Using the award-winning picture book,"Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., this lesson focuses on the words Dr. King used to express his ideas. Students explore information on King's "big" words then choose one of two options: (1) they write about their own "big" words and dreams in stapled or stitched books, or (2) they construct found poems using an excerpt from one of King's speeches. Students are encouraged to think reflectively about their own dreams and ideas and create a list of their own "big words" either originally or as a found poem. Resources, including links to online materials and student reproducibles are available at the website. (author/ncl) Standards Alignment: Grades 3-5

This interdisciplinary lesson integrates the teaching of literary elements with key events in American history. Following a read aloud, students create a problems/solutions/events chart to understand the relationships between problems faced by the main character, Clara, and how she solves them. To learn more about the Underground Railroad, students visit an interactive web site developed by National Geographic and "walk in the shoes" of an escaping slave. Other ideas, including links to related resources and story extensions, are available at the web site. (Author/ncl) Standards Alignment: Grades 3-5

This resource, maintained by the Yale New Haven Teacher's Institute, is a literature based unit centered around the theme of friendship. Using a variety of children's books, both fiction and non-fiction, and many collections of poems, this unit uses literature to examine African American culture. Divided into three sections, the unit explores different aspects of African American culture, including family relationships, friendships among peers, and relationships to and within one's community. Each activity is designed to enhance students' comprehension of the story or poem as well as their understanding of African American culture. Books and poetry selected are skillfully connected to the themes identified for each section of the unit. A bibliography of children's literature used with the unit is available at the website. (author/ncl)

This article addresses problems confronted by children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who have not experienced high levels of academic success. Their literacy needs are often not addressed as they are encouraged to assimilate into the mainstream. The author discusses in detail five essential knowledge bases for language arts and English teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students--self-knowledge, cultural knowledge, linguistic knowledge, culturally informed teaching knowledge, and knowledge of materials and methods for multicultural literacy education--and emphasizes that culturally informed teaching knowledge is based on research and best practice.

Willis reviews research from the last two decades to explain literacy acquisition, growth, and development. The author also includes research that examines cultural interaction patterns, learning styles, and the emotional and psychological needs of children of color. Multicultural children's literature, she acknowledges, is both a powerful way for schools to honor students' culture and foster cross-cultural understanding, and an important means to bridge home and school cultures.

Additionally, Willis points out that teachers working with students in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms will realize that there is not one best way to teach all students; instead, a variety of instructional strategies should be incorporated where students are addressed individually. Several lists at the end of this article define objectives for the ideal culturally and linguistically diverse classroom, and provide goals for administrators, teachers, and home support.

Willis' message is clear: that for instruction to be successful, educators must spend time developing their understanding of literacy instruction as well as their awareness of their students' cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. (author/bcbrown) Standards Alignment: 1-12

Many teachers integrate the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. into their classroom instruction. This resource provides ideas for examining the message of Dr. King, as well as the words that he used to communicate his ideas. Working cooperatively, students identify the literary devices that found in the "I Have A Dream" speech and give a presentation to show their interpretation of an excerpt from the speech. While the resource offers specific strategies for analyzing the speech, students must have a working knowledge of various literary devices. Teachers may need to adapt some of the instructional ideas or offer additional support to students to reinforce their understanding of literary devices. (author/ncl)

This lesson sets the stage for high-interest reading with a purpose. As a class, students brainstorm a list of famous people and each student then selects an individual to research. Students locate information about the famous person by reading a biography and doing Internet research. Information gathered from research is compiled on a graphic organizer and used to teach other students in the class about the famous person's life. Students think critically as they use rubrics and written feedback to evaluate the work of their classmates and themselves. A rubric to assess an oral presentation and a sample student feedback form are available at the website. This lesson provides detailed procedures and many links to sites for online research. (author/ncl) Standards Alignment: Grades 6-8

This resource introduces students to Achebe's first novel and to his views on the role of the writer in his or her society. It can be used alone or in conjunction with the related lesson Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart: Oral and Literary Strategies . The resource provides lessons designed to familiarize students with some African literature, literary traditions, and culture. Students also analyze ways in which historical events are represented in fiction and learn to differentiate between historical accounts and fictionalized accounts of history. Teaching extensions and numerous links are provided to assist in teaching the lessons. (author/ncl) Standards Alignment: Grades 9-12

