Secondary English Weekly #9
Issue Nine / October 22-26, 2018
LOOKING FOR PREVIOUS ISSUES OF THE NEWSLETTER?
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 9 on this list, Provide explicit instruction in grammar and conventions. Explicit instruction to address grammar and conventions can happen in many ways such as mini-lessons during writing workshop, using them as Focus Correction Areas on writing assignments, or using individualized, online practice based upon issues you notice in student writing. To add to your tool box for grammar instruction, check out the following sites.
-No Red Ink (https://www.noredink.com)
- Check out https://www.noredink.com/curriculum to see curriculum pathways for grammar & conventions and writing concepts.
-Quill (https://www.quill.org)
- Check out https://d1yxac6hjodhgc.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Quill-Overview3.pdf to get an overview of the 300+writing, grammar, and proofreading activities.
-Online Writing Lab at Purdue (OWL) Exercises
(https://owl.purdue.edu/owl_exercises/index.html)
-Grammar Bytes (http://chompchomp.com)
- Check out interactive exercises at http://chompchomp.com/exercises.htm.
DID YOU KNOW THAT OUR TEACHER RESOURCES FOR NOVELS ARE BEING USED IN OVER 35 STATES AND FOUR COUNTRIES
The Edcite Collection
The Edcite Team continues to digitize content to make it easy for you to give students tech-enhanced practice with instant feedback. Visit the New Collection to find the new AIR Assignments 2018-19 collection. If you have a suggestion for content that they can digitize, email them at hello@edcite.com.
LESSONS ARE AVAILABLE EACH WEEK TO HELP PREPARE STUDENTS FOR AIR SUCCESS USING THE READ METHOD
THIS WEEK'S LESSON:
- October 25, 2018 (Passage and Prompt Analysis)
-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)
- October 18, 2018 (Writing Guide Acronym)
2018 Thurber Prize for American Humor: THE HIGHEST RECOGNITION OF HUMOR WRITING IN THE UNITED STATES
Thurber House is pleased to announce the three finalists for the 2018 Thurber Prize for American Humor:
Jenny Allen — Would Everybody Please Stop?: Reflections on Life and Other Bad Ideas
Jenny Allen’s musings range fluidly from the personal to the philosophical. One moment she’s flirting shamelessly―and unsuccessfully―with a younger man at a wedding; the next she’s stumbling upon questionable images on her daughter’s computer. She ponders the connection between her ex-husband’s questions about the location of their silverware, and the divorce that came a year later. While undergoing chemotherapy, she experiments with being a "wig person." The New Yorker’s Andy Borowitz calls Jenny Allen "one of the funniest writers in America"―and with good reason. In her debut essay collection, the longtime humorist and performer declares no subject too sacred, no boundary impassable.
John Hodgman — Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches
In 2016, John Hodgman's career as a bestselling author and as a contributor on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart didn’t seem as funny to him anymore. Realizing that he is an older white male monster with bad facial hair, he is wandering like a privileged Sasquatch through three wildernesses: the hills of Western Massachusetts from his youth, the painful beaches of Maine that want to kill him, and the haunted forest of middle age that connects them. Vacationland is a wildly funny yet poignant account of one human facing his forties, when men must settle into the failing bodies of the wise, weird dads that they are. In Vacationland, you learn of the horror of freshwater clams, the evolutionary purpose of the mustache, and which animals to keep as pets and which to kill with traps and poison.
Patricia Lockwood — Priestdaddy
Father Greg Lockwood is unlike any Catholic priest you have ever met—a man who lounges in boxer shorts, loves action movies, and whose constant jamming on the guitar reverberates "like a whole band dying in a plane crash in 1972." His daughter Patricia's childhood involved such memories as an ill-fated family hunting trip, an abortion clinic sit-in where her father was arrested, and her involvement in a cultlike Catholic youth group. As an adult, she's an irreverent poet. When an unexpected crisis leads her and her husband to move back into her parents’ rectory, her past and present collide. Lockwood pivots from the comic to the deeply serious, exploring the balance of a hard-won identity with the weight of family and tradition.
Interested in attending the Thurber Prize?
The Thurber Prize will be awarded during a red carpet event on December 5, 2018 from 6-8:30pm at The Columbus Athenaeum. The three finalists will read from their nominated books, emceed by the hilarious John Kenney, 2014 Thurber Prize winner. At the close of the event, one author will be presented with the 2018 Thurber Prize for American Humor.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE WINTER TOURNAMENT IS IN TWO WEEKS: NOVEMBER 2ND!
HIGH SCHOOL DEBATE
It only takes two students to make a team—get your school registered today!! Our students have a fabulous opportunity to compete against one another at Capital University in December. 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
THE LATEST INFORMATION ON COLLEGE CREDIT PLUS
Changes for the 2018-2019 Academic Year
You are probably aware of the new policies that are in place for this academic year around student eligibility, course eligibility, and underperforming students. Please check this Resources for Administrators page for updated information and tools to help you as you implement these new procedures.
Professional Development Opportunities
College Credit Plus staff provides workshops for new staff, refresher workshops for current staff, as well as regional open houses around the state. Click this link for available dates and registration information. The Ohio Alliance for Dual Enrollment Partnerships (OADEP)’s 2018 Annual State Conference is another opportunity for professional development, networking with colleagues, and sharing of best practices. This year’s conference is November 15-16 in Columbus and registration is open. Institutional & individual memberships are also available. Contact info@oadep.org with questions.
Textbooks – Open Education Resources & Inclusive Access
The Ohio Open Ed Collaborative is working to create, adopt, and utilize Open Education Resource materials for 22 high-enrollment courses. Check out the online guide for more details. In addition, OhioLINK has also negotiated with major publishers to offer up to 80% discounts on inclusive access e-textbooks. For more information, review the OhioLINK Inclusive Access Textbook FAQ and the OhioLINK Discount Pricing Sheet.
Updated Resources
The Professionals’ Handbook has been updated for the 2018-2019 school year, as well as information session PowerPoint presentations. Links are available on this Resources for Administrators page.
NEW Webinars for Families
CCP staff recently recorded webinars to give families an overview of College Credit Plus topics and how students can participate. Visit this Webinars for Students & Families for more information.
SOME STUDENT CONTESTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
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.
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!!
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)
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 Grading for Equity from Joe Feldman on Monday, October 22 at 6:30pm. In this free webinar, Joe Feldman will describes how grading practices that are accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational can reduce those gaps, improve learning for all students, minimize grade inflation, and become a lever for creating stronger teacher-student relationships and more caring classrooms.
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.
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.
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, November 11, 8:00 p.m. EST: #NCTE18
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