Katie

Nolt
Multimodal Research Project
Fall 2014
Part One: Annotated Unit Plan
Unit Plan: Using Code-meshing: Becoming Rhetorical Listeners and Writers
Grade Level: 10th-11th Grade

Standards:
1. 1.7.10.A: Analyze the role and place of standard American English in
speech, writing, and literature. Evaluate as a reader how an authors
choice of words advances the theme or purpose of a work. Choose
words appropriately, when writing, to advance the theme or purpose
of a work.
2. 1.1.10.D: Demonstrate comprehension / understanding before
reading, during reading, and after reading on a variety of literary
works through strategies such as comparing and contrasting text
elements, assessing validity of text based upon content, and
evaluating authors strategies.
3. 1.4.10.C: Write persuasive pieces.
4. 1.5.10.A: Write with a clear focus, identifying topic, task, and
audience.
5. 1.5.10.E: Review, evaluate, revise, edit, and proofread writing to
improve style, word choice, sentence variety, and subtlety of
meaning.
6. 1.8.10.C: Analyze and integrate information gathered from a variety
of sources to create a reasoned product that supports inferences and
conclusions drawn from research.
Unit Goals:
1. Students will have an understanding about code meshing as a concept
and how it manifests itself in literature and society
2. Students will be able to articulate how code meshing functions within
a given text
3. Students will be able to write their own work that contains code
meshing
4. Students will be able to present their work to the class and explain
how the language functions to persuade the reader/listener

Unit Objectives:

1. Students will read some existing scholarship on code meshing in
order to gain some background knowledge into the conversation
2. Students will read examples of code-meshing in literature in order to
understand how code-meshing functions in a text
3. Students will read and respond to various informal writing prompts in
order to investigate how their own language choices effect the
persuasiveness of their writing

4. Students will participate in peer review conferencing in order to

practice refining and editing personal essays
5. Students will listen and read samples or peer work in order to
practice becoming rhetorical listeners/readers

Rationale:

After researching how silencing and voicelessness effect students in the ELA
classroom, I have decided to create a unit plan that works to combat this
phenomenon. The main strategy that I have chosen to utilize is code meshing,
defined by S. Michael Luna as, a social practice which intentionally integrates local
and academic discourse in order to index specific discursive, ideological, and
rhetorical stances of the interlocutor (Luna et al, 57). I have chosen code meshing
as a strategy to eliminate voicelessness in the ELA classroom for several reasons.

By modeling code meshing and presenting examples of code meshing in the
classroom, I hope to impress upon my students that their personal idiolect and
home linguistic features enhance and not hinder their abilities to become effective
readers and writers. Instead of forcing students into one model of Standard
American English, it is my goal to create a nurturing and safe place for students to
develop their own multilingual voices. As a result of this unit, students will have
agency and empowerment to make effective language choices that are persuasive
and authentic. This goal fits into the larger goals of ELA because it teaches students
the importance of word choice, sentence structure, and audience. An investigation
into code meshing allows students to think critically about how their language
choices function to portray meaning to their audiences. Regardless of which
dialect(s) students use, they must be aware of how those particular lexical and
dialectal choices effect how readers comprehend and respond their writing.

This unit also allows students a space to investigate how and why certain
voices are traditionally not heard. By teaching a method of writing that is
multilingual rather than monolingual, students are forced to question the ideals that
keep Standard American English as the sole dialect of professional discourse. They
are also forced to examine the persuasiveness of other dialects, their own or others,
in the texts and examples that this unit explores. In this diverse and multilingual
society, students need to learn to listen to and read voices that are different than
their own. As Young suggests in his text, Straight Black Queer, teaching code
meshing teaches students how to listen to others voices. This unit is as much about
learning to listen as it is about learning to speak and write.

I am modeling this unit plan off of Luna et als, six pedagogic strategies for
supporting code meshing (Luna et al., 60). These strategies include multilingual text
selection, activation of knowledge from inside and outside the text, valuing
multilingual code meshing, modeling oral code meshing, modeling written code
meshing, and strategic scaffolding of text negotiation. I chose this set of strategies
because the goals of the authors lined up with my goals for the unit. Luna et al. aim
to encourage the use of multiple dialects in order to help students connect multiple
ways of knowing and speaking and teach students how to bridge the multiple codes
they know in order to express themselves effectively in multiple situations. I plan

on utilizing these six pedagogic strategies in unique ways but still follow the main
principles of these strategies.


