Secondary English Weekly #8
Issue Eight / October 15-19, 2018
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NATIONAL DAY ON WRITING CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY THIS WEEK!!.
This October the National Day on Writing® celebrates its 10th anniversary. How will you celebrate? Will you host a write-in with your students? Will you participate in the #WhyIWrite Campaign? Even though the actual National Day on Writing (October 20) happens to fall on a Saturday, you could observe the day by focusing on writing in your PDs on the 19th and you could honor the day with your students on the 18th or 22nd. The National Day on Writing is built on the premise that writing is critical to literacy but needs greater attention and celebration. Every year NCTE and enthusiastic participants around the world continue to grow this event. Here are some ways to celebrate in your classroom and to get involved!
#WhyIWrite Social Campaign Throughout the month, posts will go up each day with insights and opportunities to share #WhyIWrite.
October 14 – Writing for Empathy #NCTEchat NCTE member Nicole Mirra will lead a Twitter chat around the role writing can play in fostering a critical, civic form of empathy in schools.
October 19 – Writing = Hope × Change / National Write-In
Join celebrated author Jacqueline Woodson in a virtual write-in as she guides aspiring writers through an exploration of why we write and how our words can transform our lives and those of others. Sign up today to get updates on this project. (Must be an NCTE member.)
October 20 – National Day on Writing
People around the globe will share their love of writing via the #WhyIWrite hashtag.
LESSONS ARE AVAILABLE EACH WEEK TO HELP PREPARE STUDENTS FOR AIR SUCCESS USING THE READ METHOD
The Standardized Prep lesson for this week focuses on creating a writing guide acronym. It asks students to be part of the process in selecting an acronym to guide their writing on fully-developed essays that contain an introduction, body, conclusion, and transitions. The idea is to create ownership around the acronym, use it throughout the year for explicit writing instruction, and have it act as a guide for writing on the AIR or other standardized tests. Here is that lesson:
- October 18, 2018 (Writing Guide Acronym)
-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 Instructional Routines-Text Annotation)
- September 27, 2018 (Complex Text Instructional Routines-Word Pyramid & Question Quads)
- October 4, 2018 (Analyzing Questions)
- October 11, 2018 (Analyzing Answers)
DID YOU KNOW THAT COMMONLIT CAN BE USED FOR TBT & OIP DATA?
If your TBT work is currently focused on a particular Standard or a skill needed to master a Standard, you can use CommonLit to build common assignments or assessments around the Standard or skill. This could help inform practice around the first step of the OIP Process (identify critical needs) and also act as a measure of student preparedness for questions aligned to your focus Standard on the AIR test. Teachers and students access CommonLit through Clever. When you select "View All Texts" in the Library drop-down menu, you will see that you can select readings by Standard in the Search and Filter column (see picture insert). As a team, simply select your Standard(s) and then you will be able to choose and assign a common reading to your students from the texts that have questions aligned to the Standard(s) you selected. Don't forget, teachers have CommonLit dashboards for their students' and classes' data, while principals have building-wide dashboards. Accessing those dashboards in a TBT could save time and give a broader picture of student mastery.
-Login information for students, teachers, and principals (for the building dashboard) are included in this link LOGIN PROTOCOLS FOR COMMONLIT, TEACHINGBOOKS, AND ACHIEVE3000, which can also be found on the English 6-12 Webpage at either of the Curriculum/Instructional Resources Grade-Level Quick Links. Also, if you need help with using Clever, you can find access info on the second page of the document at this Quick Link, LOGIN PROTOCOLS FOR PEARSON ONLINE TEXT RESOURCES AND CLEVER, which can also be found on the English Webpage.
-Tim Wangler (twangler8446) is the person to contact if you have any issues using Clever or CommonLit.
