Dialects in the Classroom

Welcome to the 504 Voices Dialect Awareness Curriculum!  This document is intended to be a guide for teachers, especially those involved in literacy instruction at the K-3 level, in the New Orleans area.  While we've written this to target a K-3 audience, we hope it will be of use to those teaching older students as well, in particular those providing remedial instruction.  

We've arranged the curriculum into five modules; by clicking "Next" at the bottom of each page you'll be directed to the next section of the document.  If you'd prefer to skip around, however, you can use the buttons at the top and left of each page to do so.

If you'd like to share comments and ideas with other educators, we'd love to have you at the 504 Voices: Dialects in the Classroom group on Facebook!  If you'd like to contact us directly, you can find our info here.  Thanks for joining us!

Nathalie Dajko is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at Tulane University.  Originally from Canada, Nathalie has lived and worked in New Orleans since 2002.  Her research in linguistics focuses on sociolinguistic variation in varieties of French and English in Louisiana; she is the co-editor of Language in Louisiana:  Community and Culture (2019) and the author of French on Shifting Ground:  Cultural and Coastal Erosion in South Louisiana (2020), both published by the University Press of Mississippi.

Katie Carmichael is Associate Professor in the Department of English at Virginia Tech. She received her PhD from The Ohio State University in 2014.  Born in New Orleans, but raised in Virginia, she has been working her way back to the Crescent City ever since.  Her research in linguistics focuses on the naturally occurring variation in the dialects of New Orleans and surrounding areas.

Adrienne Dowden, MA, is the Coordinator of Special Education and Student Support at Lake Forest Charter School and a Special Education Supervisor at ASD Educational Consulting Group.  Born and raised in New Orleans, Adrienne has worked in education in the city for over 15 years.  She specializes in reading instruction, curriculum mapping, classroom management, and special education.  She is currently completing her doctorate in Education at Xavier University of Louisiana. 

Kendall Medford, PhD candidate at Tulane University, for designing and editing this guide and putting together the PDF version of it.

Emma Kainz, PhD candidate at Tulane University, for her help in researching the demographics of New Orleans schools and the shift to an all-charter district.