Unit Outline

Week 1: Introducing the theme of code meshing and other important linguistic

concepts/definitions
Rationale:

I have chosen to begin this unit with a brief overview of some the key
concepts and terms that surround the discussion of code meshing. I have done this
because I think it is important for students to have this background knowledge
before they explore and use code meshing later in the unit. Learning about Standard
American English and its effects on society is a very important starting point for this
unit. Students need to learn that the restrictive nature of SAE, encourages its users
toward imitation, not toward generation of original written statements (SRTOL,
14). I would like them to understand how this attitude of restriction permeates
society. Both Luna and Young explain key differences between code meshing and
code switching. By examining these two concepts side by side, I hope to encourage
students to think critically about the political and social ramifications of both
methods. Having students read Youngs piece, Should Writers use they own
English? I hope to show students that this issue/debate is ongoing and present in
society. This will also hopefully encourage them to do further research on
important linguistic topics in the future.



Standards:
1. 1.7.10.A: Analyze the role and place of standard
American English in speech, writing, and literature.
Evaluate as a reader how an authors choice of words
advances the theme or purpose of a work. Choose
words appropriately, when writing, to advance the
theme or purpose of a work.


Unit Goal:
1. Students will have an understanding about code
meshing as a concept and how it manifests itself in
literature and society


Unit Objectives:
1. Students will read some existing scholarship on code
meshing in order to gain some background knowledge
into the conversation


Essential Questions:
1. What is dialect?
2. What is an idiolect?
3. How do idiolects and dialects differ?
4. What is standard American English?
5. What is code meshing?
6. When and how is it used?

7. Why do people use code meshing?

8. What is the difference between code switching and code
meshing?
9. How do they value different dialects?
10. How does Vershawn Ashanti Young understand code
meshing?
11. How do his language choices effect the persuasiveness
of his position?

Lesson Activities:
1. Lecture- Teacher will provide students with various
linguistic definitions of dialect, SAE, and code
meshing/switching.
2. Reading of Should Writers Use They Own English? by
Vershawn Ashanti Young (w/questions)
3. Journaling- students will write their initial reactions,
concerns, and questions about the Young article
4. Class discussion- following the reading and journaling,
the class will begin a discussion about the implications
of the purposed methods. They will also discuss
Youngs language choices and examples.
5. Movie/TV examples

Formative Assessment:
1. Group Collage- In order to assess that the students
have fulfilled the unit goals for this week, students will
work in groups to create a collage depicting code
meshing, dialect diversity, or other related concept.
Students can use magazine clippings, online image,
quotes from the article or additional media. This
project is designed to help students solidify the
concepts and it helps the teacher assess whether the
goals have been met. Students will present these
collages to the class.



Week 2: Reading and responding to literature that contains code meshing
Rationale (Weeks 2-4):

By having students read texts that are both multilingual and multicultural, I
am utilizing three of Luna et als pedagogic strategies. I chose the two texts that I
did because they model code meshing and because they reflect multiple ways of
knowing in culturally sensitive ways. The two texts I chose exhibit two different
types of code meshing. In Gloria Anzalda s text, How to Tame a Wild Tongue, she
utilizes code meshing between two different languages, Spanish and English.
Sapphire, in her novel, Push, utilizes two different dialects, African American English
and SAE. I felt that exposing students to these two different types of code meshing
is important because it shows them the versatility of code meshing across languages

and cultures. It also allows for comparison between the two texts and their
different ways of using code meshing. Reading examples of code meshing in
literature helps students to see how persuasive and rhetorical the use of multiple
dialects can be. Reading these texts also teaches students to seek for understanding
even when they are presented with unfamiliar language choices. Here I am teaching
them a strategy introduced by Anne Frances Wysocki, known as generous reading
techniques, which help us look beyond naturalized rules and guidelines for how we
present selves in print (Wysicki, 22). Code meshing can be seen as something
revolutionary or different when we view the majority of texts and academic writing
in the past. However, the multilingual state of our society should be reflected in our
writing and speech of formal discourse. These readings also work to scaffold for
the final assessment when students are asked to write their own texts utilizing code
meshing.