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
This week, take a closer look at number 10 on this list, "10-Cultivate students’ independence." Learning is something students do, not something done to them. Therefore, they should be owners of that learning. Teachers can cultivate student independence though Teacher Clarity. Teacher Clarity is a high impact strategy noted in the CCS Common Instructional Framework which explains that teachers and students understand and can articulate learning intentions, instructional goals, and success criteria for a given lesson based on Ohio's Learning Standards. Teacher Clarity advocates for transferring ownership of learning by partnering with students. When teachers know their learning intentions and communicate those effectively through learning progressions, there is a gradual release of responsibility of learning from the teacher to the student to ensure all are absolutely clear about what they need to learn, why they are learning it, and how to build ownership. Teachers and students have clarity if they are able to answer three questions:
- What am I learning?
- Why am I learning it?
- How will I know when I have learned it?
-Part of Teacher Clarity is unpacking the Standards in order to determine what students need to learn. Luckily, this has already been done for you. You have Ohio's Learning Standards broken down into Clear Learning Targets which can be used to decide learning progressions and you have "I Can" Statements for student ownership of the learning progressions. You could also use the resources on the backside of each Clear Learning Target to decide activities and questions to help students master the learning.
-There have been some workshops for different groups within CCS on Teacher Clarity and some of you may focus on it during the October 19th PD day. Teachers in your building may own a copies of the Teacher Clarity Playbook, which was just released this month. I happen to have a few extra copies. If you want a copy, request it by simply emailing me at cphillips3865. I will give them out on a first requested-first served basis.
STUDENT HONOREES SELECTED FROM ENGLISH TEACHER NOMINEES
- Amanda Sophia Riley, Grade 12, Eastmoor Academy
- Fernando Jose-Chairez, Grade 12, Northland High School
-If you nominated a selected student, you will be contacted soon by Ross Shirley (mshirley@columbus.k12.oh.us) with information for your student about the breakfast meet-and-greet with the Commissioners on November 20th and the recognition at the start of the Commissioners' General Session.
-If your nominated student was not selected, know that they still may be as a nominee from Unified Arts. Ross Shirley was given all of the non-selected nomination statements so that the students in those statements could be considered when Unified Arts selects their three awardees which is happening on Monday or Tuesday.
DON'T DELAY, REGISTER TODAY!! WE NEED MORE SCHOOLS TO REGISTER FOR THE WINTER DEBATE TOURNAMENT!!
HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE
Our students have a fabulous opportunity to compete against one another at Capital University in December. Please register your school today! They will compete using the following resolution.
Resolved: The United States federal government should substantially reduce its restrictions on legal immigration to the United States.
Debate Type: Policy This is a two-on-two debate that focuses on a policy question that hones a student’s research, analytical, and delivery skills. Policy debate involves the proposal of a plan by the affirmative team to enact a policy, while the negative team offers reasons to reject that proposal and stay with the status quo. Throughout the debate, students give constructive and rebuttal speeches and have the opportunity to cross-examine one another. Each Constructive speech is 8 minutes. Each Cross Examination is 3 minutes. Each Rebuttal is 5 minutes. Each team has 5 minutes of prep time that can be used during the debate. A judge or panel of judges determines the winner based on the arguments presented.
Debate Teams: Debate teams are made of two students. Those students prepare to debate both the affirmative and negative sides of the debate resolution. On the day of the debate, each two-person team will be told which side (affirmative or negative) they will be debating during each of the three rounds. Each school can bring up to five teams (10 students).
Date of Debate Tournament: Friday, December 7th from 8:30am-1pm Team Check-ins from 8-8:30am; Tournament from 8:30am-12:30pm (three rounds: 8:30-9:44, 9:50-11:04am, and 11:10am-12:24pm); Award Ceremony from 12:45-1pm.
Location of Debate Tournament: Capital University, Ruff Learning Center, 631 Pleasant Ridge, Bexley, OH 43209
Registration and Resources: Click HERE to access the debate folder with registration form, a flyer to hand out to increase participation, and numerous resources for preparing your students to be great debaters. Be sure to register your school NOW even if you don’t yet know the names of students on your teams. That can be added later. The deadline for having all your names added is November 2nd.
