• Course #56848 English 6-12, March 8, 2023 PD Day: Strategies, Texts, and Pedagogy

This will be a very special PD Day because CCS Teachers will be leading most of the sessions. Come and learn some before reading, during, and after reading strategies for the English 6-12 classroom that lead to standard mastery and address components of the CCS Literacy Plan. Spend some time exploring the newest literary releases that could be used in the classroom with the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Get your colleagues' perspectives on two newer pedagogical books as they highlight their contents. If you have a burning question about StudySync or Canvas, you will have a chance to chat with an expert. Also, there will be giveaways and raffles! SEE THE AGENDA BELOW!

Nicole Brickman

• Presenter: Using Voice and Choice to Encourage Self-Management in the ELA Classroom

Darla Jackson

• OCTELA Executive Board
• Exhibitor Liaison

Courtney Johnson

• OCTELA Executive Board
• Intellectual Freedom (Censorship) Chair
• Presenter: Shakespeare Is Relevant: Centering Students' Lives Using Drama-based Pedagogy and Multigenre Response
• Presenter: Sending Out and SOS: Creating Networks of Solidarity and Support in Challenging Times

Pattie Niese

• OCTELA Executive Board
• Middle School Liaison
• Buckeye Children and Teen Book Award Liaison
• NCTE Achievement Award Liaison
• Presenter: Choice Reading; Making It Work in the Secondary Classroom

Carla Mae Phillips

• Outstanding English Language Arts Educator Award: Special Distinction Category (See Award Recognition Page HERE.)

Allison Volz

• OCTELA Executive Board
• Past President & Board of Trustees Member
• Bonnie Chambers Grant Liaison

CCS is sponsoring a Mock StudySync Media Contest in the month of February so that your students can practice for the national StudySync Media Contest (detailed in the StudySync Section of the Newsletter). The Deadline to Enter the CCS Mock StudySync Media Contest is February 28th. After doing the in-house Mock StudySync Media Contest, students will be primed to create something original for StudySync's Media Contest, which has a May deadline. Since this MOCK contest is brief, each student should only send in an entry for one of the three categories. SEE THE FULL DETAILS AND ENTRY INFORMATION FOR THE MOCK STUDYSYNC MEDIA CONTEST HERE.

Here is a toolkit to prepare you and your classes to be part of the National African American Read-In (AARI): African American Read-In Toolkit - National Council of Teachers of English - NCTE. Join in on the African American Read-In by following these three steps:

1. Select Readings: Choose books, speeches, or poems written by African Americans.
   
2. Plan and Host Your Event in February: Read-Ins can happen anywhere from homes to libraries to schools to community centers and beyond, and they can be as simple as bringing together friends to share a book or as elaborate as arranging public readings and media presentations.
   
3. Submit a Host Report Card: Host Reports Cards are used to track the total number of readers and events nationwide each year. This information is compiled in an annual report card. Submit your report card online by March 15, 2023.

Think about doing a Read-In in each class, at the building level, or even invite parents/community members to participate. Have fun celebrating African American authors. StudySync contains over 200 texts by African American authors and you can do a quick library search using the filter feature to find them.

Spread the word: The application is open for the Princeton Summer Journalism Program! The Princeton Summer Journalism Program (PSJP) offers a year-long, tuition-free college counseling program for high-achieving high school juniors from low-income backgrounds who are interested in journalism. For the summer of 2023, participants will enjoy a multi-week summer journalism intensive, which will end with 10 fully-funded days at Princeton University. Students learn about inquiry and truth in reporting through workshops taught by Princeton University professors and professional journalists. The summer institute culminates in the publication of the student-produced newspaper, The Princeton Summer Journal. Students apply through three rounds of consideration during their junior year and begin participation the following summer. During their senior year, students work closely with a volunteer college counselor to complete the college admissions process.

Covers all programmatic costs, including housing, travel, meals, and supplies.