Standards:
1. 1.7.10.A: Analyze the role and place of standard
American English in speech, writing, and literature.
Evaluate as a reader how an authors choice of words
advances the theme or purpose of a work. Choose
words appropriately, when writing, to advance the
theme or purpose of a work.
2. 1.1.10.D: Demonstrate comprehension / understanding
before reading, during reading, and after reading on a
variety of literary works through strategies such as
comparing and contrasting text elements, assessing
validity of text based upon content, and evaluating
authors strategies.


Unit Goals:
1. Students will be able to articulate how code meshing
functions within a given text



Unit Objectives:
1. Students will read examples of code-meshing in
literature in order to understand how code-meshing
functions in a text



Essential Questions:
1. When and where do the authors utilize code meshing?
2. What do these examples add to the overall meaning of
the text? How does it function rhetorically within the
text?
3. How does code meshing within the text lead to greater
cultural and linguistic understanding?
4. What would be lost if the text was entirely in SAE?



Lesson Activities:

1. Group reading- students will read How to Tame a Wild

Tongue by Gloria Anzalda and discuss the text as a
group (discussion questions given)
2. Group Discussion- students will discuss with their
group members how Anzalda uses code meshing to
express her main points. Group discussion is also
designed as a place for students to express
frustrations/questions about the text
3. Class Reading- students will also read as a whole class
in order to synthesis main ideas and share opinions.
Class will also discuss some of the main points of the
text. Why does Anzalda feel so frustrated and torn by
linguistic pressure? What does this reveal about the
role of language in peoples lives and identities?
4. Journaling- students will reflect individually on how
they feel about the text, the use of code meshing, and
class and group discussion.



Formative Assessment:
1. Personal Reflection-Using their journal entries from
earlier in the week, students will write a personal
reflection on How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria
Anzalda. Students will asked to explain how and when
does Anzalda uses code meshing in her writing. They
will also need to articulate how her language choices
affect them as readers. Why do you think you respond
to her language choices in this way? The teacher will
use this personal reflection as a way to assess whether
students are actively engaging and analyzing the
language choices of the author.

Week 3-4: Reading and responding to literature that contains code meshing


Standards:
1. 1.7.10.A: Analyze the role and place of standard
American English in speech, writing, and literature.
Evaluate as a reader how an authors choice of words
advances the theme or purpose of a work. Choose
words appropriately, when writing, to advance the
theme or purpose of a work.
2. 1.1.10.D: Demonstrate comprehension / understanding
before reading, during reading, and after reading on a
variety of literary works through strategies such as
comparing and contrasting text elements, assessing
validity of text based upon content, and evaluating
authors strategies.

Unit Goals:
1. Students will be able to articulate how code meshing
functions within a given text
2. Students will be able to compare and contrast the
language decisions of various authors

Unit Objectives:
1. Students will read examples of code-meshing in
literature in order to understand how code-meshing
functions in a text
Essential Questions:
1. When and where do the authors utilize code meshing?
2. What do these examples add to the overall meaning of
the text? How does it function rhetorically within the
text?
3. How does code meshing within the text lead to greater
cultural and linguistic understanding?
4. What would be lost if the text was entirely in SAE?

Lesson Activities:
1. Group Reading- Students will read Push by Sapphire.
During this time, students will make notes and mark
pages where Sapphire utilizes code meshing. Groups
will also work together to answer the essential
questions
2. Individual reading- Students will also read the novel on
their own, filling out a journal entry while they read
3. Class discussion- The main themes of class discussion
will be about plot progression and character
development. How do Sapphires language choices work
to progress the plot and develop the characters? How
other characters in the novel respond to Janine and the
way she speaks? Have you encountered similar
attitudes to non-standard language varieties? How
might these attitudes affect the speakers of these
dialects?

Formative Assessment:
1. Venn Diagram- In order to assess whether students are
actively comparing and contrasting the different
language choices and uses of code meshing, students
will fill out a Venn diagram. The Venn diagram will
show the differences between two of the texts we have
read so far. They will articulate differences between the

language/dialect used and how the two authors use

code meshing in their texts.

