May 2024
In this issue:
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
Teachers work wonders August through May, and I hope you know how much I appreciate your dedication to your students and subject throughout the school year and beyond.
English language arts teachers have the wonderful opportunity to guide their students to become better readers, writers, listeners, speakers, and thinkers so that they can better understand themselves and the world. In a world that prioritizes immediacy and bite-sized kernels of information, I am grateful that Oklahoma English language arts teachers show their students the power of slowing down to read challenging texts, compose well-crafted essays, listen to one another during discussion, and speak their truths. Thank you for being an English teacher in Oklahoma!
This newsletter includes opportunities for professional learning and personal growth over summer. Participate in a way that makes sense for you. I hope to see you at a virtual meeting, receive an email with your summer book bingo, and/or read some of your writing in the community Padlet. Read on to learn more.
With admiration,
Jason
|
You can apply for the Oklahoma Classroom Learning and School Supplies (CLASS) Grant!
The State Board of Education is authorized to award one or more grants annually up to $5,000 to classroom teachers from funds available in the Public School Classroom Support Revolving Fund. The awarded grants are used by the grantee teachers to purchase supplies, materials, or equipment for their class or classes.
Application Criteria
- The funding request should promote student learning in one or more content areas or skills.
- The request should include a specific plan for incorporating supplies, materials, and/or equipment funded by the requested grant into the applying teacher's course(s) for the stated purpose.
- Alignment of the purpose and plan for the requested grant with the Oklahoma Academic Standards.
Join fellow Oklahoma English teachers to engage in professional learning this summer from the comfort of your home. Three different topics will be offered in June and July. These virtual meetings will be hosted and led by Jason Stephenson, the Project Manager of Secondary English Language Arts.
The same material will be presented on Tuesday and Thursday, so choose which webinar date and time work best for your schedule. Register today!
English Language Arts Standards & Framework
Refresh yourself on the 2021 Oklahoma Academic Standards for ELA and explore the resources in the ELA Framework website, including the newly added exemplar lesson plans and updated engagement strategies.
- Tuesday, June 25, from 2-3 p.m. (Register)
- Thursday, June 27, from 10-11 a.m. (Register)
The Power of Text Sets
Students can use teacher-designed text sets to build background knowledge that is complementary to a novel they study as a class or in a literature circle. Learn how to build a text set, see an example for The Outsiders, and plan a text set of your own.
- Tuesday, July 9, from 2-3 p.m. (Register)
- Thursday, July 11, from 10-11 a.m. (Register)
Universal Design for Learning in English Language Arts
English language arts (ELA) teachers can use the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) to ensure that all of their students have access to learning experiences in their classrooms. Explore the nine facets of UDL in an ELA lesson for your grade and leave with implementation ideas for your own classroom.
- Tuesday, July 16, from 2-3 p.m. (Register)
- Thursday, July 18, from 10-11 a.m. (Register)
|
 Novels about the Holocaust and The Diary of Anne Frank play are commonly included in English language arts curriculum. Senate Bill 1671 from 2022 instituted ongoing professional development about how to teach the Holocaust. Four free summer conferences are being offered around the state this June in Enid, Tulsa, Norman, and Lawton. State Holocaust experts will present experience-based, classroom-ready lessons. Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Registration is open.
- June 10: Enid
- June 14: Tulsa
- June 17: Norman
- June 19: Lawton
Questions: Contact Nancy Pettus, SB 1671 Professional Development Consultant, at nancy3988@gmail.com.
 Earlier this year, the 2024 finalists for Oklahoma Teacher of the Year were announced. Of the ten finalists, two of them are high school English language arts teachers. Get to know them better in the Q & A below.
Rachel Keith, Ada High School
How many years have you been in education?
I have been teaching for 19 years at the secondary level.
How many years have you been in your current role?
I have been teaching at Ada High School for the past 7 years.
What is your favorite piece of literature to teach?
I have many favorite pieces of literature, but one of my favorite units to teach is
John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men which I pair with excerpts from The Grapes of
Wrath.
Why did you become an English teacher?
English was always my favorite subject in school. In fact, I developed
a love of reading from a young age, spending hours in my local library, browsing
through all the newest books on the shelves. Since my family didn’t have a
television until I was in middle school, reading was my form of “binge watching”
my favorite Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys mysteries. I enjoyed visiting with my
seventh grade English teacher about all the great stories I was reading. I also
had two exceptional English teachers in high school who really poured into my
life. Their influence along with my love of reading rich texts led me into my
current career.
What advice would you give to Oklahoma English teachers?
As English teachers, we have the power to share our love of literature with even
our most reluctant readers. We can encourage our kids to read more by building
in free reading time into our weekly schedule. We can help our students unplug
from their digital world by giving them the opportunity to simply read for fun. No
strings attached. At the same time, set aside your grading and simply read for fun
along with your students. Think about how just 30 minutes of free reading once a
week could change the atmosphere of your classroom and build lifelong readers.
Do you have anything else you would like to share?
For all the AP Lang teachers looking for interesting non-fiction texts, I found a
great novel that my students absolutely loved reading this year. The title is
Oklahoma’s Atticus: An Innocent Man and the Lawyer Who Fought for Him by
Hunter Howe Cates. The story recounts a true crime investigation that landed an
innocent man in jail in 1953, and tells of the author’s grandfather, Elliott Howe,
who worked tirelessly to make sure justice was truly served. This is a great novel
for junior or senior classes, so check it out.
|
Laura Powell, Anadarko High School
How many years have you been in education? I have taught for 30 years - beginning in 1994.
