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Newsletter editor:

Amy Clancy– WVMS

Amy.clancy@wv.kyschools.us

Professional Learning + Passionate ELA Teachers = Success in the Classroom is our 2016 Conference theme this year! With the implementation of the new Professional Growth &

Evaluation System (PGES) in Kentucky, there is a state-wide push for professional learning in the educational realm. All educators must continually learn to best serve their students and to grow profes-

sionally in ways that will positively affect success in the classroom. When teachers combine meaningful, relevant professional learning with passion for content and for helping students reach their goals,

success is inevitable! Please join us for the annual conference to get a healthy dose of both professional learning and a renewal of passion. Everyone educator needs that in February!

2016 Kentucky Council of Teachers of English Conference Featured Speakers will include:

Colmon Elridge III – former Executive Assistant and Senior Advisor to Governor Steve Beshear, Elridge will open our conference with timely topics in education in Kentucky.

Makalani Bandele – Kentucky born writer, musician, minister, and literature/creative writing instructor, Bandele will delight us at lunch on Friday by sharing his work

and passion for education.

Dr. Cory Brown – Murray State University Professor in the College of Education, Dr. Brown will speak about culturally relevant pedagogy in the opening session on Sat

urday.

Johnathan Rand – writer of over 75 children’s books since 2000, Rand will share the stage at lunch on Friday, present some of his work, and hold a book signing as well.

Robin Burr – a charismatic Kentucky educator who has traveled far and wide, Burr will present on ways to reach children of poverty in non-traditional ways through ma nipulatives that encourage critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving.

Christopher Epling – award-winning Kentucky illustrator, writer & cartoonist, Epling will present a session on using graphic art and comics to teach the standards and

will hold a book signing.

Patti Slagle – Professional Trainer and affiliate of the National, Kentucky, and Louisville Writing Projects, Slagle will present a session on using newspaper headlines to teach grammar in context.

Make Plans to Join us! Conference Proposals being accepted NOW!

Fall 2015

Registration is now available for the 2015 Ohio Kentucky Indiana Children’s Literature

Conference! Our 2015 conference, Full S.T.E.A.M Ahead: Using the Powerful ARTS of Language, Literacy

and Literature, features Kathi Appelt, Eric Litwin, and Jeffrey Ebbeler and will be held November 7, 2015, at

Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.

Early bird registration for the conference is $85.00. This rate is available through October 16, 2015. After that date,

registration is $90.00. Full-time student registration, with valid i.d. is $35.00. This year online registration is also

available. The link can be found on the OKI website: http://oki.nku.edu/registration/ Those using the online/credit

card method of registration will be charged the conference registration fee plus a $3.00 processing fee per regis-

trant.

The Campbell County Public Library (KY) will host a free public event featuring the conference authors at the

Carrico/Ft. Thomas branch from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. Friday, November 6, 2015.

Also, an exhibition of Jeffrey Ebbeler's artwork will be on display in the Thomas More Art Gallery

from November 5 - November 24, 2015. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, Novem-

ber 5, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. A gallery talk, open to the public and led by Jeffrey Ebbeler, is sched-

uled for Monday, November 16 from 1:15-2:00 p.m. These events will take place on the campus of

Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, KY.

Please consider nominating one of your colleagues for the OKI Charlotte Decker Memorial Award.

The award recognizes an individual whose extraordinary efforts have encouraged others to support

literacy in youth through time, service and philanthropy. The nomination form is available on the

OKI website: http://oki.nku.edu/memorial_award/ Nominations must be submitted no later than

October 9, 2015.

We are also very pleased that the conference is supported in part by the Kentucky Humanities

Council.

We look forward to you joining us for the 2015 OKI Children’s Literature Conference http://oki.nku.edu

Questions may be directed to: Jennifer Smith, Ph.D.—Jennifer Smith: 859-572-6620 smithjen@nku.edu

Non-Fiction Resources

Smithsonian Teen

Tribune

Articles for kids by

Lexile Level. You can

modify the reading by

Lexile level to differ-

entiate. Quizzes

available for most

readings!