DEBATE FOLDER: https://tinyurl.com/debatehs2018
MIDDLE SCHOOL DEBATE
Gifted & Talented hopes that you will join them for the winter debate at Capital University on Friday, December 7, 2018. See this memo with information regarding debate. The resolution for the middle school winter debate is Resolved: The United States Federal Government should significantly limit regulations on artificial intelligence.
-G &T encourages all schools to consider integrating debate through ELA or Social Studies content areas by having the students research the topic and develop arguments with supporting evidence to support a position on this topic. They also encourage schools to consider bringing a team or two to participate in the December tournament. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to learn how to develop writing, speaking and listening skills, as well as increase knowledge and capacity for reading informational text. Debate is one of the most effective classroom instructional strategies.
-REGISTRATION: Please submit the Intent to Participate form included in the memo either electronically or fax (number on the form) by October 19, 2018.
-Contact Michele Ballinger, Vonda Spencer-Keane, or any elementary gifted intervention specialists for resources and support.
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALISTS CHOSEN ON OCTOBER 10TH
The National Book Foundation has announced the 20 finalists for the 2018 National Book Award in fiction, nonfiction, young people's literature, and poetry. Winners will be announced Nov. 14 at a ceremony in New York City.
Fiction
Jamel Brinkley, A Lucky Man
Lauren Groff, Florida
Brandon Hobson, Where the Dead Sit Talking
Rebecca Makkai, The Great Believers
Sigrid Nunez, The Friend
Nonfiction
Colin G. Calloway, The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation
Victoria Johnson, American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic
Sarah Smarsh, Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth
Jeffrey C. Stewart, The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke
Adam Winkler, We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights
Young people’s literature
Elizabeth Acevedo, The Poet X
M. T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin, The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge
Leslie Connor, The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
Christopher Paul Curtis, The Journey of Little Charlie
Jarrett J. Krosoczka, Hey, Kiddo
Poetry
Rae Armantrout, Wobble
Terrance Hayes, American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin
Diana Khoi Nguyen, Ghost Of
Justin Phillip Reed, Indecency
Jenny Xie, Eye Level
SOME STUDENT CONTESTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
THURBER HOUSE PEN & TELL IT FOR GRADES 6-8—REGISTRATION DEADLINE ENDING SOON!
Pen & Tell It 2018 Registration is now open!
Do your 6th-8th graders love to write? Thurber House has a class for them! These stand-alone Sunday sessions offer something for every writing interest, from budding poets to young comedians. Registration Deadline: Monday, October 29!! Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis, so be sure to reserve your spot ASAP! $25 per session. REGISTER HERE.
Sunday, November 4
1:00-3:30 p.m.: What's Your Problem? with Jody Casella
The best stories have conflicts that seem unsolvable, but how do writers DO that? How many different conflicts can there really be? This class will show you how to create characters with BIG problems and stories that will keep readers guessing.
Sunday, November 11
1:00-3:30 p.m.: Write Jokes Like a Pro with Mike Larsen
There are no “dad jokes” in this class. Learn how to write funny, original jokes on any subject, for any occasion. Jokes make everything better – stories, schoolwork, trying to convince your parents to let you stay up later. You’ll learn the secrets of the comedy trade from a successful professional comedian.
Sunday, November 18
1:00-3:30 p.m.: From Page to Stage with Winter Mead
Make your words come to life! If you’ve ever thought about writing for theatre, television, or film, you know how important it is that words on the page can translate to the stage or screen. We’ll start off with some improvisation games to find inspiration, and then get that inspiration down on the page when we write and workshop scenes.
Click here for more information!
Questions? Contact Meg Brown at megbrown@thurberhouse.org
WELLSPRING OF IMAGINATION POET MENTORING PROGRAM FOR HIGH SCHOOL
Wellspring of Imagination is an extensive poetry and visual arts program for high school students. It consists of an intensive three days with prominent poets and artists, working on writing, visual arts, and presentation of poetry. The workshop culminates with a recital for family, teachers, and friends. The activities will be supplemented with hikes, music, and presentations from visual artists. The teacher/poets will then mentor the students for the next calendar year. At the conclusion of the program, a book of their poetry will be produced. High school students/teachers should contact Alan Cohen at owl111@frontier.com to participate this year. Wellspring 2018 will take place on November 1st - 3rd at a private lodge in Hocking County with the performance at Alley Park Lodge Saturday the 3rd at 7pm.