Week 5: Writing Workshop: Learning to use code meshing
Rationale:

Throughout the remainder of this unit students will exposed to models of
code meshing in various formats and about different topics. Here I am pulling from
two of Luna et als pedagogic strategies, modeling written code meshing and
strategic scaffolding to text negotiation. It is important to expose students to
examples of everyday code meshing such as in a tweet or an email. This exposure
helps students to see the versatility of code meshing in different formats and for
varying audiences. By showing them examples of code meshing that Ive written, I
hope to empower them to be creative and not fear judgment from me. It is also
important that students are exposed to each others work because it increases the
dialectal diversity that they are exposed to. In Youngs piece, Should Writers use they
own language?, he emphasizes the importance of learning as many different dialects
or codes as possible. This weeks activities allow students to read and to respond to
each others work in a safe and constructive environment.


Standards:
1. 1.4.10.C: Write persuasive pieces.
2. 1.5.10.A: Write with a clear focus, identifying topic,
task, and audience.


Unit Goals:
1. Students will be able to write their own work that
contains code meshing
Unit Objectives:
1. Students will read and respond to various informal
writing prompts in order to investigate how their own
language choices effect the persuasiveness of their
writing
2. Students will participate in peer review conferencing in
order to practice refining and editing personal essays
3. Students will listen and read samples or peer work in
order to practice becoming rhetorical listeners/readers


Essential Questions:
1. In what ways can we use code meshing?
2. How does it function within different writing
activities? (e.g. twitter post, persuasive essay, poem,
short story, email)
3. Are there times when certain strategies are more
effective? Why?
4. How do you utilize language in order to be
persuasive and effective at expressing your voice?
5. How do we as readers respond to each others
work?

Katie Nolt 12/11/14 3:05 PM

Comment [1]: After reading about and
studying code meshing, students are able to
transfer this knowledge into different
venues of writing. They will be able to read,
recognize, and write code meshing on social
media sites, in personal narratives, and in
other writing outlets. NCTE 4.9
Demonstrates that students reading
strategies permit access to range of
print/nonprint texts

Lesson Activities:
1. Teacher modeling- teacher will present personal
examples of code meshing in twitter posts, essays,
poems, story stories, and emails.
2. Student writing- students will practice utilizing code
meshing in the various writing situations. They will
write twitter posts, portions of essays, and emails in
order to practice code meshing
3. Group Discussion- Students will be asked to respond
to the examples presented by the teacher and by their
peers. They will also be asked to discuss the process of
reading and writing while utilizing code meshing
4. Peer sharing- students will share their writing practice
to peers and practice analyzing the use of code meshing
5. Group discussions and presentations

Week 6: Work on Summative Assessment:
Rationale:

During this week, students will be given an opportunity to begin work on the
summative assessment. This is important because it allows students to experiment
and try out different ideas while being able to talk about them with peers and myself
during the process. Peer review is especially important for this project because one
of the main goals of this unit is learning to communicate and write effectively and
persuasively. This will require communication with others. This week will also help
students to incorporate feedback from peers and myself which help them to practice
revisions and editing practices.


Standards:
1. 1.4.10.C: Write persuasive pieces.
2. 1.5.10.A: Write with a clear focus, identifying topic,
task, and audience.
3. 1.5.10.E: Review, evaluate, revise, edit, and proofread
writing to improve style, word choice, sentence variety,
and subtlety of meaning
4. 1.8.10.C: Analyze and integrate information gathered
from a variety of sources to create a reasoned product
that supports inferences and conclusions drawn from
research.



Unit Goals:
1. Students will be able to write their own work that
contains code meshing
2. Students will be able to present their work to the class
and explain how the language functions to persuade the
reader/listener

Unit Objectives:

1. Students will read and respond to various informal

writing prompts in order to investigate how their own
language choices effect the persuasiveness of their
writing
2. Students will participate in peer review conferencing in
order to practice refining and editing personal essays
3. Students will listen and read samples or peer work in
order to practice becoming rhetorical listeners/readers

Essential Questions:
1. How are you going to communicate your knowledge on
code meshing?
2. What method and topic will you choose for your final
project?

