Reading over California's 9th & 10th grade English-Language Arts standards and instruction, there are many opportunities to Del-Freire-son-rize the curriculum. I will only name a few ideas that come to mind. First, Reading Standard 1.2 ("Distinguish between the denotative and connotative meanings of words and interpret the connotative power of words.") seems to be a great way to dialogue about how our words could be hurtful and the origins of derogatory words. Reading Standard 2.8 ("Evaluate the credibility of an author's argument or defense of a claim by critiquing the relationship between generalizations and evidence.") also would allow an opportunity to challenge stereotypes. I think beginning with how adolescents/teens are stereotyped will be an opening common ground before we deal with race and ethnicity. Writing Standard 2.5 is how to write business letters, which I believe would be a great chance to introduce civic action into the course—having them pick an issue to write to their local government about in business letter format. Lastly, another area with great potential is Listening and Speaking Standard 1.2 ("Compare and contrast the ways in which media genres (e.g. televised news, news magazines, documentaries, online information) cover the same event). Here, I think an investigation of the media representation of Hurricane Katrina would be an empowering examination. Overall, I believe the English-Language Arts curriculum to be open enough to modify it to be engaging, thought provoking, and liberating—it all depends on the method ("Del-Freire-son-ish") in which the teacher wishes to teach the standards.
-Briana
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