Date: November 24, 2008 Grade: 11

Teacher Names: Sandi Stupica and Zach Thompson Subject: English

Topic: Urban Education

Content: Lessons that will appeal to an urban English class

Goal: Aims/Outcomes:
1. To show the class that culturally responsive teaching is an appropriate approach used in
urban schools.
2. To expand the classes understanding of how to relate to students through personalizing
the lesson plan.
3. To build the classes’ confidence with working in an urban school setting.

Objectives:
1. Students’ participation in dialogic discussion will indicate their understanding of how and
why culturally responsive teaching is used.
2. Completion of the journal entry and short assignment will help the class to realize how to
allure and attract urban students’ participation in a lesson.

Material and Aids: a handout that includes a brief summary of the Harlem Renaissance, a
handout with Langston Hughes poetry and paintings by artists of the Harlem Renaissance, and a
handout describing the activity.

Procedures/Methods
1. Introduction
• The class will be asked to write a journal entry about “a time where they felt
discriminated.” If they have never experienced discrimination, then they can
respond to a moment where they have witnessed discrimination or a time in
history when discrimination occurred. (5 minutes)
• Next, relate what the class wrote to urban students.’ According to the article,
Culturally Responsive Teaching: The Harlem Renaissance in an Urban English
Class, factors that characterize urban schools include “…the greatest
concentration of poor, immigrant students who experience hunger, homelessness,
and violence in their everyday lives.” Whereas, the smallest, wealthiest schools
possess none of those characteristics.
• Begin the dialogic discussion with questions such as, “How do these factors
influence students’ education?” “What are some ways teachers can overcome
these factors to still educate the students?” (5 minutes)
2. Development
• Explain that one effective way to appeal to urban English students is through the
method of culturally responsive teaching. “…culturally responsive teachers
make explicit the issues of race, ethnicity, and culture as central to teaching,
learning, and schooling, a stance not often evident in more homogenous,
suburban teaching contexts.”
 • Make clear that the next activity is an example of culturally responsive teaching.
• Handouts will be distributed.
• Ask for a volunteer to read the handout describing the Harlem Renaissance. (5
minutes)
3. Independent Practice
• Next, in pairs (preferably working with the person next to them) students can
analyze a Langston Hughes poem or the paintings. The questions that students
will answer are on the handout.
• Provide at least 5-10 minutes for discussion amongst the pairs.
• Ask for volunteers about how they answered the questions regarding the poem or
artwork. (5 minutes)
• Debrief

Checking for Understanding: We can confirm that the class learned the objectives depending
on the dialogic discussion and the class’s ability to incorporate the activity in an urban English
classroom setting.