MADLAB THEATRE YOUNG WRITERS PROGRAM 2019-DEADLINE NOVEMBER 9!
MadLab, a professional theatre in downtown Columbus, would like to tell you a little bit about their Young Writers Program in the hopes that you will get your students involved. Now entering their 8th year, they have worked with over 65 local high school students and produced almost 70 of their short plays. This 6-minute introductory video can tell you more about the program that began in 2011 as a way to help high school students grow as artists and playwrights, gain professional theatrical experience, and develop critical thinking and editing skills that will help them in the future. Each year, they select up to 10 short plays by local students to be produced in a festival. Over the course of 6 months students will:
Participate in writing workshops
See staged readings of their scripts by MadLab actors
Work with local and national playwright mentors to revise and improve their scripts
Experience a full-scale production of their scripts at MadLab
The Young Writers program is offered at no cost to the students. They are striving to reach new communities and populations with this program, and are willing to provide transportation, translation services, and anything else students who are selected might require. More information, photos, and videos from previous years can be found on our website and youtube page. DOWNLOAD THIS FLYER TO SHARE WITH YOUR STUDENTS! DEADLINE IN NOVEMBER 9!!
MLK BREAKFAST SPEAKER: A CCS STUDENT-ONLY CONTEST-ENTRIES BEING ACCEPTED NOW!!
CCS will select one student speaker to represent the district at the 2019 Martin Luther King Breakfast, held on January 21st at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Exhibition Hall C. The student chosen will get into the breakfast free and receive two complimentary tickets for his/her parent or guardians. The competition to become that speaker is open to all students in Grades 6-12. The CCS Superintendent will introduce our student speaker.
HERE is a flyer to use to increase participation.
Theme of Speech: The Purpose of Education-intelligence plus character
Length of Speech: 3 minutes max.
Deadline for Entry: Monday, December 10th
How to Enter: Have your teacher send or share a recording of you reciting your speech to the ELA 6-12 Curriculum Office or have your teacher contact the ELA Curriculum Office to come out and videotape you giving your speech. Teachers can email speeches as attachments or make a requests to have students recorded to cphillips3865@columbus.k12.oh.us, or text/share videos to 740-228-1509. Please Include the student's name, school, grade, contact information, and the teacher’s email & phone number.
TEACHER CONTESTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
MASTER TEACHER AND NBCT INFORMATIONAL MEETING
Professional Learning & Licensure has scheduled an informational meeting regarding both the Master Teacher Designation as well as becoming a National Board Certified Teacher. The meeting will be held on Monday, November 5th from 4:15 – 5:15 p.m. in Conference Room #4 at 17th Avenue (889 E. 17th Avenue). Please find details about the Master Teacher Designation at https://www.ccsoh.us/Page/2292. Please find details about the National Board Certified Teacher program at https://www.ccsoh.us/Page/2293. Please note: teachers pursuing NBCT, who meet all guidelines, will have all NBCT components paid by CCS (except a $75 registration fee). In addition, NBCT who follow all stipend guidelines are eligible to receive a $1,500 yearly stipend. Attendance at this meeting is NOT necessary to pursue either designation. However, if you decide to pursue NBCT, please let Karmen McCaslin know so you may be updated on support session dates, which are part of the requirements for the district to pay the cost of the components. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Karmen McCaslin (614-365-5039 phone; kmccasli@columbus.k12.oh.us)
THE GREAT AMERICAN READ—VOTING CLOSES THIS THURSDAY!!
Explore the list of 100 books and vote for your favorite novels once a day, every day! Voting will close on October 18th. Consider having your students vote and root for their favorites.
