E340 FA2019

Writing Instruction in the Culturally Relevant Classroom pg 1-13 CRW using diverse critical texts A former teacher, Latrise Johnson, reflects on a poetry lesson she created for her students. She wanted them not only to grasp the content of the lesson, but also to recognize the value of the lesson. She could only do this by making it relevant to her students. In her past classrooms, her students had not always been receptive to lessons surrounding poetry even though they interacted with it on a near daily basis. Her school at the time of this lesson was located in Atlanta, Georgia, and was 90 percent black. She decided to base her lesson around texts they were likely to be familiar with, such as songs from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Johnson was motivated to provide these diverse texts to her student because she felt that it was something she was deprived of as a student. The “achievement gap” This vignette inspires some personal thoughts. First, a memory of...

Writing Instruction in the Culturally relevant Classroom By: Brinkley Dickerson How do we create a classroom that is culturally relevant and has academic success? Students need to feel accepted and welcomed in the classroom, while also having academic success. Academic success does not always mean an A+ or complete understanding of the material, but it means they have knowledge of a subject and can show their knowledge. It is important as educators to make our classrooms a safe comfortable place for ALL students while also teaching them academic success.     Winn and Johnson state, “By having culturally relevant pedagogy in the classroom, it encourages students to bring their outside cultural into the classroom and feel accepted.  Culturally relevant pedagogy relies on cultural references that are relevant in the lives of students in order to impart knowledge and skills that will empower...

Let’s Start Writing! By: Naomi Robertson  l Part 1: What Is “Writing”? “Writing” refers to the act of creating composed knowledge according to the NCTE. Composition can take place in many different ways for many different reasons. Some compositions could include a blog, notebook, equations, documents, and many more different forms. Writing has multiple purposes including: To help writers create and write down their ideas for many purposes and audiences  To let others view their work and critique it. To help a community or individual create, define, and clarify ideas.  Principle 1.1: Writing is social and rhetorical  Writing is social is intended to speak to audiences for particular purposes. Even when a writer writes “for themselves” (e.g., in a personal blog or diary), they are their own audience. When it is effective, writing is rhetorical, it takes into account the values, ideologies, interests, needs, and commitments of the people, the a...

Removing Barriers Erin Lenox A negative reading attitude isn’t limited to students with poor reading skills. In fact, students who are popular, motivated, academically successful, or exposed to books and learned to read at an early age express disinterest by the time they reach middle school.   What else affects a student’s willingness to read? ·        Choice. Students are forced to read materials selected for them. ·        Opportunity. Free reading time is rarely scheduled and limited to classroom library selections. ·        Access. Though books might be available at home, they may not be chosen by the students and do not cater to their interests. Quantity Over Quality There is a need to shift from “quality literature” to materials the students are interested in. A librarian Worth (1996)...