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definitely feeling the computer suggestions: have them think of all of the stuff that they would like to learn about (prompt them if they don't know much about what's out there), and have them build a site (using a free provider like www.geocities.com) that includes links to the stuff that they've found.
you can also teach them how to search for different things (ie, if you need yellow pages type info or a company's official site, you can go to yahoo, or if you want to ask a question you can go to askjeeves). show them how it can be used for research, etc.
hit on the basics of computers (ie, whats a cpu, monitor, hard drive, memory, how the web works, why its important) and try to show some of the concrete ways in which being up on technology can help you make a living (the fact that in many cities there's almost ZERO percent unemployment in high tech).
POETRY POWER!!
definitely build with them creatively. have them read, recite and listen to various kinds of poetry. get a good anthology (i have some that cover everything from Dunbar to Maya Angelou). show them how language was used and debated in black poetry, and how cats like Dunbar had to gain acceptance while writing in "vernacular" - ebonics, if you will. and how Langston came and flipped it so nice that nobody could even argue that he wasn't a genius.
intersperse the old school poetry with new school - both contemporary poets like Paul Beatty and Saul Williams, and emcees. in hip hop, contrast, say a Rakim with a Too Short with a Common (by Rakim and Short I've been inspired). use sonia sanchez and amiri baraka to discuss the politics of poetry.
identify the way that skilled poets use language, alliteration, repetition, double and triple entendre, all that. have them write their own rhymes. have them write their own poems.
download some stuff from the freestyle board.
i'm kinda gettin into this. great idea. hope this post stays up or gets archived. i'm just freeing up some time this year to get more into some mentoring and this has got my wheels turning.
good luck.
peace & blessings,
x.
peace & blessings,
x.
www.twitter.com/poetx
========================================= I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and not having much to show for it. (c) mad
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