Cross-cultural Dialogue uses two personal narratives, written by a beginning English teacher in an unfamiliar culture, to teach point of view. Students read two narratives, first from the teacher's point of view and then from what she imagines to be her students' point of view. Using graphic organizers, students compare the differences in perspective and perception presented in each story. Teachers may extend this lesson by having students write personal narratives from two different perspectives. (author/ncl) Standards Alignment: 7-10

In this lesson, students gain a sense of the living history that surrounds the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Through studying primary source materials from American Memory and other online resources, students grasp how historical events and human forces have influenced literary texts. Although not complete enough to serve as a literary study, this unit provides a variety of rich historical materials that can be used to supplement a novel study of To Kill a Mockingbird. This unit guides students on a journey through the Depression Era in the 1930s. Activities familiarize the students with Southern experiences through the study of the novel and African American experiences through the examination of primary sources. (author/ncl) Standards Alignment: 7-12

An award-winning Ohio author and educator, Sharon Draper has gained national attention for her young adult novels and motivational books. This web site provides support for teachers interested in using the author's works for instruction. Several study guides and book reviews are available. Students may also use the site to respond to a novel, submit questions to the author, or locate information for English assignments. Study guides and other suggestions for teaching Copper Sun are available on the site. (author/ncl) Standards Alignment: 9-12

This lesson encourages students to explore the ways in which powerful and passionate words communicate the concepts of freedom, justice, discrimination, and the American Dream in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Paying attention to the details of King's speech as they read, students identify words to use in their own original poems. Students read (and listen or view, if resources and time allow) and pay close attention to King's use of literary devices, such as symbol and repetition, and analyze King's definitions of freedom, justice, discrimination, and dreams as demonstrated by the examples and details in his "I Have a Dream" speech. After a thorough exploration of the power of the speech, students select powerful words and themes from the text and arrange them into original diamante poems, seven-line, diamond-shaped poems based on contrasting words. While this lesson focuses on the "I Have a Dream" speech, the activities outlined here may be adapted to other speeches by Dr. King or famous speeches by others, such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" speech, Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address," or Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?"." (author/ncl) Standards Alignment: 9-10

An educator who substantiates his research with his own classroom experience, Ernest Morrell illustrates how the critical teaching of popular culture can produce powerful academic and social results with urban youth. The author draws from data collected during the eight years that he taught urban teens in the San Francisco Bay area and southern California, and focuses on specific manifestations of popular culture--hip-hop, film, and mass media. His classroom units, "Teaching Hip Hop Culture," "Teaching Popular Film," and "Teaching Television and Media" include classroom unit descriptions and vignettes where appropriate.
Arguing that hip-hop music is the representative voice of urban youth because the genre was created by and for urban youth (George, 1998; Rose, 1994), Morrell connects his classroom instruction to Freire's work where the raising of critical consciousness in people who have been oppressed is the first step in helping them to obtain critical literacy (Freire, 1970). The author explains the influence of rap as a voice of resistance for urban youth, and seeks to establish the relevance of teaching popular culture in today's multicultural classroom as a means for engaging students in an both an academic and critical literacy.

Morrell suggests that as classrooms become increasingly diverse and educators struggle to find curricula and pedagogical strategies that are inclusive and affirmative yet facilitate the development of academic and critical literacies, we need ways beyond what is available now in terms of multicultural education literature. Its limited conception of culture as a racial or ethnic identity, according to the author, offers little to help teachers attempting to make connections and create learning communities in multiethnic urban classrooms. Popular culture, Morrell explains, can help students deconstruct dominant narratives and contend with oppressive practices in hopes of achieving a more egalitarian and inclusive society. (author/ecb) Standards Alignment: 6-12

This professional resource is an article by a teacher who in reflecting on the ways in which America's story has traditionally been told realizes that a 21st-century "re-telling" is in order. Through her experience, education, teaching experience (an urban school with forced busing), and exchanges with other educators, the author shares insights about teaching a multicultural literacy. Her stories embrace an authentic search for a multicultural literacy where the American literary canon includes both the classics and the marginalized. The article is anecdotal and lively, with references to Edward James Olmos, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sandra Cisneros, and Emily Dickinson, to name but a few. (author/ebm) Standards Alignment: 6-12

