Secondary English Weekly #18
Issue Eighteen / January 14-18, 2019
REGISTER NOW FOR THE 2019 CCS DISTRICT POETRY SLAM AND POETRY SLAM RETREAT!
The 2019 CCS District Poetry Slam will be held on Saturday, April 13, 5-9p.m. at Eastmoor Academy High School. Download and Complete this POETRY SLAM REGISTRATION to get your school into the competition! Schools do not have to have a full team in order to compete.
Middle School Poetry Slam Rules
1. Each middle school may bring a total of eight (8) poets.
2. Each middle school will have four slots or times to perform (four individual and/or group poems total).
3. The same rules apply as in the high school slam:
a. No props, costumes, instruments, or music.
b. There is a three minute time limit with a ten second grace period.
4. No poet may perform in more than two poems (for instance, a poet may perform one individual poem and one group poem, or in two group poems).
5. Group poems may not have more than six (6) poets on stage at once.
6. Poets may bring their typed poem up on stage (there will be a music stand).
7. Poems must be school appropriate.
High School Poetry Slam Rules
1. Each high school may bring a total of six (6) poets.
2. Each high school will have four individual slots or times to perform (four poems total—one per poet).
3. The same rules apply as in the middle school slam:
a. No props, costumes, instruments, or music.
b. There is a three minute time limit with a ten second grace period.
4. Poets may bring their typed poem up on stage (there will be a music stand).
5. Poems must be school appropriate.
Optional High School Group Poetry Rules
There will be an optional group poem competition for the high school slam. Group poems follow the same rules as above, but schools may only have up to six poets on stage. The high school group poems will be performed prior to intermission.
Judging
There are five judges who will score the poems on a scale of 0-10 (out to one decimal point). The scores are not shown to the audience (which is different than a traditional slam).
Trophies and Medals will be awarded for each of the following:
“Sandy Cox” Memorial Trophy-Winning High School Team
CCS Middle School Trophy-Winning Middle School Team
Medals-Top Three Middle and High School Teams
Medals-Top Three Middle and High School Poets
Medals-Top High School Group Poem
Deadline to Register is March 8th. After the March 8th deadline, we will open up the slam to other districts in central Ohio. Please your registration and $25 entry fee to Slam Coordinator Wyk McGowan at Eastmoor Academy and Contact him with any questions. 614.804.5535 or wmcgowan8259@columbus.k12.oh.us.
Poetry Slam Retreat to Spruce Run: Secondary English Curriculum is planning a poetry slam team-building and writing field trip to Spruce Run on February 28th. Please complete this Spruce Run Google Form on your registration if you and your team are interested in going on this field trip so that we may get the buses ordered asap. If your team is not fully formed by the date of the retreat, know that you are still welcome to attend with potential team members.
ELA MIDDLE SCHOOL CURRICULUM LIAISONS-First Meeting THIS TUESDAY, JANUARY 15th
If you have been selected as the ELA Middle School Curriculum Liaison for your school, you should have received an email with details about our first meeting on Tuesday, January 15th. The meeting will take place from 4-6pm in Room 825 at the 3700 South High Street building. There are still a few schools who have not confirmed a liaison for ELA. If your school is on that list (see below), please have your Principals or Principal Designee use the form below to review or add the name of your school’s selected Curriculum Liaison. https://tinyurl.com/2019CurriculumLiaisons
SCHOOLS WHO NEED LIAISON CONFIRMATION
-Columbus Africentric Middle School
-Fairwood
-Hamilton STEM
-Livingston
-South
TIME TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT FOR TWO LITERARY CONFERENCES HAPPENING IN CENTRAL OHIO
OCTELA CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION is open for OCTELA 2019 which will be held at the Worthington Doubletree Hotel on March 1-2, 2019. Keynote speakers will include Dr. Alfred W. Tatum (Professor/Author/Host of African American Adolescent Male Summer Literacy Institute), Marc Tyler Nobleman (Author), Love, Teach (Teacher/Blogger), and Dave Stuart, Jr. (Teacher/Blogger/Author). The theme this year is Lighting the Fire: Inspiring Creativity in Teaching and Learning. OCTELA Conference Website
DUBLIN LITERACY CONFERENCE
REGISTRATION is open for the 2019 Dublin Literacy Conference which will be held at Dublin Coffman High School on February 23rd from 7:30am-4:40pm. The theme this year is 30 Years: Celebrating Our Stories. Keynote speakers will include Pam Allyn (Scholastic Education), Jason Reynolds* (Author), Bill Bass (ITSE Board of Directors), Hena Khan (Author), and Katherine Sokolowski (Teacher/Podcaster). Dublin Conference Brochure Dublin Conference Website
*See Author Visits section (below) for another chance to see Jason Reynolds in central Ohio.