The application is now open and will be due Monday, Feb 27, 2023. Please do spread the word to students and educators in the meantime. You can register for a public information session, attend an educator's "coffee hour", request a virtual school visit, or refer a student via this website. Refer a student HERE!

• Personalized College Counseling PSJP participants work directly with a professional journalist or program alum to complete their college applications. Check out our Outcomes page to see some of the colleges to which alumini have matriculated.
• Dynamic Activities During the summer intensive, students tour news outlets, report and write stories for our student newspaper, and hold a press conference, among other activities. Review sample schedules online.

High School students can be Buckeyes this summer. Applications are open for The Ohio State University’s new Buckeye Precollege Summer Institutes. Open to current 9th, 10th and 11th graders, Buckeye Precollege Summer Institutes offer students the opportunity to participate in an academic program designed to give them a taste of college life and prepare them for the road ahead. Buckeye Precollege Summer Institutes will offer two sessions, each lasting two weeks: June 5 - 16 and June 19 - 30. The summer 2023 course offerings cover a range of topics, from philosophy to quantum mechanics, creative nonfiction writing to bioscience, and more. Participants will be selected through a competitive application process and placed in a course that best fits their interests and academic readiness. The application deadline is March 1, 2023.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis after March 15 while seats are available. A limited number of need-based scholarships are available, and applicants seeking need-based scholarships are encouraged to apply early, as funds will be awarded on a rolling basis. CHECK OUT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUCKEYE PRECOLLEGE PROGRAM AND HOW TO APPLY HERE.

GET YOUR COSTUMES READY!! The Department of Communications Wants to Record Your Students Bringing Literature to Life for our CCS Channels!

Are your students rewriting and acting out scenes? Will you be acting out part of a drama with costumes? Do you have a special dress-like- a-character day for works of literature? If so, use this link https://tinyurl.com/Lit2Life to contact Christopher Croft in Communications to have your students recorded for social and broadcast media.

LET'S ENTER AND WIN StudySync’s 10th Annual Media Contest!! SEE THE LINK FOR ALL OF THE DETAILS.

Students can express their creativity, collaborate with peers, and strengthen their writing, speaking and listening, and presentation skills. Contest entries also make great stations. Give students voice and choice with station rotations that allow them to draft original StudySyncTV scripts, record podcasts or videos, draw book posters or create their own graphic novels. Search ‘contest’ in the Help Center to find contest best practices and steps to get started. All entries must include only original artwork, content, or audio. Entries are due on or before May 1st, 2023. See rules for details. Have questions about the contest or entries? Contact MySyncTV@studysync.com.

• 3 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE TEST PREP Effective Test Preparation for StudySync Classrooms: Test preparation can be a dreaded subject among teachers and students, but getting kids ready for summative assessments doesn’t have to be tiresome. These tips can help!
• Connecting Literature to Life See how educator Dennis Pierce uses StudySync in the classroom and connects literature to current events in his students' lives.
• Reading and Literacy Podcast: Dr. Catlin Tucker invites Dr. Tim Shanahan, educator, researcher, and education policy-maker focused on literacy education, to discuss literacy across all subjects, student agency, and finding balance in education.

Do you want to learn more about providing automatic support to help your students complete rigorous grade-level assignments? Check out this Easy Digital Differentiation blog and overview video about using StudySync’s digital scaffolds and automated differentiation for ANY student!

Read about how ESL and Special Education teacher Megan Collopy brings learning to life. Megan shares how she uses StudySync videos and media to engage her students and make reading fun in this blog.

-Here is the PAGE FOR ALL UPCOMING STUDYSYNC WEBINAR DATES.

Below are the StudySync webinar offerings for the month. If you register and cannot attend, you will be sent a recording. StudySync is the core Tier 1 Resources for Secondary English. The CORE ELA Units are used in English 6-12. Items from the StudySync Library are used in all alternative English courses (Humanities Language Arts 8, Humanities English 9 & 10, African American Literature, Major British Writers Seminar, Shakespeare's Literature, and Women's Literature) and many of the elective courses (e.g., Essay Writing 6, 7, and 8).

