources and historically marginalized voices. These experiences include opportunities to critically think about the context and significance or these marginalized voices and impact of marginalized voices on history through individual and cooperative learning opportunities. Practical implications This paper is designed for teachers to utilize and replicate in teachers' own social studies classrooms. Social implications This paper provides teachers with detailed steps on how teachers can amplify traditionally marginalized voices in social studies instruction of teachers. Originality/value This paper recognizes the important role that primary sources have in the social studies classroom along with the historically under representative role that marginalized voices have had in the author's social studies classrooms. Through an original approach, using blackout poetry, the author presents a unique perspective on how to teach about historically marginalized voices using primary sources in a manner that supports historical thinking.