During the 2023-2024 Great World Texts in Wisconsin program, high school teachers and students throughout the state will read Valeria Luiselli’s novel Lost Children Archive, a fiercely imaginative follow-up to the American Book Award-winning Tell Me How It Ends. In Lost Children Archive, an artist couple set out with their two children on a road trip from New York to Arizona in the heat of summer. As the family travels west, the bonds between them begin to fray: a fracture is growing between the parents, one the children can almost feel beneath their feet.
Teaching Guide and Resources
Teachers participating in Great World Texts will receive a Teaching Lost Children Archive in Wisconsin curricular guide and a classroom set of texts for their school’s permanent collection. The curriculum guide contains contextual and lecture materials, suggested readings, close reading and discussion activities, handouts, and suggestions for student projects. This teaching guide is designed to make the text accessible for a range of learners and grade levels and is customizable to meet the needs of a wide range of classrooms and students.
Participating teachers from across the state of Wisconsin also attend a virtual educator colloquium, to be held on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, which will feature lectures by campus faculty, guidelines for the conference, and community building exercises between educators.
Educators will bring their students to UW-Madison for a full-day conference on Monday, April 15, 2024, where students will present projects created in response to the novel, engage with other students from across the state, and meet author Valeria Luiselli in person. All participating educators received a stipend to fund their school’s participation in Great World Texts. These funds are most often used to offset the costs of substitute teachers and travel to Madison for the student conference.
Support for Lost Children Archive in Wisconsin
Luiselli’s visit to UW-Madison and Lost Children Archive in Wisconsin are supported by the UW-Madison Libraries; the Cleary-Kumm Foundation; the Evjue Foundation; the Wisconsin Book Festival; the Anonymous Fund of the University of Wisconsin-Madison; and the Brittingham Wisconsin Trust.
Faculty Advisor: Paola Hernández, Professor of Spanish & Portuguese
Teaching Guide Writer: Isabel Martín-Sánchez, PhD Candidtate, Department of Spanish & Portuguese