Working and writing for change series

This book presents an empirically grounded argument for a new approach of teaching writing to diverse students in the English language arts classroom. Responding to advocates of the "code-switching" approach, four uniquely qualified authors make a case for "code-meshing"--Allowing students to use standard English, African American English, and other Englishes in formal academic writing and classroom discussions. This practical resource translates theory into a concrete road map for pre- and in-service teachers who wish to use code-meshing in the classroom to extend students' abilities as writers and thinkers and to foster inclusiveness and creativity. This text provides activities and examples from middle and high schools as well as college and addresses the question of how to advocate for code-meshing with skeptical administrators, parents, and students. -- [From the back cover.]

Preface /

Y'Shanda Young-Rivera and Vershawn Ashanti Young --

Foreword /

April Baker-Bell Introduction: Are you a part of the conversation? -- Part 1: African American English and the promise of code-meshing / Rusty Barrett. Rewarding language : language ideology and prescriptive grammar ; You are what you speak : language variation, identity, and education ; Be yourself somewhere else : what's wrong with keeping undervalued English out of the classroom? -- Part 2: Code-meshing or code-switching? / Vershawn Ashanti Young. Linguistic double consciousness ; Costs of code-switching ; Code-meshing : the new way to do English -- Part 3: Code-meshing and responsible education in two middle school classrooms / Y'Shanda Young-Rivera. Code-meshing and responsible education ; Reimagining the classroom : code-meshing and the 21st-century student ; Making sense of it all : Code-meshing and educational reform -- Part 4: Code-meshing and culturally relevant pedagogy for college writing instruction / Kim Brian Lovejoy. Code-meshing : teachers and students creating community ; Code-meshing through self-directed writing ; Composing code-meshing : thoughts on what to do and how to do it -- Coda: Power of language.

Afterword /

Victor Villanueva