Jan/Feb 2022
In this issue:
The Book Love Foundation is dedicated to teachers who inspire a love of reading. They provide classroom libraries comprised of hundreds of books carefully chosen to meet teenagers where they are and lead them to the deep rewards of reading. They put those books into the hands of teachers who demonstrate a commitment to rich reading lives for all students.
Teachers can now apply for a Book Love grant. This year, teachers can apply for a classroom library or book clubs. The link also includes applicant requirements.
The application deadline is April 1, 2022.
|
 NPR's fourth annual Student Podcast Challenge is back and now open for middle and high school students. There are competitions for middle school and high school students. For each contest the challenge is the same: produce a podcast between three and eight minutes on a topic, issue, or story of their choosing. The contest for middle and high school entries runs from January 1 to March 21, 2022. If your students plan to submit, they should read the guidelines.
As in years past, NPR's Education Team is providing training materials and resources — how to use a smartphone to record audio, how to conduct an interview, audio storytelling tips and tricks — for both teachers and students of all ages. Those looking for additional guidance can turn to NPR's Student Podcast Challenge podcast, which highlights great student podcasts and the people who made them, along with insight from NPR reporters and past judges about what makes great audio.
In addition to having their work featured on national NPR programs, winning middle- and high-school students will also have NPR journalists report features on their entries. Other standout podcasts may be featured online, on other NPR programs, or on local member stations.
Check out the 2021 winners:
|
Request your free poster for National Poetry Month, which is held in April.
The 2022 poster was designed by eleventh grader Lara Lazar from Saunders Trades and Technical High School in Yonkers, New York, who was the winner of the 2022 National Poetry Month Poster Contest.
The line of poetry featured on the poster is from Amanda Gorman's poem “In This Place (An American Lyric),” which was written for the inaugural reading of Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith at the Library of Congress.
Download a PDF of the 2022 poster.
|
|
 |
The Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute (OSAI) is an intensive 2-week residential school that provides professional training to artistically talented Oklahoma high school students, including graduating seniors, in the visual, literary, and performing arts. They offer training in the disciplines of acting, chorus, creative writing, dance, drawing and painting, film and video, orchestra, and photography. OSAI faculty artists include winners of the Pulitzer Prize and the Academy, Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Awards.
The institute will take place from June 11-26, 2022, at the beautiful Quartz Mountain State Park & Lodge in southwestern Oklahoma.
Students are selected through a competitive blind audition process. Auditions are held online and throughout the state in January and February. All selected students automatically receive a full scholarship to the program.
Creative Writing students apply online. Students are encouraged to complete the initial application and upload their writing packet when they are ready. The deadline is Monday, February 14, at 12 noon.
|
Teachers of all subject areas and levels—kindergarten through university—who are interested in incorporating writing into their instructional routine should apply for the Oklahoma Writing Project Invitational Summer Institute.
During the Summer Institute, participants will learn ready-to-use strategies and best classroom practices from group members, experience the writing process and writing groups first-hand, and develop a literacy presentation to share with their home schools and other Oklahoma educators.
This institute will be held June 13-16, June 20-23, and June 27-30 at the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education Building located on the OU Norman Campus. The deadline to apply is Friday, February 18, 2022. Click on this link to submit your application or to see more information on dates, location, and other specifics.
Sayantani DasGupta wrote three first lines to stories that don’t exist—yet. Choose your favorite line, and use it to write your own short story.
-
When the old black-and-white photograph started talking to me, I knew something was up.
-
I know I shouldn’t have agreed to join the heist, but come on, can you blame me?
-
The morning I discovered my true identity started with a very weird message from the multiverse.
This writing contest from Scope has a deadline of March 14, 2022. The contest is open to students in grades 4-12.
Writing Prompt
This month's prompt comes from the creative writing application for the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, mentioned above.
Write a piece of prose or poetry that contains all of the following elements: an unpleasant smell, a road or street, and a plant.
Reading Quote
|