AUTHOR VISITS
Wil Haygood kicks off the 2019 Carnegie Author Series at the Columbus Metropolitan Library on Sunday, Jan. 27. The Columbus-born author of such books as The Butler: A Witness to History and Tigerland will speak in Main Library’s Reading Room at 2 p.m. and then sign copies of his books. Tigerland: 1968-1969: A City Divided, a Nation Torn Apart, and a Magical Season of Healing is the story of Columbus' own East High School Tigers, who won baseball and basketball state championships in the midst of the racial turbulence and segregation of the late 1960s and inspired a community. Register here.
—NOTE: Other wonderful authors will be part of the Carnegie Author Series this year. You may want to save the dates to register for Paula McLain (The Paris Wife) on February 4th (appearance on March 19th) and Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing) on August 19th (appearance on September 22nd). There are copies of Sing, Unburied, Sing in the ELA Curriculum Office. Consider a read and author visit combo:) You can access all Carnegie Author Series Registrations here.
Westerville Public Library is bringing Jason Reynolds to their Meet the Author Series at Westerville Central High School Auditorium (7118 Mount Royal Avenue, Westerville, OH 43082) on February 21, 2019 at 7pm. Doors open at 6pm. Book signing at 8pm. Tickets cost $10 for general seating and $5 per student (discount code: student126). Rows will be released from front to back for the book signing. Jason Reynolds is a graduate of the University of Maryland who now lives in Brooklyn. He is the mastermind behind these bestselling and award-winning titles: A Long Way Down, When I Was the Greatest, All American Boys, Ghost, Miles Morales: Spider-Man and more. He is a New York Times bestselling author, a Newbery Award Honoree, a Printz Award Honoree, National Book Award Honoree, a Kirkus Award winner, a two time Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. Reserve Tickets HERE. Do it now, they are going fast!!
Cover to Cover Bookstore is bringing New York Times Bestselling author Kwame Alexander to Upper Arlington Public Library on Monday, April 8, 2019 from 6:30-8:30pm! Kwame is a poet, educator, and the New York Times Bestselling author of 28 books, including Swing, Solo, and Rebound, the follow-up to his, Newberry medal-winning middle grade novel, The Crossover. Some of his other works include Booked, a National Book Award Nominee, The Playbook: 52 Rules to Help You Aim, Shoot, and Score in This Game of Life, and the picture books, Out of Wonder, Surf's Up, and The Undefeated. Kwame is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Coretta Scott King Author Honor, The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Prize, Three NAACP Image Award Nominations, the 2017 Inaugural Pat Conroy Legacy Award, and the 2018 NEA Read Across America Ambassador. He believes that poetry can change the world, and he uses it to inspire and empower young people around the world through THE WRITE THING, his K-12 Writing Workshop. Online registration is required for this event and will begin in late March on the UAPL Website or the Upper Arlington Facebook Event Page. This event will be held in the main library's atrium, which accommodates approximately 200 guests.
