Teach Like Ced¿: Cultural Sentence Strips Literacy Framework is a research-aligned, classroom-tested guide designed to transform how educators teach literacy through structure, voice, and cultural intelligence. Created by internationally recognized educator and curriculum designer Cedric A. Washington, this framework addresses one of the most persistent challenges in education: students who can decode text but struggle to think clearly, write effectively, and articulate ideas with confidence. Rather than relying on worksheets, test prep, or surface-level strategies, Teach Like Ced¿ provides educators with a clear, repeatable instructional system that builds literacy mastery intentionally-one sentence at a time. At the core of the framework is a powerful progression-Sentence ¿ Paragraph ¿ Essay-paired with a predictable Monday-Friday instructional flow that reduces cognitive overload, increases student confidence, and ensures consistent growth across classrooms. By treating writing as the engine of literacy, the framework strengthens reading comprehension, oral language, and critical thinking simultaneously. Teach Like Ced¿ uniquely integrates culture as pedagogy, honoring students' language patterns, oral traditions, and lived experiences as instructional assets-without controversy or lowered expectations. Students are explicitly taught how to translate their thinking into academic language, developing clarity, ownership, and intellectual agency.

The book also introduces the SELF¿ (Social Empowerment Learning Framework), which moves beyond traditional SEL by embedding identity, self-governance, aspiration, and communication skills directly into daily literacy instruction. Assessment, differentiation, and intervention are approached with rigor and humanity-supporting access to grade-level standards without reducing intellectual demand. Designed for classroom teachers, literacy coaches, school leaders, tutors, and teacher preparation programs, Teach Like Ced¿: Cultural Sentence Strips Literacy Framework serves as both a professional handbook and an implementation blueprint. With clear explanations, practical models, research alignment, standards crosswalks, and sample lesson walkthroughs, this text equips educators to teach literacy with precision, integrity, and lasting impact. This is not a trend. It is a framework built for sustainability, equity, and legacy.