Secondary English Weekly #1
Issue One / August 23-31, 2018
WELCOME BACK!
Because I know you are in full beginning-of-the year mode, I wanted to highlight these two documents. They list and explain all of the resources available to you from CCS or Secondary Curriculum. Hope they are helpful.
- LIST OF CCS RESOURCES FOR GRADES 6-8 (ADOPTED, SUPPLEMENTAL, AND INTERVENTION)
- LIST OF CCS RESOURCES FOR GRADES 9-12 (ADOPTED, SUPPLEMENTAL, AND INTERVENTION)
Curriculum/Instructional Resources 6-8 or Curriculum/Instructional Resources 9-12
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
WHAT'S NEW?
1. SECONDARY ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS WEBPAGE
Over the summer, the CCS English Language Arts 6-12 Page was recreated due to the update in Web providers. The site can be found directly at https://www.ccsoh.us/English6-12 and can be easily accessed from any CCS Webpage by hovering over "Departments" and selecting "English Language Arts 6-12." Bookmark it as a favorite now for easy use throughout the year. Please take some time to check out the quick links to familiarize yourself with what resources can be found on each page. Here are some of those quick links for you to explore:
- Ohio's Learning Standards
- Clear Learning Targets
- ELA Strand Resources (Reading, Writing, Language, & Speaking)
- Curriculum/Instructional Resources 6-8
- Curriculum/Instructional Resources 9-12
- Text & Novel Access
- Course Descriptions
- Standardized Testing
- Google Tools & Blended Learning
- Plagiarism & Style Guides
2. OHIO'S LEARNING STANDARDS/CLEAR LEARNING TARGETS/I CAN STATEMENTS
The suite of documents that unpack Ohio's Learning Standards were updated to the 2017 Revised Standards this summer. Ohio's Learning Standards are the defacto curriculum for English Language Arts in CCS. The goal of teaching and learning is student mastery of those Standards using multiple and varied literary/informational texts, tools, and strategies. You can find these updated Standard documents at each of the following quick links on the CCS English Language Arts 6-12 Page:
- Ohio's Learning Standards
- Clear Learning Targets
- Curriculum/Instructional Resources 6-8
- Curriculum/Instructional Resources 9-12
3. NEW NOVELS IN WAREHOUSE AND ELA 6-12 CURRICULUM OFFICE
Here is a list of some of the new and newer novels that you can use to help students to practice and master Ohio's Learning Standards.
New and Newer Novels in the CCS District Warehouse
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (No Fear Shakespeare)-Grade 6
- Hello, Universe by Erin Kelly-Grade 6
- The Crossover by Kwame Alexander-Grade 7
- The Taming of the Shrew (No Fear Shakespeare)-Grade 8
- Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson-Grade 9
- Othello (No Fear Shakespeare)-Grade 10
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds-Grade 10
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett-Grade 11
- Twelfth Night (No Fear Shakespeare)-Grade 12
- Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston
- Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
- The First Rule of Punk by Celia Perez
- The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
- The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
- Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Remember, you can find all CCS novels by using TeachingBooks.net in these two ways:
- Go to https://www.teachingbooks.net, click on "Resources for My Books" on the CCS TeachingBooks HomePage, then scroll down to the Columbus City Schools Lists.
- Choose the List tab from any page on the TeachingBooks site, https://www.teachingbooks.net, and type in "Columbus."
You will find three novel lists for Columbus City Schools. Here are their direct links:
- CCS High School Curriculum-Novels in Warehouse or Pearson Textbooks Link
- CCS Middle School Curriculum-Novels in Warehouse or Pearson Textbooks Link (Have your Building Book Person get novels on these two lists from the Warehouse.)
- CCS Novels Available in the English 6-12 Curriculum Office Link (Email Carla Mae Phillips, cphillips3865@columbus.k12.oh.us, to get novels on this list.)
4. NEWER NOVEL TEACHER RESOURCES
For the past two years, CCS has been producing teacher resources for newly adopted novels using a new curricular approach the has proven very popular. These novel resources have been sought after by districts across the United States, in 36 states and counting, and in three foreign countries. Here are some other their key features:
- Single Landing Page with links to all Lessons, Texts/Paired Texts, Standards, Rubrics, etc., as the first page
- Focus on a few standards, not a laundry list of them all.
- Eight Sample Lessons that emulate Reading/Writing Workshop protocols with mini-lessons, workshops, and reflection. The first lesson takes place prior to reading the novel, lessons 2-6 happen during reading, lesson 7 culminates the mastery of Standards using the novel, and lesson 8 applies the Standards taught to new texts to ensure the standards were mastered
- Nine prompts (some used and some not used in the lessons) that focus on narrative, argumentative, and informative/explanatory writing
- Links inside lessons to Google docs of student items for easy sharing and online learning
If you have not had a chance to check out these resources or pull from their wealth of lessons and strategies, take a few minutes and check them out. They are available at these quick links (Curriculum/Instructional Resources 6-8 and Curriculum/Instructional Resources 9-12) on the ELA 6-12 Page and are linked below.
What's New for ELA from the Ohio Department of Education?
1. MODEL CURRICULUM
During last school year, ODE updated their model curriculum for each grade/grade band with newer strategies and fresh links. There are some wonderful ideas for teaching the
Standards that you may want to incorporate into your lessons. They are available at these quick links (Curriculum/Instructional Resources 6-8, Curriculum/Instructional Resources 9-12) on the ELA 6-12 Page and are linked below.
