{"product_id":"the-freedom-writers-diary-teachers-guide-isbn-9780767926966","title":"The Freedom Writers Diary Teacher's Guide","description":"\u003cb\u003eA standards-based teacher’s guide from the educator behind the #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestseller \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary, \u003c\/i\u003ewith innovative teaching techniques that will engage, empower, and enlighten.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDon’t miss the public television documentary \u003ci\u003eFreedom Writers: Stories from the Heart\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIn response to thousands of letters and e-mails from teachers across the country who learned about Erin Gruwell and her amazing students in \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e and the hit movie \u003ci\u003eFreedom Writers,\u003c\/i\u003e Gruwell and a team of teacher experts have written \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary Teacher’s Guide,\u003c\/i\u003e a book that will encourage teachers and students to expand the walls of their classrooms and think outside the box.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eHere Gruwell goes in depth and shares her unconventional but highly successful educational strategies and techniques (all 150 of her students, who had been deemed “unteachable,” graduated from Wilson High School in Long Beach, California): from her very successful “toast for change” (an exercise in which Gruwell exhorted her students to leave the past behind and start fresh) to writing exercises that focus on the importance of journal writing, vocabulary, and more.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIn an easy-to-use format with black-and-white illustrations, this teacher’s guide will become the essential go-to manual for teachers who want to make a difference in their pupils’ lives.\u003cb\u003eErin Gruwell and the Freedom Writers\u003c\/b\u003e continue to share their stories with students and teachers from around the globe through their nonprofit, the Freedom Writers Foundation. They are the subject of the 2019 public television documentary \u003ci\u003eFreedom Writers: Stories from the Heart, \u003c\/i\u003eand the 2007 feature film \u003ci\u003eFreedom Writers, \u003c\/i\u003estarring Hilary Swank. Gruwell lives in Long Beach.\u003cb\u003eINTRODUCTION\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary Teacher’s Guide\u003c\/i\u003e takes students through a three-stage process that will maximize their understanding of \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e while supporting the central message of tolerance. For best results, I suggest that you begin teaching the Engage Your Students activities first, following the order presented–which mirrors the timeline in \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e. The activities in Enlighten Your Students and Empower Your Students can then be taught according to what best suits your individual curricular needs and weekly schedules. There are no specific time allotments designated for the activities presented in this \u003ci\u003eTeacher’s Guide\u003c\/i\u003e. Teachers can implement activities in one class period or over multiple days.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Engage, Enlighten, and Empower Model\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEngage Your Students:\u003c\/b\u003e This section includes lesson plans and activities for you to share with your students before they begin reading \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e. The goal is to establish a collaborative and supportive academic environment that will draw your students into the learning process, help them make connections between who they are as individuals and who they are as students, and encourage them to discover commonalities with their classmates.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEnlighten Your Students:\u003c\/b\u003e This section offers lesson plans and activities that help students delve into literary themes, topics, and concepts while reading \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e, and concludes with a unit on the film, \u003ci\u003eFreedom Writers\u003c\/i\u003e (2007). Due to its range of contents, Enlighten Your Students covers various categories for ease of use: writing, vocabulary, grammar, oral communication, culminating activities, and \u003ci\u003eFreedom Writers\u003c\/i\u003e film activities. Students will practice different kinds of writing and public speaking, and become critical thinkers as they explore their own opinions, reasoning, and reactions within a “real world” context.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEmpower Your Students:\u003c\/b\u003e This section encourages students to achieve positive changes in themselves and in their communities by bringing the outside world into the classroom, and taking their classroom into the world. Nontraditional activities, such as inviting a guest speaker into class or taking a field trip, can expose students to new social and academic perspectives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Teachers Guide\u003c\/i\u003e promotes a holistic approach to language arts: We integrate reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar with a variety of learning modalities, all focused on a common theme. Each lesson plan for the Engage, Enlighten, and Empower sections of the book contains five important educational elements: implementing different learning modalities, the use of visual graphics, journal writing, adherence to academic standards, and authentic assessment. What follows are brief introductions to each of these elements.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLearning Modalities\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMany of the Freedom Writers struggled with learning disabilities (dyslexia) or behavioral challenges (Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). In addition, some were English Language Learners. As a new teacher, I desperately tried a variety of ways to engage my students and bring my activities to life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLittle did I know that my wacky idea of bringing in two sandwiches and some clumsy drawings of sandwich ingredients to teach about writing would prove successful. Later, I found out why this technique worked. Dr. Howard Gardner, a Harvard professor, advanced the theory of multiple intelligences to illustrate that all human beings have a repertoire of skills for solving different problems; within these repertoires, however, individuals have different learning modalities. By bringing in sandwiches, sketches, and other elements to teach the writing process, I managed to activate my students’ linguistic, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and interpersonal learning modalities. (*)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFollowing suit, your students will have opportunities to use different learning modalities as they move from activity to activity. Each lesson plan includes a list of materials that you will need, ranging from popular culture (music and movie clips), to food items (peanuts and Froot Loops), to art supplies (crayons and poster boards). Be sure to check ahead of time what you will need for each activity. We also suggest that you have a television and DVD player, a CD player, and a computer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eVisual Graphics\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eI found that traditional note taking was often a significant challenge for the \u003ci\u003eFreedom Writers\u003c\/i\u003e. Allowing my students to process information and demonstrate their comprehension through visual techniques greatly enhanced the learning process. I am not artistic by any means, but I found that admitting my lack of talent seemed to bolster my students’ sense of artist confidence. Suddenly, my creative students were tempted to submit their own visual graphics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe have included student-drawn visual graphics with each activity in this guide, as well as explanations for how to use them. Your students may think these visual graphics are corny, so play off their reaction and challenge them to do better! Your students can create their own visual graphics for an activity using a black marker and blank sheet of paper. Add their names along with a copyright symbol at the bottom of the original, photocopy,\u003cbr\u003eand distribute to the class. Have contributors come to class early and draw their images on the board so that you can use the new graphic while modeling the activity for the class.