Personal assumptions about multiculturalism and cultural diversity

Combining this idea of translingualism with multiculturalism

Utilizing the concept of identity texts (Cummins 2011) to tie it all together.

Creation of a thematic unit

Students will:› Have a clear, working knowledge of autobiographies

and its’ categories.› Be able to identify important aspects of an

autobiographical text through the reading of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.

› Write their own autobiography› Collaboratively create a blog to display their work.› Participate in the peer editing workshops.

EXTRA CREDIT: › Students can submit an additional version of their

autobiography written in a different language for other students.

› Students can write a full, detailed reflection of their writing process, to include challenges and successes.

East Side High School in Paterson, NJ 10th Grade Language Arts Classroom 26 students:

› 12 Black/African American› 7 Hispanic/Latino› 3 White/Caucasian› 2 Arabic/Middle Eastern students› 1 Chinese

Creation of a Word Wall based on the various categories and/or characteristics of a autobiography.

An overview will be provided (Yatvin 2008) to introduce the excerpt from the published autobiographical text: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. For homework, students will read the first chapter and answer the provided questions. The audio version in various languages will be available to students.› Spanish: OTHER VERSIONS

AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!

› French:

› Chinese:

› Hebrew:

Begin with journaling about their personal reflection on the Douglass piece.

Review homework questions. Provide students with bubble cluster graphic organizer to

begin organizing their thoughts. Students will be encouraged to utilize the words from our wall. Also, add to it throughout this writing process.

Students will come into class with their first rough drafts.

Students are broken into pairs and groups of three. Students will work in a different group or pair each

time. Guidelines will be provided for peer editing, i.e. what

to look for. The teacher will walk around to provide informal

guidance, advice, and instruction. At the end of each workshop, students will correct

and polish drafts. Students will be encouraged to use words from the

word wall and add to the wall with teacher approval. All drafts will be collected at the end.

Students will submit all drafts to me. All students will go to the computer

lab. Collaboratively all students will create

a blog for them to display their work. Provide a tutorial for students on blogs. Assisting students with language

characters while typing. Acts as our creation of an identity text.

Participation in the peer editing process Progression from draft to final piece Submission to the collaborative blog Grammar, pronunciation, and fluency Individualized assessment

Cummins, Jim (2011). Literacy engagement: fueling academic growth for English learners.

Freeman, Y.S., Freeman, D.E., & Ramirez, R (2008). Diverse learners in the mainstream classroom strategies for supporting all students across content areas. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann.

Lockard, Joe (2004-2009). Frederick Douglass Translations. Retrieved from http://antislavery.eserver.org/narratives/douglasstranslations.

New Jersey State Core Curriculum Standards (2011). Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org.

Valdes, Gina (1982). Puentes y fronteras: Coplas chicanas. Los Angeles: Castle Lithographs.

Yatvin, Joanne (2007). English-only teachers in mixed-language classrooms: A survival guide. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.