How many years have you been in your current role? I have taught English at Anadarko High School for 10 years.
What is your favorite piece of literature to teach? This is a difficult one to answer. I would say there is a three-way tie between Of Mice and Men, Lord of the Flies, and Fahrenheit 451. The Odyssey would be in fourth place. All of these pieces of literature are true classics which teach lessons about life. The characters are so believable in each of these stories. That is why I like them so much.
Why did you become an English teacher? I knew in 9th grade that I wanted to devote my life to studying literature and language with young people. I did not feel drawn to teaching elementary students. I wanted to work with a population of students who could read higher level literature and respond to it in discussion groups and essay form. As a high school student myself, I knew early on that I wanted to work with high school students.
What advice would you give to Oklahoma English teachers? I have a motto that I am living by this year: "Make new advances, but keep the old. Some are silver and the others gold." Of course this is a spin off of the old adage about making new friends. I, however, have adapted it to fit education. We have two priorities: to keep our best practices in education - the values, the tradition, and the classics that we teach in literature and the basic skills we teach in science and math. At the same time, we need to use technology responsibility to enhance student learning. Such things as Google Classroom as well as a plethora of other programs, many of which are specific to a given discipline, are valuable. There simply must be a foundation and a balance to what we do and why we teach the concepts in our curriculums. Structure goes hand-in-hand with creativity.
Do you have anything else you would like to share? I have been a public servant all of my adult life - both in the military as a veteran of Iraqi Freedom, 2008-2009 with 25 1/2 years of service in the Army Reserve and National Guard, and as a teacher in education for 30 years. It has been a very humbling journey, but also a very rewarding one. I have no regrets. It has all been worth it: challenges, sacrifices, and the joys that come along with seeing fellow soldiers as well as students succeed. It simply is a great day to teach in Oklahoma!
|
If you want a fun reading challenge this summer, I have prepared a Summer Reading Bingo card for you. When you bingo, email me your titles. I will compile all of the summer reads into a document that I will share in a fall newsletter. You can get a regular bingo, or you can try for a blackout! Click the bingo card below to download your copy, or get your card here.
 Reconnect with your inner writer by engaging in some personal writing this summer. The thirty-day challenge can be completed in the span of a month, or you can space it throughout your break. Feel free to skip the weekends and any vacation, but commit to writing in response to thirty invitations, curated by English teachers for English teachers, over the course of the summer.
ELA teachers from Arizona and Utah will also be participating, and we will have a shared Padlet where we can all post our writing and grow together.
The prompts will become available later this month, but make plans now to participate. You will get a notification email around May 21.
 On May 8, the webinar "Restoring Humanity to Striving Adolescent Readers" was presented to secondary ELA teachers in Oklahoma, Utah, Kentucky, and Arizona. All of the resources from the webinar, including the slide deck, research, and instructional handouts are available in this Padlet.
 America’s Field Trip is a new contest that invites students across the country in grades 3–12 to be part of America’s 250th anniversary by sharing their perspectives on what America means to them — and earning the opportunity to participate in unforgettable field trip experiences at some of the nation’s most iconic historic and cultural landmarks.
Students may submit artwork, videos, or essays in response to the contest’s prompt: “What does America mean to you?”
-
Middle School (6th to 8th Grade): Students may submit artwork or a video (up to two minutes).
-
High School (9th to 12th Grade): Students may submit an essay (up to 1,000 words) or a video (up to two minutes).
The deadline is May 17, 2024! More details at the contest website.
The finalists have been selected for the 35th Annual Oklahoma Book Awards. Winners in each category will be announced at the ceremony and banquet on Saturday, May 11, 2024. The event will take place at the Oklahoma History Center, located at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Books are recognized each year for outstanding work in fiction, non-fiction, children and young adult, poetry, and the design, illustration, and photography combined category. To be eligible for consideration, books must be written by an Oklahoman, about the state, or have an Oklahoma theme. This year, the Oklahoma Center for the Book received 179 entries with 28 chosen as finalists.
The finalists for children/young adult are:
This Indian Kid: A Native American Memoir
by Eddie Chuculate
Scholastic Inc.
Benita and the Night Creatures
by Mariana Llanos
Barefoot Books
Gwen Didn’t Care
by Gwendolyn F. Mukes
WF Publications
All Kinds of Special
by Tammi Sauer
Simon & Schuster
Mascot
by Traci Sorell
Charlesbridge Publishing
Dr. Clara Sue Kidwell: Teacher and Mentor
by Celia Stall-Meadows
Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
Writing Prompt
In his book Awe: The Science of Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life, psychology professor Dacher Keltner proposes eight sources of wonder in life that can inspire awe. They are listed in the accompanying image.
Review the list and select one wonder that means something to you. Most are self explanatory; collective effervescence is the energy felt participating in a group, such as cheering on the Thunder in the arena or joining a lively political movement.
Write about a memory or experience with that wonder for at least five minutes.
(Read more about the 8 wonders in this article.)
|
Reading Quote
 Quote taken from this interview. Traci Sorell will be the keynote speaker at the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English fall conference on Friday, October 4, 2024.
|