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJournal Writing\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo mirror the Freedom Writer experience, we recommend that you provide journals for your students prior to reading \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003eBy keeping journals, students learn to value writing as a process. Journal writing is an avenue through which your students can respond to events in their personal lives and in their academic lives. Because all the students will keep journals at the same time, they bond as a community of writers, reflecting on their individual and shared experiences at school, at home, and in their neighborhoods.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe license to write freely, without fear of criticism or judgment, is central to the success of student journals. The Freedom Writers method allows students to voice their own truths, however painful or awkward, in honest, unvarnished prose. Too often, I believe, writing is rewarded merely on the basis of standard spelling, punctuation, and usage. Teachers should also value vivid, forceful student writing that actually says something.\u003cbr\u003eEncouraging students to use their own voices unleashes their potential for powerful self-expression and deeply effective storytelling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eTeacher’s Guide\u003c\/i\u003e also includes activities that require students to use different writing styles in different contexts for different audiences. As students learn to edit their own and each other’s prose for a specific purpose, they develop skills essential to success in the classroom and beyond. Since many educators have used \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e as a launching pad to discuss specific themes and inspired journal writing in their classrooms, we have provided writing prompts for every diary entry in Appendix B.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAcademic Standards\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e can easily be taught as literature on its own. However, using this \u003ci\u003eTeacher’s Guide\u003c\/i\u003e will help you fulfill the requirements established by English Language Arts national standards. The current trend in education is for all curricula to be standards-based. As teachers, we must abide by the standards that our state and districts have adopted to ensure that our students are meeting their achievement goals in each academic area. We have aligned each activity in this guide with the Language Arts standards formulated by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Standards can be daunting, something imposed from the outside. However, the language of the NCTE standards does a good job of emphasizing the learner at the center of the academic process.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI understand that most states have their own specific standards, but there are also many commonalities that you will find reflected in the criteria listed in Appendix C. It is these common and interrelated themes that we address and that are specified in greater detail on the Web site for the National Council of Teachers of English: www.ncte.org.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthentic Assessment\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStandardized tests are a reality of our educational system. Regardless of how teachers may personally feel about the effectiveness of such testing programs, there is no way around them. But it does not follow that teaching to the test is the best way to educate our students, or even to help them achieve top scores. I believe that the best teaching and the best learning happen when you teach to a student, not to a test.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis \u003ci\u003eTeachers Guide\u003c\/i\u003e does not include quizzes, multiple-choice tests, or standardized essays. Instead, every activity is organized around the idea of authentic assessment. In authentic assessment, students are asked to demonstrate their language arts skills through meaningful and relevant tasks; teachers, meanwhile, monitor the strengths and needs of their students as they progress from activity to activity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eTeacher’s Guide\u003c\/i\u003e employs multiple forms of authentic assessment:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eVisual graphics:\u003c\/b\u003e The graphics associated with each activity provide an immediate way of measuring the level of student engagement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e•\u003cb\u003e Open-ended questions:\u003c\/b\u003e Activities include open-ended language exercises that allow students to employ imagination, creativity, and critical thinking skills.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eLanguage arts assessment:\u003c\/b\u003e A range of writing assignments, including interviews, letter writing, and a feature story, provide opportunities for evaluating student progress in reading and writing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003ePortfolios:\u003c\/b\u003e We suggest that all assignments be collected in portfolios as a way of tracking students’ developmental progress and showcasing students’ work at the end of the unit. Portfolios welcome multiple audiences, including the student, classmates, teachers, and even parents. (We recommend that students use a three-ring binder to organize their portfolio.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eSelf-evaluation:\u003c\/b\u003e An integral component of authentic assessment is self-evaluation, giving students an opportunity to review their academic progress.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is my firm belief that authentic assessment does not compete with, but rather enhances student performance on mandated tests. By honoring their reading, writing, and communication skills through meaningful activities in which they are fully engaged, students develop critical thinking skills that serve them in testing environments and in the world at large. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNow It's Your Turn\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWithin the engaging, enlightening, and empowering lesson plans in the \u003ci\u003eTeacher’s Guide\u003c\/i\u003e, you will find the key ingredients for cooking up success in your own classroom. We want to emphasize that \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary \u003c\/i\u003eand the accompanying \u003ci\u003eTeacher’s Guide\u003c\/i\u003e are not intended to serve as a substitute for your mandated curriculum, but rather as a means of enhancing that curriculum and encouraging your students to perform at the highest level. There is no one perfect model for every classroom, so we look to you as independent educators to implement our lesson plans as you see fit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs a teacher, I was inspired by my students’ hearts, minds, and voices, which reverberate within the pages of \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e. In that spirit, I have tried to honor the hearts, minds, and voices of your students as they read \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e and engage in the activities contained in this \u003ci\u003eTeacher’s Guide\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMandated Reporting\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou must make your students aware of the fact that teachers are “mandated reporters” and therefore obligated by law to report cases of child abuse or neglect when and if they become aware of such instances through their students’ communications (oral or written). This does not mean students are prohibited from such communications, only that they must be made aware of possible repercussions.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e***\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eENGAGE YOUR STUDENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Engage Your Students lesson plans allow students to forge new friendships, create a community, and establish the foundation for a nurturing and collaborative learning environment before they begin reading \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e. Most students, especially those in their teens, tend to be reluctant to share their anxieties and vulnerabilities. These activities challenge students to get out of their comfort zones and utilize all of their learning modalities. In doing so, a wealth of information about your students is revealed. This information will enable you to tap into your students’ experiences, sensibilities, and learning styles as a starting point for their explorations of literature and language. I highly recommend that you teach the lessons in the order presented: first you engage your students as individuals, then as partners with other students, next as collaborative groups, and finally as a cohesive community within the classroom. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eVisual Graphics:\u003c\/b\u003e Each activity has an original visual graphic designed to promote student participation while enhancing the particular theme of the lesson. For best results, have students clear everything off their desks except for the visual graphic and other materials integral to the activity. While students write or draw on their graphics, you will have an opportunity to walk around the room and assess their level of engagement and understanding. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eVocabulary:\u003c\/b\u003e Each activity contains vocabulary words that were inspired by the specific activity. The words are brought together at the end of the section in a culminating activity called Freedom Writer Bingo. These words will familiarize your students with concepts and terms useful for reading \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eJournal Writing:\u003c\/b\u003e After the inaugural \u003ci\u003eWhat Makes Me Unique\u003c\/i\u003e assignment, the journal writing prompts in this section are listed under the Assessments that conclude each activity. Journals serve as a way for students to reflect and expand upon their increasing awareness of themselves and their classmates. At the same time, teachers can use the journals to evaluate how much understanding and insight their students glean from each activity. Encourage your students to write in their journals every day about their experiences, thoughts, and feelings. This out-of-class “free writing” may yield some of your students’ best stories, which they can then revise for the Class Book, the culminating project for the Enlighten Your Students section.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePrimetime Live\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eDVD\u003c\/b\u003e: Although this activity is optional, I have learned that teachers who use this video with their students have found it to be an exceptional motivational tool. (To order this DVD, please visit www.freedomwritersfoundation.org or www.films.com.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e***\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLESSON PLAN FORMAT\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe lesson plans for the Engage Your Students section of the \u003ci\u003eTeacher’s Gui\u003c\/i\u003ede are presented in a consistent format for ease of implementation. Each contains the following components: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eObjective:\u003c\/b\u003e Describes the overall goal of the activity.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eBackstory from Room 203:\u003c\/b\u003e Provides context, background, and pedagogical reasoning behind the activity derived from my classroom.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eMs. G’s Tips:\u003c\/b\u003e Provides anecdotal advice from my personal experience.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eWhat You’ll Need:\u003c\/b\u003e List of required materials.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eProcess:\u003c\/b\u003e Step-by-step explanation of how to do each activity.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eVisual Graphic Instructions:\u003c\/b\u003e Brief summary of how to use our student-generated visual graphics.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eVocabulary:\u003c\/b\u003e Lists of words that we suggest embedding into each lesson.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eAssessment:\u003c\/b\u003e Journaling topics that assess student comprehension.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eTaking It Further:\u003c\/b\u003e Explores ideas that go beyond the activity for further understanding.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEach lesson in the Engage Your Students section also has a sidebar that contains comments from \u003ci\u003eThe Freedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e, the Freedom Writers themselves, and the Freedom Writer Teachers. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eFreedom Writer Feedback:\u003c\/b\u003e Comments from the Freedom Writers recalling the impact these lessons had on them.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFreedom Writers Diary\u003c\/i\u003e Quotations:\u003c\/b\u003e A passage from the book illustrating the Freedom Writers’ experience.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eTeacher Talk:\u003c\/b\u003e Comments from our Freedom Writer Teachers in the field who have implemented these lessons with their students.\u003cbr\u003e• \u003cb\u003eNational Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Standards:\u003c\/b\u003e At the end of each lesson, you will find a list of the NCTE standards that are met by each activity.","brand":"Crown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300056256741,"sku":"NP9780767926966","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780767926966.jpg?v=1767739429","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-freedom-writers-diary-teachers-guide-isbn-9780767926966","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}