Created by a high school English teacher, this language arts project integrates literature study, creative writing, and technology. Based on Kindred, a story about slavery in the United States written by Octavia Butler, the unit uses literature to examine the impact of historical events and social norms on personal lives. Students complete such activities as using the internet as a research tool and writing and posting journal entries, essays, and letters on a class online discussion forum, where peers read and respond to each other's writing. A class discussion forum is available free to teachers at nicenet.org. As a culminating activity, students create an original short story, based on the characters and events from Kindred and historical information gathered through independent research. A short story writing chart and grading rubric are also available at the website. (author/ncl)

This article addresses problems confronted by children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who have not experienced high levels of academic success. Their literacy needs are often not addressed as they are encouraged to assimilate into the mainstream. The author discusses in detail five essential knowledge bases for language arts and English teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students--self-knowledge, cultural knowledge, linguistic knowledge, culturally informed teaching knowledge, and knowledge of materials and methods for multicultural literacy education--and emphasizes that culturally informed teaching knowledge is based on research and best practice.

Willis reviews research from the last two decades to explain literacy acquisition, growth, and development. The author also includes research that examines cultural interaction patterns, learning styles, and the emotional and psychological needs of children of color. Multicultural children's literature, she acknowledges, is both a powerful way for schools to honor students' culture and foster cross-cultural understanding, and an important means to bridge home and school cultures.

Additionally, Willis points out that teachers working with students in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms will realize that there is not one best way to teach all students; instead, a variety of instructional strategies should be incorporated where students are addressed individually. Several lists at the end of this article define objectives for the ideal culturally and linguistically diverse classroom, and provide goals for administrators, teachers, and home support.

Willis' message is clear: that for instruction to be successful, educators must spend time developing their understanding of literacy instruction as well as their awareness of their students' cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. Standards Alignment: Grades 1-12 (author/ecb)

This resource provides an online teacher's guide for use with Langston Hughes's short story, "Cora Unashamed," and the film adaptation of the same name, created by Masterpiece Theater. Cora Unashamed is an integrated language arts unit of study that uses visual media to extend students' understanding of the short story. Students are able to examine the social and cultural influences that impacted Hughes's writing and compare events from the short story with the film. The site also provides essays and interviews about the making of the film and many links to online resources about Langston Hughes, the Harlem Renaissance, and materials related to women, work, and race in the 1930's. The teacher's guide provides activities and discussion questions to use before and after viewing the film. Cora Unashamed may be printed from this website or found in Hughes's book, The Ways of White Folks. (author/ncl)

In this article, authors Arlette Ingram Willis and Julia Johnson view literacy as a socially constructed process that takes place within an interpretive community of learners, and examine in depth the political and sociohistorical limitations of the Eurocentric literary canon. As educators and researchers, they reframe and embrace multiple ways of knowing, interpreting, and responding to multiethnic literature, focusing especially on how students respond as readers to African American literature taught in an upper-level high school class. The results reflected in their study and research indicate that by critically framing multiethnic literature, we can realize an enriched space for learning--a space where, as teachers, we can learn to respect and listen to, speak with, and read and write different voices, cultures, and texts, enabling our students to do the same and to blend their community knowledges, practices and voices to reframe and redesign texts.

African American history during the Jim Crow era includes encounters with poverty, racism, disrespect, and protest. Harper Lee develops all four of these themes in her famous 1960 novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. To help students understand these ideas, this lesson incorporates the blues and other literature of the time. Students begin by examining how authors and artists represent the idea of manhood. Working in small groups, students analyze various texts for universal themes and research the connections between themes expressed in stories, songs, and film and the historical events of the same era. Ultimately, students will be asked to consider both African American oppression and activism through a variety of lenses. Standards Alignment: Grades 10-12 (author/ncl)

Martin Luther King, Jr.''s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" demonstrates that even the smallest punctuation mark signals a stylistic decision, distinguishing one writer from another and enabling an author to connect with an audience. In this mini-lesson, students first explore Dr. King''s use of semicolons and their rhetorical significance, then apply the lesson to their own writing by searching for ways to follow Dr. King''s model and use the punctuation mark in their own writing. Class discussion provides an opportunity for students to analyze Dr. King''s letter, review rules of punctuation, and make connections to their own writing. While this lesson refers to the "Letter from Birmingham Jail," any text which features rhetorically significant use of semicolons may be used effectively with the procedures of this mini-lesson. (author/ncl)

