Seventh and 8th grade English-learners in selected urban schools will soon dive into some of the most celebrated speeches in U.S. history. They'll dissect, for example, Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream," and Robert F. Kennedy's "On the Death of Martin Luther King." Though their English-language skills are still developing, the students will read the original texts, not watered-down versions. This brand-new English/language arts unit on the use of persuasion was designed to show how reading complex, informational texts and writing arguments--a key requirement in the new common-core standards--can be used with English-learners to deepen their learning of content and concepts as well as language. Called "Persuasion Across Time and Space," the five-lesson unit is meant for middle school students with at least an intermediate level of English-language proficiency. It will be piloted in the coming weeks in classrooms in Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago and Denver.