Grandview Heights Public Library Foundation and Gramercy Books Bexley will welcome Celeste Ng to the Grandview Heights High School Auditorium on May 13th at 7pm. Celeste is the author of two novels, Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere. Her first novel, Everything I Never Told You (2014), was a New York Times bestseller, a New York Times Notable Book of 2014, Amazon’s #1 Best Book of 2014, and named a best book of the year by over a dozen publications. Celeste's second novel, Little Fires Everywhere, was published by Penguin Press in September 2017 and is a New York Times bestseller, Amazon's #2 best book and best fiction book of 2017, and was named a best book of the year by over 25 publications. It was also the winner of the Goodreads Readers Choice Award 2017 in Fiction. Little Fires Everywhere is being made into a miniseries on Hulu starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. The link to get tickets will be added soon on the Foundation Website.
Gramercy Books Bexley will host several authors at it's 2424 E. Main Street, Bexley, OH 43209 location in the next few months. You can find the complete list and ticket registrations here: Gramercy Book Events. Of special interest are each of the following:
--Feb. 6th at 7pm-Join veteran, teacher, historian and author Sandra Bolzenius as she discusses her book, Glory in Their Spirit, and learn about how four black women risked their careers and freedom to defy the United States Army over segregation during World War II. A Black History Month special event not to be missed!
--Feb. 21st at 7pm: Join award-winning investigative journalist Kyle Swenson in a conversation with Federal Judge Algenon Marbley featuring Swenson’s book, Good Kids, Bad City: A Story of Race and Wrongful Conviction in America, the true story of the longest wrongful imprisonment in the United States to end in exoneration. The book is also a critical social and political history of Cleveland, the city that convicted three African-American youth more than four decades ago. Swenson is a reporter for The Washington Post. A finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists, he is also the recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award for Feature Reporting. A Black History Month special event not to be missed.
--March 27th at 7pm: Join award-winning poets Sandy Feen and Rikki Santer read from their latest collections. Feen’s Fragile Capacities: School Poems, highlights her 32-year teaching career in an urban school system. Santer’s Dodge, Tuck, Roll is filled with poems that slow us down and speed us up with puns, formal patterns, keen insights, and striking images. Both authors are former CCS teachers!
NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN READ-IN
The National African American Read-In is the nation’s first and oldest event dedicated to diversity in literature. It was established in 1990 by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month. This initiative has reached more than 6 million participants around the world.
Consider hosting an event for the 2019 African American Read-In during the month of February. It is easy. You just pick works by African Americans and read them. Think about including students, faculty, parents, community members, etc. Be sure to get it counted! After your event, submit the 2019 Participation Form by March 15, 2019. To learn more, go to http://www2.ncte.org/get-involved/african-american-read-in/.
1. CAPA INVITES STUDENTS AND ADULTS TO PARTICIPATE IN FIRST-EVER POETRY SLAM COMPETITION FOR HAMILTON TICKETS
The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA), in partnership with The Columbus Foundation, is hosting a Poetry Slam competition for both experienced and amateur poets. The Poetry Slam will be held at 7 pm on Wednesday, January 23, at Fort Hayes Metropolitan Education Center Auditorium (546 Jack Gibbs Blvd.). Those interested in competing must attend one of four free spoken word workshops, and then write and present an original poem inspired by themes from the Broadway musical HAMILTON at the Poetry Slam. There is only one workshop left: Wednesday, January 16, 7 pm - 9 pm, Lincoln Theatre (769 E. Long St.). The top two poets-one in the youth category (18 and under) and one in the adult category (19 and older)-will each be awarded two tickets to the Columbus engagement of HAMILTON on Wednesday, February 6, 2019, 7:30 pm, at the Ohio Theatre. Tickets are non-transferable and must be picked up at Will Call with a photo ID on the day of the performance starting at 5:30 pm. THIS IS A FABULOUS WAY TO ENGAGE YOUR STUDENTS TO BUILD YOUR TEAMS FOR THE 2019 CCS POETRY SLAM (see above)!!