Tuesday, February 28, 2023

• StudySync: 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM Explore the Power of WritePrecise Register Now

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

• StudySync: 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM What's New in StudySync Register Now

Thursday, March 2, 2023

• StudySync: 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM Classroom Rebound: Making Learning Leaps Register Now

Monday,March 6, 2023

• StudySync: 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM From Tweets to Tomes: How Students Write in StudySync Register Now

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

• StudySync: 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM Project-Based Learning Opportunities in StudySync Register Now

Thursday, March 9, 2023

• StudySync: 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM Keep Calm & Observe On: Supporting Classroom Evaluation for Administrators Register Now

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

• StudySync: 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM Independent Reading Program for Students Register Now

Thursday, March 16, 2023

• StudySync: 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM Stretch Goals: Differentiate Instruction for Advanced and Pre-AP Students Register Now

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

• StudySync: 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM Customize and Create Assessments to Fit Your Classroom Needs Register Now

Thursday, March 23, 2023

• StudySync: 4:00 PM - 4:30 PM How to Create Reports and Respond to Data in StudySync Register Now

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

• StudySync: 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM Diversity and Representation in the StudySync Library Register Now

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

• StudySync: 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM Vocabulary Best Practices Register Now

Thursday, March 30, 2023

• StudySync: 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM Spotlight Skills: Build a Solid Foundation in Any Standard Register Now

The video above gives you an overview for Secondary English Curriculum. Use the Quick Links on the landing page of the ELA 6-12 Webpage for easy navigation to English Curriculum items (Curriculum/Instructional Resources 6-8 Quick Link; Curriculum/Instructional Resources 9-12 Quick Link). To access many curricular and district items, you must be logged into Google using your CCS credentials and not a personal account.

Curriculum Maps & Folders:

• Middle School Curriculum Google Doc
• High School Curriculum Google Doc

Adopted Curriculum Resources:

You can see all courses with core resources for English 6-12 in the items linked below:

• Course Resource Spreadsheet with Visuals and
• CCS Adopted, Supplemental, and Intervention Resources List.

The TIER 1 Instructional Resources

• StudySync: English 6-12, Alternate English courses, and some Electives
• StudySync Info Page (access, tutorials, trainings, and more)
• Bedford Texts/Launchpad: Honors and AP English
• Bedford/Launchpad Info Page (access, tutorials, trainings, and more)
• Some Elective Courses will have single resource adoptions.

• Achieve3000 (6-9) The contact person for this resource is Sonja Dill.
• Achieve3000 Info Page (access, tutorials, trainings, and more)
  
• Progress to Success (9-12) You can request copies by emailing Carla Mae Phillips.
• Core Enrichment (6-8) This course can be used for Tiers II/III Intervention.
• College/Career Ready Literacy (6-12) This course can be used for Tiers II/III Intervention.

• TeachingBooks is the where the lists of novels available for teacher use from the warehouse, the curriculum office, in StudySync, and in Course Folders, are found.
• TeachingBooks Info Page (access, tutorials, trainings, and more)

Secondary Literacy Plan

• The CCS Secondary Literacy Plan provides teaching strategies/PD (how to teach) that can be used with the texts/lessons from your adopted resources (what to teach) to address these components of the plan: Academic Language, Reading Comprehension, Writing Competency, and Classroom Discussion. It is rooted in Ohio’s Plan to Raise Literacy Achievement and guided by the Adolescent Simple View of Reading. The plan spans from intermediate literacy that crosses curricular areas to disciplinary literacy that reflects the demands of specific disciplines while allowing for individualized intensive interventions, as needed. Inherent in the plan is that students are reading, writing, and discussing every day in classrooms.
• CCS Secondary Literacy Plan Info Page

---

JANUARY 17TH PD DAY

• Secondary English PD Page Recordings

NEW TEACHERS: If you are new to teaching a secondary English course and did not attend the new teacher orientation sessions, here are some links for you to the items you may have missed.

