Unit Overview

Multigenre Research Unit: African American Vernacular English

Unit Overview Context: • This is a unit for one section of a general 11th grade grammar course at Everett High School in Lansing Public School District. Lansing is an urban school district comprised of mainly African American students with various other ethnicities being well represented. Overall, about fifty percent of students come from economically disadvantaged households. • The previous unit was very extensive and consisted of students exploring the grammar and lexicon rules of Standard English using various sections of classical texts. As a result of the prior unit, students were able to diagram full sentences and produce a correctly written essay. In addition to the traditional assessment, students were able to learn and use either iMovie or Windows Movie Maker to explain commonly misused words. In prior units in their previous general English courses they have read Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, and Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. • The next unit will allow students to explore various aspects of Standard English by creating a portfolio of the work that they have created throughout the year, while also reflecting upon their pieces. Unit • The anchor texts in this unit is a collection of various supplemental traditional and nontraditional texts that have AAVE in them o Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston o Talkin’ that talk: African American language and culture, Geneva Smitherman o The Boondocks Cartoon, Aaron McGruder o School Days, directed by Spike Lee o Mahogany/Hallmark Cards o “Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die” by Maya Angelou o Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry o Comedy of Richard Prior o Radio Show: Steve Harvey in the Morning o “Antebellum Sermon” and “The Seedling,” Paul Lawrence Dunbar o “I used to love her,” Common (music video) o “I can,” Nas o “Do you speak American?” www.pbs.org • During this unit students will learn and identify the grammar rules and lexicon features associated with African American Vernacular English, while understanding the deep historical roots of this language. In doing this, students will be working encounter and work with multiple modes engaging students with multiple literacies.

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Students will be engaged in nontraditional types of research allowing them to gain knowledge about inquiry based research. Class discussions and research will engage students with key themes and concepts of AAVE. Students will create a final multigenre project portfolio that allows them to use various modes to show the skills they have acquired about AAVE.

Themes/Concepts: • AAVE is a rule governed language • AAVE has important social functions • AAVE has deep historical roots • AAVE is all around us • Identity formation • Influence of culture on individuals • Stereotypes Essential Questions • What are the positive and negative connotations associated with AAVE? • What are the rules governing AAVE? • Why is AAVE important (to whom)? Rationale: African American students live in a society that devalues their culture and overall existence; however teachers need to acknowledge students backgrounds and bring various cultures into the classroom to expose all students to different perspectives. Bringing African American Vernacular English into the classroom is culturally relevant to all students, because of the high prevalence of the hip-hop culture in society and it’s relevance to students’ lives. In addition to the importance of bringing other cultures into the classroom, students also need to be exposed to various types of modes and literacies to assist them in understanding the main concepts of AAVE. Throughout the unit, students will be introduced to various traditional and nontraditional texts, to better understand the components of AAVE, while entering into dialogic discussion with their peers. Once introduced to various aspects of AAVE students will be introduced to nontraditional types of research, allowing students to understand various aspects of inquiry based research. In addition to building the skill set needed for the unit, students will conduct their own research to better understand the language, and will then design a compilation of three different modes of projects that use AAVE. Goals: • Students learn to critically examine various texts with AAVE in them to begin to understand their purpose. • Students learn and understand the grammar and lexicon rules that make up the systematic language of African American Vernacular English

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Students examine and understand the influence that speech patterns have on people’s perceptions and biases. • Students learn to use prior experiences and interactions to inform their ideas about language. • Students gain an appreciation for an aspect of the African American culture. • Students gain valuable experience conducting field research within their communities and thoughtfully process their findings. • Students learn to use spoken, written, and visual modes to communicate their ideas to different audiences. Standards o 1.3 Communicate in speech, writing, and multimedia using content, form, voice, and style appropriate to the audience and purpose. o 1.4 Develop and use the tools and practices of inquiry and researchgenerating, exploring, and refining important questions; creating a hypothesis or thesis; gathering and studying evidence; drawing conclusions; and composing a report. o 1.5 Produce a variety of written, spoken, multigenre, and multimedia works, making conscious choices about language, form, style, and/or visual representations for each work. o 3.4 Examine mass media, film, series fiction, and other texts from popular culture. o 4.2 Understand how language variety reflects and shapes experience. Summative Assessment • Identification of different grammar and lexicon rules in various texts • Translation of segment of “Their Eyes Were Watching God” • Reflection on speech patterns • AAVE multigenre portfolios • Researched various perspectives and controversies surrounding AAVE References • African American Vernacular English, www.academickids.com • Do you Speak English? www.pbs.com • Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books, 1993. • Myers-Scotton, C., & Ury, W. (1977). "Bilingual Strategies: The Social Functions of Codeswitching." Journal of the Sociology of Language. 13, pp. 5-20. • Smagorinsky, Peter. Teaching English by Design: How to Create and Carry Out Instructional Units. Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2008. • Smitherman, Geneva. Talkin and testifyin: The language of Black America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.