October 2023
In this issue:
The Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) is excited to announce it will be hosting educator workshops across Oklahoma in October and November 2023. The secondary ELA workshop's dates, cities, and registration links are featured below. More details including times and locations can be found in the Fall 2023 Literacy Regional Workshops document. Space is limited, so register today!
Leveraging the Writing Resources from the ELA Framework with Jason Stephenson
Teachers of grades 6-12 ELA will learn how to use the writing resources suite of the ELA Framework to improve instruction and learning of narrative, informative, argumentative, and research writing. Teachers will explore the uses of the revision and editing checklists, student writing samples with teacher feedback, and peer feedback lesson resources.
If you have questions, please contact Jason.Stephenson@sde.ok.gov.
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 World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma’s award-winning magazine of international literature and culture, will award the 2023 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Literature to Gene Luen Yang, the legendary graphic novelist. On Wednesday, Oct. 25, Yang will receive the $35,000 prize, a silver medallion and a certificate at a ceremony at OU.
The public is invited to the Neustadt Lit Fest on the OU Norman campus in Yang’s honor (Oct. 23–25), where Yang and other writers and scholars will make presentations about his work, Chinese American literature and culture, and the impact of new cultural forms like the graphic novel and various hybrid media presentations.
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Oklahoma Christian will host author David Grann for a public lecture on October 17 at 7:00 p.m. Grann is the author of numerous novels, including Killers of the Flower Moon, published in 2017. The film adaptation of the novel, directed by Martin Scorsese, will debut in theaters on October 20.
Tickets for the lecture are free but required.
More information, including the registration link, can be found on the event webpage.
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The National Endowment for the Arts Big Read is designed to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book.
The City of Lawton Arts and Humanities and McMahon Auditorium Authority has chosen the poetry collection Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay as part of the Big Read program throughout the entire month of October.
Gay will deliver his keynote at Cameron University in the evening on October 17.
More details can be found on this webpage.
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The writing contests page has recently been updated to include new contests and deadlines for the 2023-2024 school year. All listed contests have categories for students and a few have categories for teachers.
Providing students the opportunity to enter writing contests can motivate them to engage more fully in the writing process as they prepare to publish a final draft.
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Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Casia Hall Preparatory School Auditorium
Tulsa, OK
Shakespeare Competition 10:00 -- 11:30 a.m.
Shakespeare Festival 11:30 a.m. -- 1:30 p.m.
For 35 years the Tulsa Branch of the English-Speaking Union has sponsored the National Shakespeare Competition. It is combined with a non-competitive Shakespeare Festival and welcomes students from across Oklahoma. Both drama/theatre and English teachers can participate.
Oklahoma ESU National Shakespeare Competition
High school students from across Oklahoma and Western Arkansas perform a 20-line monologue and a sonnet. The 1st place winner will receive an all-expense paid trip to New York City to perform at Lincoln Center, tour the city, and attend a Broadway show. Cash prizes are awarded to the 2nd ($200) and 3rd place ($100) winners. There is no cost to participate.
Check in is from 9:30-9:45 a.m. The contest begins promptly at 10:00 a.m. and should be completed by 11:30 a.m.
Nationally, more than 250,000 young people have participated in the competition since its inception in 1983. Approximately 2,500 teachers and 20,000 students in nearly 45 English-Speaking Union branch communities participate each year.
Through the National Shakespeare Competition, students develop essential skills:
- critical thinking
- close reading and public speaking
- increase self-confidence through reading, analysis and performance of Shakespeare
- explore the beauty of Shakespeare's language and classic themes
- bring the timeless works of Shakespeare to life and learn to express his words with understanding, feeling and clarity
- meet local, state and national standards in English language arts and drama
Download the teacher competition tool and watch previous performances on the competition website and register today!
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 Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival
Students from grades 6-12 will perform scenes, monologues, or other creative performances using Shakespeare’s language (maximum of 2 minutes x the number of actors with a limit of 6 minutes). They will also participate in a short performance-based activity. Collaborating with classmates to explore Shakespeare's language, and then sharing that experience with students from different schools and backgrounds, is of immense educational value.
This is not your typical drama festival. By design, this festival is also geared toward English classes and students who may have never acted before as well as drama students. For the English-Speaking Union, performance is a means to an end: making Shakespeare's language come alive.
To register for the non-competitive festival, send an e-mail with the title of your performance to: pwstevenson@cox.net.
Questions? Contact Paul Stevenson at pwstevenson@cox.net or 918-587-2929.
Writing Prompt
 Inktober is an annual challenge for artists to draw a daily picture based on a one-word prompt. When I taught high school creative writing, one of my students, Sarah V., told me about Inktober. She suggested we modify the challenge for writing. Each day, we could take the assigned word and incorporate it into a short piece of writing. Alternatively, we could use each word as a title to a short poem.
Inktober is traditionally celebrated in October, but you could use this list for any other month this year--especially those with 31 days.
Since this is meant to be only a 5-10 minute exercise, pick one word from this list, and write in response. For an added challenge, pick the word that shares the day you were born. For example, since I was born on September 6, I would write in response to 6 (Golden).
Reading Quote
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