Many teachers integrate the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. into their classroom instruction. This resource provides ideas for examining the message of Dr. King, as well as the words that he used to communicate his ideas. Working cooperatively, students identify the literary devices that found in the "I Have A Dream" speech and give a presentation to show their interpretation of an excerpt from the speech. While the resource offers specific strategies for analyzing the speech, students must have a working knowledge of various literary devices. Teachers may need to adapt some of the instructional ideas or offer additional support to students to reinforce their understanding of literary devices. (author/ncl)

This unit of seven lessons, from EDSITEment, introduces students to a poet''s "voice." Students develop a general definition of voice in poetry, and analyze and appreciate the poetic voice of Langston Hughes in particular. Included are writing and discussion activities, in which students either write a poem expressing their own voice (as developed in a journal), or write about one of the qualities of Langston Hughes''s poetic voice (as explored in class discussion). The following poems are included as part of the the lessons: "Dreams," "Dream Deferred," "Dream Variations," "Theme for English B," "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "Mother to Son," and "Merry-Go-Round." (author/sec)

In this curriculum unit of three lessons, students read Frederick Douglass''s 1845 slave narrative, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. They analyze Douglass''s vivid first-hand accounts of the lives of slaves and the behavior of slave owners to see how he successfully contrasts reality with romanticism and powerfully uses imagery, irony, connotative and denotative language, strong active verbs, repetition, and rhetorical appeals to persuade the reader of slavery''s evil. Through guided reading and discussion, students have an opportunity to experience the power of persuasive language and how this power can be used to focus people''s minds and attention on matters that are extremely important. Students also identify and discuss Douglass''s acts of physical, spiritual, intellectual, and emotional courage on his journey towards freedom. Suggested assessments include written responses on Douglass''s persuasive techniques. Links to specific chapters of Douglass''s autobiography and other related primary source materials are available at the website. (author/sec) 

In this lesson, students learn about the artists of the Harlem Renaissance. A New York Times article describing a Central Park salute to Zora Neale Hurston is used as a springboard. Then, working in groups, students research other artists (musicians, writers, visual artists, etc.) and their roles in the Harlem Renaissance. Next, Students create a script based on this artist''s life and works. As a culminating activity, the class holds a Harlem Renaissance Fair where the scripts are performed in a creative format. (author/sec)

Through a series of literary discussions students interact with a thought-provoking story as they develop their reading, writing, oral, and critical-thinking skills. Amazing Grace, the story used in this lesson, promotes thoughtful discussions with a focus on individual interpretation that will allow students of all reading abilities to contribute. Students support their opinions with evidence from the text, prior knowledge, or personal experience. Following the discussions, students respond to the text by drawing an interpretation of Grace and her classmates or creating an original story using the characters from the story. (author/ncl)

This article addresses problems confronted by children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who have not experienced high levels of academic success. Their literacy needs are often not addressed as they are encouraged to assimilate into the mainstream. The author discusses in detail five essential knowledge bases for language arts and English teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students--self-knowledge, cultural knowledge, linguistic knowledge, culturally informed teaching knowledge, and knowledge of materials and methods for multicultural literacy education--and emphasizes that culturally informed teaching knowledge is based on research and best practice.

Willis reviews research from the last two decades to explain literacy acquisition, growth, and development. The author also includes research that examines cultural interaction patterns, learning styles, and the emotional and psychological needs of children of color. Multicultural children's literature, she acknowledges, is both a powerful way for schools to honor students' culture and foster cross-cultural understanding, and an important means to bridge home and school cultures.

Additionally, Willis points out that teachers working with students in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms will realize that there is not one best way to teach all students; instead, a variety of instructional strategies should be incorporated where students are addressed individually. Several lists at the end of this article define objectives for the ideal culturally and linguistically diverse classroom, and provide goals for administrators, teachers, and home support.

Willis' message is clear: that for instruction to be successful, educators must spend time developing their understanding of literacy instruction as well as their awareness of their students' cultures, backgrounds, and experiences. (author/bcbrown) Standards Alignment: 1-12