Reading, Writing, and Rising Up

This publication explains how to teach students to produce well written and analytic work, offering essays, lesson plans, and a collection of student writing, all rooted in a focus on language arts teaching for social justice. The eight chapters look at: (1) "Building Community out of Chaos" (e.g., inviting students' lives into the classroom and childhood narratives); (2) "Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us" (e.g., critiquing cartoons and society and praising poems); (3) "Writing the Word and the World" (e.g., forgiveness poems and acting for justice); (4) "The Politics of Language" (e.g., teaching about language and society and enticing reluctant readers to read); (5) "Poetry" (e.g., promoting social imagination through interior monologues and the poetry of protest); (6)"Immigration" (how students can teach their teachers about immigration); (7) "Portfolios" (portfolios and basketball); and (8) "Untracking English" (creating quality education for all students). Some chapters include class activities. (Sections contain references.) (SM)