• New Teacher Orientation Folder (Secondary English)
• Recording: Getting to Know Your Secondary English Resources
• Recording: StudySync for New Users

• English 6-12 Tiered Resources Crosswalk for I-Ready Domain Results

SEE THIS SHEET TO REGISTER FOR ANY OF THE UPCOMING PDS for ACHIEVE3000.

Tuesday, February 28 2:45-3:15PM Teachers and Instructional Staff

Learning Outcomes

▪ Exploring teacher materials and resources that aid in purposeful instructional planning

▪ Exploring student toolbars and features which aid in close reading

Learn about using the Teacher Data Center to monitor student progress HERE.

▪ How can I use the Teacher Data Center to monitor student progress?

▪ How can I best support my students with using the scaffolds and supports available within Achieve3000?

Ohio Teacher of the Year nominations are open.More than an award, the Ohio Teacher of the Year program offers a way to elevate the teaching profession. The nomination period for the 2024 Ohio Teacher of the Year is open through March 31.

Celebrate Ohio’s exceptional educators. Nominate an educator in your community today! Ohio’s educators make a difference in their students’ lives every day. From classroom teachers to paraeducators, professors, bus drivers, school secretaries, custodians, and more, Ohio’s public school employees have dedicated their lives to serving our kids and making our schools great.m Join the Ohio Education Association in recognizing our Education Champions across the state. Use this Nomination Form to nominate a special educator.

Words, Words, Words, the Folger Shakespeare Library Book Club, is pleased to announce the next book discussion – A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein on Thursday, March 2 at 6:30pm (ET). Participation is free. Click here (register for the discussion) to reserve your spot.

All discussions will be held in Zoom and discussion questions, supplemental materials, and suggestions for sips and snacks will be shared in advance. A Tip for the Hangman is an Elizabethan espionage thriller in which playwright Christopher Marlowe spies on Mary, Queen of Scots while navigating the perils of politics, theater, romance—and murder. Pairing modern language with period detail, Allison Epstein brings Elizabeth's lavish court, Marlowe's colorful theater troupe, and the squalor of sixteenth-century London to vivid, teeming life. At the center of the action is Kit himself—an irrepressible, irreverent force of nature.

THURBER HOUSE SPRING AUTHOR EVENTS

• 3/14: Jennifer Egan—The Candy House

• 3/28: David Wright Faladé—Black Cloud Rising

• 4/12: Dr. Genevieve West—You Don't Know Us Negroes and Other Essays

• 4/25: Laurie Notaro—Excuse Me While I Disappear
• 5/3 Alexandra Petri—U.S. History: Important American Documents (I Made Up)

• 5/23: Mia Mercado—She's Nice Though
  

Register for any of these author events here.

CORWIN PD

Free Opportunities (Check out the entire FREE Corwin Spring 2023 Webinar Lineup HERE.)

UPCOMING AUTHOR EVENTS

• COLUMBUS METROPOLITAN LIBRARY Sesquicentennial Author Series The Columbus Metropolitan Library Carnegie Author Series has a new name for 2023, celebrating Columbus Metropolitan Library’s 150 years of bringing joy to readers. It is the Sesquicentennial Author Series. Here are some of the authors visiting in 2023: Leonard S. Marcus, Donte Woods-Spikes, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Saeed Jones, and Jason Mott. Check out the lineup HERE.

SOMETHING NEW THIS SUMMER: COLUMBUS BOOK FESTIVAL

The Columbus Book Festival will happen July 15-16 in the heart of the city’s downtown Discovery District. The two-day event featuring national and local authors, exhibitors, entertainment and more will showcase Columbus Metropolitan Library’s historic Main Library, the adjacent Kaufman Plaza and Topiary Garden Park. Call for authors, exhibitors and entertainers is now open! Get Involved/Learn More; About the Event Here.

