Dorothy Franklin- Teaches 7th grade language arts in Chicago- Literacy reactions in a whole-group setting are important because students get a change to gauge the opinions of their peers- They get to see how their thinking rates with everyone else- It puts them in a position where sometimes they have to defend what they are thinking - Students in Dorothy’s classroom participate in a quarter-long study of Black history, spanning slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, and modern events. - In order to meet the needs of the diverse student population, including newly proficient ESOL students, special education students, and students reading at or above grade levelo Franklin uses a variety of instructional approaches including: Independent reading of books Small book groups Whole-class seminar discussions- In lesson, students participate in a second part of a seminar discussion that focuses on the story “Passing” by Langston Hugheso In part one students discussed the story “Guests in the Promised Land” by Kristin Huntero Both stories deal with black oppressiono To prepare for discussion students independently respond to questions in writing so they can offer opinions and provide supporting evidence- Franklin encourages students to express their perspective and disagree with her and classmates, but also explore possibilities they may have not considered on their own- Students are asked to compare and contrast the actions and motives of the protagonists in the two stories- Franklin hopes to provide students with an opportunity to examine how two different black characters responded to their circumstances of oppression- Students in this class modeled many hallmarks of a classroom communityo Literature Their ideas are at the center of a classroomo Questions They are viewed as central to the literacy experienceo It is assumed by both teacher and students that they will build on the understandings they came to class with- Assumed that multiple interpretations are both expected and