Vote Now. Tune into PBS every Tuesday at 8pm for The Great American Read episodes. Visit this DOWNLOADS page for posters, memes, book facts, and book quotations and this RESOURCES page for media and book club items.
2018 OHIOANA AWARDS-THIS THURSDAY!
Reservations are now being taken for the 2018 Ohioana Awards event in the Ohio Statehouse Atrium on Thursday, October 18, from 6 to 9 p.m. All book award winners will be present! Meet and hear Celeste Ng, Deanne Stillman, Ruth Awad, Brian Alexander, Sally Derby, and Tamara Bundy. Christopher Gellert, winner of the 2018 Marvin Grant for an Ohio writer age 30 or younger who has not yet published a book, will also be honored. Reservations are $50 per person and include a reception with hors d'oeuvres and wine and complimentary parking at the Ohio Statehouse. Make your reservations online at this link: http://ohioanalibrary.mybigcommerce.com/2018-ohioana-award…/
BUCKEYE CHILDREN’S AND TEEN BOOK AWARD
The Buckeye Children’s and Teen Book Award program is designed to encourage students in Ohio to read literature critically, to promote teacher and librarian involvement in young adult literature programs, and to commend authors of such literature. The Buckeyes are one of the only state reader's choice awards in which students get to nominate the titles as well as vote on the final winners. The only adults who may submit nominations or votes are teachers and librarians who are representing a group of students from their school or library. This allows the Buckeyes to be truly a student-chosen award in all aspects.
Nominating occurs year-round, on the Buckeye Awards website, and voting is from Sept. 1-Nov. 10. The winners will be announced on December 1, so have your students go to www.bcbookaward.info to nominate, choose novels to read, vote, and see past winners!
FREE CORWIN WEBINAR SERIES
Corwin's free Monday Afternoon Webinar Series has begun. This season you can look forward to live Webinars with John Hattie, Jessica and John Hannigan, and Ken O'Connor—to name just a few. It doesn’t get much better! Download the print schedule here. Register here.
-The next ELA-related Webinar is Power Up Blended Learning: A Professional Learning Infrastructure to Support Sustainable Change from Catlin Tucker on Monday, October 15 at 5pm. In this free webinar, Catlin Tucker will provide an overview of a blended learning coaching cycle designed to support teachers from goal setting to implementation to reflection.
FREE FALL TEACHINGBOOKS WEBINARS TO EXPLORE
-TeachingBooks has an Essential Elements Webinar Series happening this fall that includes four Webinars to introduce you to TeachingBooks and leverage your usage of TeachingBooks. Click HERE to see descriptions and to register for any of the fall webinars.
-The next Webinar is Introduce TeachingBooks.net: Your Suite of Resources on Tuesday, October 23rd at 3pm. This free Webinar will help you explore videos filmed in authors' studios, lesson plans, book trailers, and vocabulary lists; discover resources that will expand the experience readers have with books; and deepen connections to books while discovering online materials to engage readers, support families, and empower colleagues.
TEACHINGBOOKS BLOG-OCTOBER GIVEAWAYS
Each month TeachingBooks features free and fun book contests and giveaways. Click the link for October's Contests.
NCTE CONFERENCE 2018 (NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH)
Registration for the 2018 NCTE Annual Convention in Houston, TX on November 15-18, 2018 includes access to all General Sessions, concurrent sessions, Special Interest Group meetings, the Now Screening film festival, NCTE Central, and the Exhibit Hall. Check out featured speakers and sessions or register HERE. Register by November 5 for the best rates. After November 5, registrations will still be accepted here as well as onsite at the George R. Brown Convention Center at the higher price.
NCTE TWITTER CHATS
#NCTEchat is a fast-paced monthly Twitter chat where incredible ideas fly and solid advice comes in 280-character snippets. Join the conversation!
- Sunday, October 14, 8:00 p.m. EST: Writing for Empathy
- Sunday, November 11, 8:00 p.m. EST: #NCTE18
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.
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