In January, the American Dialect Society made history by selecting a hashtag, #blacklivesmatter, as its Word of the Year. The choice inspired composition professors at St. John's University in Queens, Professor Sophie Bell and Professor Amanda Moulder to create a lesson plan around the ADS's #blacklivesmatter selection, bringing attention to race and language in a way that feels relevant to students' lives.
To kick off Black History Month, we're sharing the lesson plan they created. Find it here.
So far students are finding the lesson to be empowering. "My students write best when they're writing about something they care about," says Bell. "My students are surprised that linguists and academics are coming together to talk about the language that young people are creating via technology. My students say they thought this kind of language was not welcome in academia. And although the impact of race on their lives is more obvious to some of my students than others, this #blacklivesmatter lesson helps them see how race and language are connected."
For more Black History Month resources on Vocabulary.com, see For MLK Day, New Black History Resources.