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Lesson: African American Vernacular English and Dialects Grade Level: 10th Grade
1. CC.1.4.9-10.S: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis,
reflection, and research, applying grade level reading standards for literature and literary
non-fiction.
grades level topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly
and persuasively.
Unit Essential Question: Literary elements and devices, structure and format are used to
Lesson Essential Question: What are the factors of dialect, and how does African American
Motivational Device: Students will listen to various recordings from the International Dialects of
English Archives (IDEA) database that explore different dialects (factors include location, age,
and gender) in an attempt to identify and understand various US dialects and the image they
present of the speaker. Students will relate their own experiences or understanding of dialect
2. How does your language and dialect represent your character?
3. What are the effects of segregation on a specific person and in a community?
Lesson Outline:
I. Introduction/Motivational Device
B. Attempt to pinpoint where these speakers are from, their gender, age, and race based
on their dialect.
II. Think-Pair-Share
A. Students will Think-Pair-Share in small groups the factors that influence dialect.
B. Students will think of their own speech and the speech of the community and try to
underline the commonalities that define their speech (Focus on Central Columbia /
Northeastern PA).
A. Analyzing Calpurnia’s speech around the Finche’s (white community) and around her
switching. Give a brief definition of code switching and provide examples. Students will
then look for examples in the TKAM text of Calpurnia code switching.
2. “…when she was furious, Calpurnia’s speech became erratic. When in tranquility,
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C. students will discuss the influence of language and dialect on a person's acceptance or
A. Students will review characters in TKAM and reflect on the segregation they’ve faced
and how it’s affected their standard of living. (Calpurnia, Zeebo, The Ewell’s, and, in a
B. Students will read the article “If Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?”
by James Baldwin.
(http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/29/specials/baldwin-english.html)
C. After reading the article students will work in pairs to underline/highlight important or
D. As a class, we will discuss the article in contexts of TKAM and the time period it takes
E. Students will listen to audio recordings of Lola Hendricks, an African American woman
who was born and raised in the deep south during the depression era.
V. Summary/Closure
A. Ticket out the door: We explored how Calpurnia code switches in her speech depending
on if she’s with the Finch’s (white community) and when she’s around her family and
peers (African American community). Write down how you use code switching in your
everyday life (while with teachers, friends, coaches, parents, grandparents, etc.)
Key Questions:
2. In what ways does your language and dialect represent you as a person?
Differentiated Learning Activities: Students will be working in heterogeneous groups for their
Think-Pair-Share.
Tier 1: Basic students will be expected to share one example from the text that show either
Tier 2: On-level students will be expected to share two examples from the text that show either
Tier 3: Advanced students will be expected to share three examples from the text that show
Formative Assessment: In class discussion, think-pair-share activity, ticket out the door.
1. Did I effectively observe the students understanding of why dialect is an important aspect of
TKAM?
2. Did the students understand the concept of code switching and were they able to identify it in
3. Did the students understand why dialects as a whole are important to recognize, and in what