Lesson Activities:
1. Independent work- Students will have an opportunity
to work on their summative assessment individually
2. Research- Students will collect research on the current
event they chose to write about for their formative
assessment. They will have access to computers and
the library throughout the week.
3. Teacher conferencing- Each student will meet with me
during the week in order to discuss his or her plans and
progress on the summative assessment. I will provide
them with feedback during this time
4. Peer review- Students will meet with other peers in
order to discuss and give feedback to one another
5. Editing and revising- Students will then have an
opportunity to make revisions and changes to their
work after they receive feedback from peers and the
teacher.

Summative Assessment:


In order to assess the mastery of the above objectives, students will write a
persuasive text and a reflection on the text, and present a multimodal presentation
of the text. Students will have the choice of writing a poem, essay, short story,
collection of tweets, or a professional email. The purpose of this text is to persuade
a particular audience to support the writers standpoint on a particular issue. The
students are responsible for choosing a topic, a subject position, and an audience.
The topic must be related to current events, politics, or media. After students have
selected their topics, subject positions, and audiences, they will then chose the type
of writing that they feel will allow them to express their ideas clearly and
persuasively. Students will also be expected to utilize code meshing throughout

Katie Nolt 12/11/14 2:59 PM

Comment [2]: I am asking students to
pick a topic in current events and politics.
NCTE 4.3 Integrates interdisciplinary
teaching

their persuasive texts. After students have completed their persuasive texts, they
will then write a short reflection reiterating their subject position, audience, and
topic. They will also explain why they chose the type of writing they used, the mode
they chose to present it in, and why they used code meshing when they did. The
reflection is designed to scaffold into a multi-modal presentation of their text,
explanation of their choices, and a class discussion on the topic and the choices of
the author.

I have chosen this particular assessment because I feel that it challenges
students to think about the language and modal choices that they make on a daily
basis. It also helps students to practice code meshing in a relatively formal situation,
hopefully reaffirming that the use of multiple dialects can be used in a variety of
situations. I have also chosen this summative assessment because it allows students
to interact with each others writing and investigate the effectiveness of code
meshing in authentic writing samples.


Part 2: Prezi Presentation

Rationale:

I have decided to include a Prezi presentation of this unit for several reasons.
The first is that this presentation can be used to help me as an educator organize the
goals, objectives, and rationales of this unit. This organization will better prepare
me to teach this lesson to my students. The second is that I can use this Prezi at the
beginning of the unit in order to show students how the unit is laid out and how we
will progress. The third, and possibly the most important reason for this
presentation is that it can be used to present this unit to a curriculum committee or
to other administrative members. This multimodal presentation will allow me to
explain how this unit is designed and why I think it is an important component of
the English Language Arts curriculum. The design of the Prezi will hopefully help to
display the unit in a meaningful and engaging format.

Link to Prezi:

https://prezi.com/7nszq1r-gdje/edit/ - 4_95982358

Katie Nolt 12/11/14 3:02 PM

Comment [3]: Here I am demonstrating
my understanding of the uses of media in
the classroom and for administrative
purpose. NCTE standard 4.6 Fosters
critical analysis of media & tech

Works Cited

Anzaldua, Gloria. "How To Tame a Wild Tongue." Situating Inquiry. 6th ed. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007. 252-60. Print.
Dippre, Ryan and Felicia Hellman. "Student Voice, Classroom Democracy, and
Writing That Matters." California English 20.1 (2014): 21-23. Education
Source. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.

Luna, S. Michael, and A. Suresh Canagarajah. "Multilingual Academic Literacies:
Pedagogical Foundations for Code Meshing in Primary and Higher
Education." Journal of Applied Linguistics 4.1 (2007): 55-77. Print.
Sapphire. Push: A Novel. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. Print.
Students Rights to Their Own Language. 1974. National Council of Teachers of
English.
Wysocki, Anne Frances. Opening New Media to Writing: Opening and
Justifications. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the
Teaching of Composition. Eds. Anne Frances Wysocki, Johndan Johnson-Eiola,
Cynthia L. Selfe, and Geoffrey Sirc. Logan, UT: Utah State UP, 2004. 1-45.
Print.

Young, Vershawn Ashanti. "Straight Black Queer: Obama, Code-Switching, and the
Gender Anxiety of African American Men." Publications of the Modern
Language Association of America 129.3 (2014): 464-470. Print.

Young, Vershawn Ashanti. Should Writers Use They Own English? Iowa Journal of
Cultural Studies 12.1 (2010): 110-118. Print.