- Grade 6 ELA Model Curriculum (2018)
- Grade 7 ELA Model Curriculum (2018)
- Grade 8 ELA Model Curriculum (2018)
- Grade 9-10 ELA Model Curriculum (2018)
- Grade 11-12 ELA Model Curriculum (2018)
2. AIR ASSESSMENTS
Over the summer, several documents for Ohio's State Tests were updated to reflect the 2017 Revised Standards and a few more guidance documents for the AIR tests were created. These items are available at the Standardized Testing quick link on the ELA 6-12 Page and some are linked below, along with a few CCS documents detailing the Standards used on all released AIR questions.
- 6th Grade Test Specifications
- 6th Grade Standards Used on Released Items
- 6th Grade Item Release Spring 2018
- 7th Grade Test Specifications
- 7th Grade Standards Used on Released Items
- 7th Grade Item Release Spring 2018
- 8th Grade Test Specifications
- 8th Grade Standards Used on Released Items
- 8th Grade Item Release Spring 2018
- 9th Grade Test Specifications
- 9th Grade Standards Used on Released Items
- 9th Grade Item Release Spring 2018
- 10th Grade Test Specifications
- 10th Grade Standards Used on Released Items
- 10th Grade Item Release Spring 2018
- Grades 6-10 Released Item Standard Alignment
- ODE Argumetntation Rubric 6-12
- ODE Informational/Explanatory Rubric 6-12
READ EVERY DAY-WRITE ROUTINELY
We all know that the outdated approach to curriculum that asked our students to only produce four pieces of writing (one per quarter) never gave them enough practice to truly grow their writing. Ohio's State Standards asks students to "Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences." Therefore, in addition to reading daily, our students should be writing weekly, if not daily. Taking a reading/writing workshop approach to classroom learning is a great way to ensure students get enough time on task to practice their skills. A great protocol for reading/writing workshop is to begin with a mini-lesson that highlights a skill/Standard (e.g. how a writer builds tension) using modeling/mentor texts, then have workshop time for the students to practice that skill/Standard through reading/writing/conferencing, and end the day with reflection/sharing. A recent article in Educational Leadership "Giving Students the Right Kind of Writing Practice" talks about the need to routinely write and suggests revisiting a Standard several times with increased difficulty each time. You can check out the article HERE. You may also want to add the book referenced in the article to your professional reading list: 180 Days: Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents by Kelly Gallagher & Penny Kittle. Another book was suggested recently by one of your colleaugues to help with writing routinely: The Quickwrite Handbook-100 Mentor Texts to Jumpstart Your Student's Thinking and Writing by Linda Rief.
RETHINKING GRADING AND FEEDBACK FROM NCTE
WIN PRIZES, FIND IDEAS, GO ON OUTINGS, AND GET INVOLVED!
TEDX COLUMBUS
HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS are invited to bring up to 25 students each (with two complimentary tickets - one for the teacher and one for a chaperone) to the 10th annual TEDxColumbus 2018: On the Edge on Friday, November 16 from 9am - noon at the Davidson Theater at the Riffe Center. They have a total of 750 seats to offer and accept registrations on a first come, first serve basis. The registration link is here. The registration deadline is Friday, September 14, 2018; accepted groups will be notified on or before October 1. You may contact Kim Goldsmith, 614-507-2170, TEDxColumbus Sponsorships/Tickets, with any questions.
JACQUELINE WOODSON VISIT $10 TICKETS
Gramercy Books in Bexley presents an exclusive central Ohio evening on September 5th at 7 pm with Jacqueline Woodson, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. The event will feature the author in conversation with Ann Fisher, host and executive producer of All Sides with Ann Fisher on WOSU Public Media. The $10 general admission ticket may be applied toward the purchase of either of Woodson’s new books being published on August 28th (Harbor Me, her first middle grade book since her 2014 National Book Award–winning Brown Girl Dreaming, and The Day You Begin, a picture book) which will be available at the event to be held at Bexley High School’s Schottenstein Theatre, 326 South Cassingham Road. Get your tickets HERE.
TEACHINGBOOKS CONTESTS & GIVEAWAYS
Check out the August Contests & Giveaways on the TeachingBooks blog.
BULKBOOKSTORE $500 MONTHLY GIVEAWAY
BulkBookstore's Educators Monthly Giveaway of $500 in free books shows appreciation for teachers, librarians, and schools around the country. Click HERE to enter.
GROWTH MINDSET
If you are starting your year with a focus on growth mindset, you may want to use these CommonLit articles in your classroom. (Remember to access CommonLit through Clever for automatic rostering.)
- “Noticing Mistakes Boosts Learning” (6th Grade) by Allison Pearce Stevens
- “Lessons from Failure: Why we try, try again” (7th Grade) by Bethany Brookshire
- “The Best Way to Deal with Failure” (8th Grade) by Selin Malkoc
- “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance” (8th Grade) by Angela Lee Duckworth
- “Want to Go to College? Learn to Fail” (9th Grade) by Angel B. Perez
- “New Math: Fail + Try Again = Real Learning” (10th Grade) by Susan Moran
- “Let’s Teach for Mastery, Not Test Scores” (10th Grade) by Sal Khan
FREE AYN RAND NOVELS
The Free Books to Teachers program supplies free classroom sets of Ayn Rand’s bestselling novels to teachers who commit to teaching them in their classrooms. Since 2002, Ayn Rand Institute has distributed over four million novels, and nearly 50,000 teachers have used them as part of the curriculum.
Carla Mae Phillips
Email: cphillips3865@columbus.k12.oh.us
Website: https://www.ccsoh.us/English6-12
Phone: (614) 365-8386
Tim Wangler
Email: twangler8446@columbus.k12.oh.us
Website: https://www.ccsoh.us/English6-12
Phone: (614) 365-8386