GIVEAWAYS

• TeachingBooks February Contests & Giveaways
• Bulk Bookstore Discounts & Contests (People really do win: I won a $150 shopping spree from the November drawing:)
• We Are Teachers Contests & Giveaways

General Information

It's never too early to begin forming your CCS Poetry Slam teams. This year, there will be a chance to attend two field trips to Spruce Run with your team (December 8 and February 28) to prepare for the District Slam which will happen on April 29th at Eastmoor Academy (5-9pm). Think about having some school slams to form your team and/or having writing gatherings for interested students.

• SLAM INFO/REGISTRATION

• $25 registration fee

• MS (8 poets), 4 slots: individual or group (2 to 6)

• HS (6 poets), 4 slots: individual

• HS Group poem round optional (up to 6 poets)

• Spruce Run Field Trip

• February 28 REGISTER HERE by 2/15!!

• Slam Happens April 29th (5-9pm) $5 admission

• Poetry Slam 2023 Flier

The 2023 Writing Competition is open. The deadline to submit is March 31, 2023 (11:59pm CDT)

• SEJONG WRITING COMPETITION PAGE
• Sijo Poetry Competition Specifics
• Essay Competition Specifics
• Application Page

Sijo category

The sijo is a traditional three-line Korean poetic form organized technically and thematically by line and syllable count. Using the sijo form, write one poem in English on a topic of your choice. For examples of sijo, more information, and teaching materials – including teaching guides for sijo, please visit this website.

The goal of our sijo category is to introduce students to a lesser-known style of poetry, the traditional Korean sijo. Read about how to write sijo, or see last year's winning entries.

Adult division (age 19 & older)
Pre-college division (age 18 & younger)

Sijo Category Prizes:

• Adult division: First ($1,000), Second ($750), Third ($500)
• Pre-college division: First ($500), Second ($400), Third ($300)
• Honorable mention (for both divisions listed above): Friends of Pacific Rim Awards ($50 each)

Essay category

Focusing on introducing students and young adults to Korean culture and history through literature, this essay category utilizes folk tales and contemporary literature to explore Korean culture, past and present.

Adult division (age 19-30 years): Contestants are to read Kim Jung-hyuk's short story “The Glass Shield” and write an essay in response to the provided prompt.

Snior division (grade 9th - 12th): Contestants are to read Ha Seong-nan's short story “Waxen Wings ” and write an essay in response to the provided prompt.

Junior division (grade 8th and younger): Contestants are to write an essay in response to one of two provided prompts regarding a folktale of the contestant's choice. Contestants must choose one of the stories listed on this folktales page.

Essay Category Prizes:

• Adult division: First ($1,000), Second ($750), Third ($500)
• Senior division: First ($500), Second ($400), Third ($300)
• Junior division: First ($300), Second ($200), Third ($100)
• Honorable mention (for all divisions listed above): Friends of Pacific Rim Awards ($50 each)

Mission: The goals of the Sejong Writing Competition are to discover children and young adults talented in writing and to encourage them to learn and write about Korean and its culture. Through this writing competition we hope to increase the awareness and understanding of Korea’s cultural heritage amongst the younger generations growing up in the United States. Note: Only one entry per category per applicant is permitted.

"DON'T GET IT RIGHT, JUST GET IT WRITTEN." - JAMES THURBER

Every other week, local teens gather to write, create, and explore ways to get their stories on paper. Whether it's a passion, or just a hobby, Thurber House invites any student in grades 9-12 to join them for an opportunity to spend time with others who also like to write. Sessions take place on select Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8:30 pm Eastern Time. Young Writers' Studio is held at Thurber Center, 91 Jefferson Ave, and simultaneously Zoomed for virtual participants. Each session is $17, or $150 for the season (a savings of $20), and can be paid in advance by registering online. There are a limited number of scholarships available for students who would like to attend. All sessions will be hybrid—held in-person at Thurber Center and simultaneously Zoomed for virtual participants from 6:30–8:30 pm. REGISTER

Remaining Dates: March 7, March 21, April 4, April 18, May 2, May 16