August 2023
Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! There are a number of exciting opportunities in literacy for Oklahoma educators this year. See below for information about updates to the OK English Language Arts (ELA) frameworks, a new HEROES literacy instructional team, the revised dyslexia handbook, a number of professional development opportunities, and more.
I have recently added early childhood to my role at OSDE, and I look forward to supporting early childhood and elementary literacy in Oklahoma. Please reach out if you have any questions.
Sharon Morgan, Program Director, Early Childhood and Elementary Literacy, sharon.morgan@sde.ok.gov, 405-521-3034
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This summer the OSDE elementary team hosted three virtual learning sessions to prepare Oklahoma educators for success this school year. The topics for each session are below along with the presentation slides with resources to help get your school year off to a great start.
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Create connections with students and families. Developing strong relationships inside and outside your classroom will result in more engagement, motivation, and better behavior. Find family engagement resources from Deb Wade, Project Manager, Family Engagement, and classroom strategies for creating connections with students for classroom and specials teachers here.
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Develop effective classroom management techniques. Learn how to set up a functional classroom environment that promotes student independence and easy transitions, consider your potential hot buttons as a teacher, and find classroom management strategies here.
- Get students moving. Put learning in action by getting students moving throughout the day. Find ways to incorporate movement and physical activity in your classroom here.
The OSDE Elementary Ed Chat Notes and Resources document includes information about previous OK Elementary Ed Chats. Look for more information about future OSDE Elementary Ed Chats coming soon.
The Oklahoma English Language Arts (ELA) frameworks have been updated with new student proficiency levels, Universal Design for Learning lesson examples, and writing resources along with a new look on the homepage. Resources can be found by topic and grade level on the homepage.
Last year, I wrote articles in this newsletter about popular topics related to the body of research commonly called the science of reading. This year I plan to tackle topics related to writing and highlight the new writing resources in the OK ELA framework. The new writing resources were created by Oklahoma teachers and include student-friendly revision checklists, editing checklists, teacher feedback examples, and a peer feedback lesson plan with slides and handouts.
If you have any questions about writing or strategies that have been successful in your classroom, please let me know at sharon.morgan@sde.ok.gov.
The OSDE has developed a new instructional team to support Oklahoma districts with early literacy implementation. Over the next 3 years, the 15-member HEROES (Helping Elevate Reading Outcomes for Every Student) team will be developing resources that will be available to all schools, as well as working with a smaller number of schools through systems coaching. Be watching for more information about how this team can support you and your district.
The newly updated Oklahoma Dyslexia and Dysgraphia Handbook provides guidance to educators, students, families, and community members about dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and best practices for identification, intervention, and support for children with these disabilities.
The intent of this handbook is to reach a wide audience with comprehensive information and guidance to support effective instruction and intervention for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. In addition, this handbook provides guidance to assist school-based decision-making teams in determining appropriate educational programming decisions for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia.
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 These handy, printable flyers include helpful information aligned to the Oklahoma Academic Standards (what students know and should be able to do in each grade and course) and guidance on how to support student learning at home. Guides are available for Pre-K through 6th-grade students in the following subjects: English language arts, science, mathematics, social studies, health, music, physical education (PE) and visual art. The Oklahoma Family Guides are available in both English and Spanish.
Imagine Language & Literacy supports Oklahoma’s Academic Standards for English Language Arts through personalized instruction that accelerates reading and language proficiency. Imagine Language & Literacy is a supplemental, adaptive online curriculum that provides targeted instruction in all four domains of literacy — reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Its flexibility makes it suited for any instructional setting, from whole-class to small-group to one-on-one.
This program is free for students in kindergarten, first, second, and third grades and students who are not reading at grade level in grades 4-6.
School/District Application: Apply here to bring Imagine Language & Literacy to your students
With this book award, Oklahoma honors the Native American leader Sequoyah for his unique achievement in creating the Cherokee syllabary. Sequoyah chose eighty-five symbols to represent all spoken sounds of the Cherokee language. In so doing, he created a way to preserve his people's language and culture.
Voting for the current Sequoyah Masterlist opens February 1st and closes March 15th.
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To better reflect the English language arts (ELA) classes in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Department of Education has modified and added subject codes and names for grades PK-8 for the 2023-2024 school year.
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1114 English Language Arts: a class that teaches all of the Oklahoma Academic Standards (OAS) for ELA
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1132 Reading: a class that teaches the Reading strand from the OAS for ELA
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1133 Writing: a class that teaches the Writing strand from the OAS for ELA
 School counselors use subject codes for transcripts, so they should be aware of this change. School districts may wish to use these names going forward.
Click to download the PK-8th Grade Subject Codes for 2023-2024 document.
 The Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education will host its 16th annual reading conference on Friday, September 22, at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. A virtual option is also available.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Jennifer Serravallo
Jennifer Serravallo is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Reading
Strategies Book and The Writing Strategies Book. These and her other popular books and resources help teachers make goal-directed responsive strategy doable in every
classroom. Serravallo's books have been multiple award-winning Independent Reading Assessment series. Her newest release is The Reading Strategies Book 2.0.
Dr. Stephen Krashen
Dr. Stephen Krashen is an Emeritus Professor in linguistics and literacy. He is an inductee into the International Literacy Association's Reading Hall of Fame. Dr. Krashen has received numerous awards, including an American Council of Foreign Language Teachers award for the best published article and an award for distinguished contribution to the field of children's literature.
OKLAHOMA AUTHOR PANEL
Local authors Mariana Llanos, Barbara Lowell, and Tammi Sauer will speak on a panel during the conference.
More details and registration are available on this page.
The Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English will host its annual fall conference on Friday, October 27, at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva. The 2023 theme is "Connections." Submit a session proposal on this form by September 17. Register on this form by October 20.
 The Oklahoma Literacy Assocation's next state conference will be at Southwestern Oklahoma State University on April 13, 2024. The keynote speaker will be Dr. Kenneth Kunz whose recent co-authoring of the book Literacy Changemakers: Bringing the Joy of Reading and Writing into Focus for Teachers and Students speaks to the conference theme "Be the Change: Responsive and Restorative Literacy Communities and Practices." Visit the OKLA website to learn more.
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