Some Specifics
-Workshop participants will experiment with poetic techniques, draft theme-inspired spoken word poems drawn from personal experiences, and share works-in-progress for constructive critique. No previous poetry or spoken word experience is necessary, but registration is required for the workshops.At the slam, workshop participants will perform their completed poems for community attendees and a panel of judges. Poems must be written and presented by the workshop participant only and include Hamilton-inspired themes such as overcoming obstacles, being an agent of positive change, and/or creating a legacy. After attending a workshop, those who wish to compete in the Poetry Slam must register at https://www.capa.com/home/hamilton-spoken-word/.
2. TIME TO REGISTER YOUR HIGH SCHOOL FOR POETRY OUT LOUD
The registration for the Poetry Out Loud National Recitation Contest is OPEN NOW. Go to
oac.ohio.gov/poetryoutloud for more information and to register.
A student workshop will be held on Tuesday, January 29th from 4:30-6:30pm at Wild Goose Creative to help teachers organize Poetry Out Loud in their schools.
Poetry Out Loud encourages students to learn about great poetry through memorization and recitation. This program helps students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history and contemporary life. Poetry Out Loud uses a pyramid structure that starts at the classroom level. Winners advance to a school-wide competition, then to a regional and/or state competition, and ultimately to the National Finals. Each winner at the state level receives $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip with an adult chaperone to Washington, DC, to compete for the national championship. The state winner's school receives $500 for the purchase of poetry books. The first runner-up in each state receives $100, with $200 for his or her school. A total of $50,000 in awards and school stipends is awarded annually at the National Finals.To remind yourself of the scope of the contest, get information on the national program at poetryoutloud.org.
3. THURBER HOUSE YOUNG WRITERS' STUDIO FOR GRADES 9-12 ON WEDNESDAYS 1/22; 2/5, 2/19; 3/5, 3/19; 4/2, 4/16, 4/30 FROM 6:30-8:30PM ($15 PER SESSION*)
Register at http://www.thurberhouse.org/young-writers-studio/.
Encourage your students to join other high school students from across the city for a brand new year of writing! If your students love crafting characters, settings, and conflict--not to mention throwing in a few well-placed plot twists—have them check out Young Writers' Studio starting on January 8th! They meet every other week for two hours with author and English professor, Robert Loss. They'll kick off the first hour with quality writing prompts and activities. Then, after a break for provided snacks (of course!), they'll wrap up the last hour with the chance to workshop pieces that you or others bring in. It's a safe, low-key, fun opportunity to enjoy writing and meet others!
*Scholarships are available by contacting Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org.
Did You Know That You Have Access to 20 Small Group Discussion Protocols on the CCS ELA 6-12 Webpage?
You can find the document on the ELA 6-12 Webpage by clicking on the ELA Strand Resources Quick Link. The resources is in the Speaking & Listening Strand lists and give face to face and online options.
STANDARDIZED TEST PREP LESSONS FOR AIR SUCCESS USING THE READ METHOD
THIS WEEK'S LESSON: January 17, 2019 (Introductions 2)
-If you have missed any of the lessons released thus far from September and October, they are available below and on the ELA 6-12 Webpage, at the "Thursday Standardized Test Prep" Quick Link. These lessons are based upon the CCS 2018 AIR Data Report and its recommended actions simplified in the READ Method for AIR Preparation.
- September 20, 2018 (Complex Text/Text Annotation)
- September 27, 2018 (Complex Text/Word Pyramid & Question Quads)
- October 4, 2018 (Analyzing Questions)
- October 11, 2018 (Analyzing Answers)
- October 18, 2018 (Writing Guide Acronym)
- October 25, 2018 (Passage and Prompt Analysis)
- November 1, 2018 (Finding Evidence)
- November 8, 2018 (Finding Evidence 2)
- November 15, 2018 (Finding Evidence 3)
- November 29, 2018 (Finding Evidence 4)
- December 6, 2018 (Identifying Transitions)
- December 13, 2018 (Adding Transitions)
- December 20, 2018 (Using Transitions)
- January 10, 2019 (Introductions 1)
USE THIS LIST TO GUIDE WHAT YOU DO IN THE CLASSROOM
1-Make close reading of text central to lesson.
2-Structure majority of instruction so all students read grade-level complex texts.
3-Emphasize informational texts from early grades through graduation.
4-Provide scaffolding that does not preempt or replace text.
5-Ask text-dependent questions.
6-Provide extensive research and writing opportunities (claims and evidence).
7-Offer regular opportunities for students to share ideas, evidence, and research.
8-Offer systematic instruction in vocabulary.
9-Provide explicit instruction in grammar and conventions.
10-Cultivate students’ independence
RECENT ARTICLES/BLOGS/UPDATES FOR YOUR PERUSAL
TEACHER CONTESTS AND PD OPPORTUNITIES
FINAL WEEK TO APPLY TO BE ON AN ODE COMMITTEE FOR OHIO'S STATE TESTS
If you are interested in participating on one of the assessment stakeholder committees (Content Advisory Committee,Rubric Validation Committee,Fairness and Sensitivity Committee), you may complete the Stakeholder Committee Nomination Form. Applicants are asked to describe their experience in education, including expertise with Ohio’s Learning Standards in English Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. Please be sure to to identify grade level and content area assignment preferences. Applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. EST on Friday, Jan. 18. Applicants selected to participate will be notified by the Department once there is an opening for their preferred grade level/content assessment committee. Please be sure to include an active email address for notifications. Information about these committees and test development information can be found on the Department’s Assessment Committees webpage.
TEACHINGBOOKS WEBINARS
Register Today! Ready to learn more about TeachingBooks? These webinars offer options for new and experienced users. Sign up for specific sessions or the entire series!
Mark your calendar for the first one, Tuesday, January 15th. If you can’t join a webinar on its particular date and time, sign up and we will send you the recording.
LUCY CALKINS UNITS OF STUDY OFFICE HOURS
TCRWP Office Hours will return on January 17! Sign up now for next week's session: January 17, 2019; Time: 4:00 pm–5:00 pm (Eastern Time)
SIGN-UP NOW! For those who are new to Office Hours, we encourage you to register and then log in on the 17th. During each session 10–12 educators are called on to speak directly to Lucy and receive her help and advice. Be sure to set up your webcam and bring your most challenging reading and writing workshop questions! EACH MIDDLE SCHOOL HAS ACCESS TO LUCY CALKINS WRITING UNITS OF STUDY.
NCTE CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Next fall, the NCTE Conference will be held in Baltimore, MD from November 21-24th.The theme is Spirited Inquiry and they want YOU to present. NCTE invites you to inquire together, dare to wonder, and to be bold and creative in your curiosity. They want educators to reawaken their own spirit of inquiry as teachers, leaders, writers, readers, and thinkers.
Submitting Proposals
- Use this online form to submit your proposal.
- The NCTE online proposal system will close at 1:00 p.m. EST, Wednesday, January 16, 2019.
- For more information about proposal specifics, please click here.
- Find answers to frequently asked questions related to proposals here.
TEACHINGBOOKS BLOG JANUARY CONTESTS GIVEAWAYS
LOOKING FOR PREVIOUS ISSUES OF THE NEWSLETTER?
December 17-Winter Break-Issue Sixteen
Carla Mae Phillips
Email: cphillips3865@columbus.k12.oh.us
Website: https://www.ccsoh.us/English6-12
Location: 3700 South High Street, Columbus, OH, USA
Phone: (380) 997-0463
Tim Wangler
Email: twangler8446@columbus.k12.oh.us
Website: https://www.ccsoh.us/English6-12
Location: 3700 South High Street, Columbus, OH, USA
Phone: (380) 997-0462