NEWSELA

Just like Teen Trib-

une by Smithsonian,

Newsela offers non-

fiction readings in dif-

ferent Lexile levels.

Quizzes are also

available for most

readings as well as

opportunities to re-

spond in writing for

many of the articles

The NONFICTION

MINUTE

Promising to return in

September this is a

newer site that offers

quick, interesting

reads for students.

You can see samples

of what they offer on

the homepage. Hope-

fully they will return

with more to come,

free to teachers and

students.

Deeper Literacy for Deeper Learning is the KRA Conference theme

this year! We are extremely excited about the upcoming 2015 Annual Conference to

be held October 15-17, 2015, at the Galt House in Louisville, KY.

Some of the featured speakers include:

Janice Almas Harvey “Smokey” Daniels Linda Dorn

Jerome Harste Kirby Larson P. David Pearson

Conference information including schedules, session information, and reg-

istration can be found HERE. Keep checking the KRA website for further

information!

How do you Connect with

Parents?

There are many traditional

ways to connect with parents

including snail mail, phone

calls and emails.

How do you connect with

parents? Have you tried oth-

er methods?

Twitter: While confining in

the length of message,

It’s quick and easy to set up a Twit-

ter page and tweet messages to

students and parents.

Remind 101: Quick and easy to set

up– students and parents join them-

selves via a link or code. Allowing a

bit more room for messages, Re-

mind 101 is super easy to use and

texts reminders to students and par-

ents.

Brave Up in ELA, The Outdoorsman’s Way by David Drennan

Union County High School is located in northwest Kentucky just outside the city of Morgan-

field. Like every other high school in the state, UCHS is ready for the start of a new school year. For

most students, this time of year is when they hope time will stop and summer break be just a little bit

longer. However, a group of junior and seniors in Union County share a common enthusiasm for one

particular class to begin this August. That is Outdoorsman’s English.

My newly published book, Sludgefoot, was the first inspiration for this new class. Sludgefoot

was officially released early last fall, shortly after I had arrived at UCHS. It was apparent that the sto-

ry’s content of hunting and nature appealed to the interests of many of my students. I then was privi-

leged to attend the KCTE conference last spring and heard the students of Fern Creek High School

speak about the success of their “food literature” program. My mind began to formulate a plan to bring

this same type of student interest based class to Union. I asked my seniors to discuss the driving forces

of the culture of UCHS. They concluded that athletics and the outdoors would be the two interest

groups I could base my English instruction.

I tell people that this concept is not new and also that I did not “invent” it. Roberto Rivera uses

dance and drama to actively engage students in Chicago in English instruction. Atlanta’s students learn

by the rhythms of Ron Clark. In Jefferson County, students support their learning by cooking a meal.

Outdoorsman’s English though, is a concept that is uniquely Union County. Hunting, fishing, and just

being outside are integral parts of this rural community. Allowing this student interest to be the pivotal

point in instruction will help my students become more engaged throughout each rigorous standards-

based unit and also allow them to see the relevance in their daily lives and activities.

Outdoorsman’s English is junior and senior level course at UCHS, layered to draw further con-

nections between texts. Both are pre-Advanced Placement courses and will service approximately 150

students in it’s inaugural year. Learning environment and student leadership are among the critical are-

as to be innovative and engage students. This ELA class will be without the boundary of walls or dis-

tance. Our class will meet outside a majority of the week and will include trips to local state parks and

wildlife management areas.

Continued on page 4

Deadline: January 31, 2016

Theme: Research Writing

Few elements of the English/Language Arts curriculum excite pas-

sions–both favorable and otherwise–the way “the research paper”

does. Many teachers enshrine it; many others disparage it. Of course, research in the writing

curriculum does not necessarily culminate in a formal research paper. The spring 2016 issue of

the Bulletin invites you to share your ideas, strategies, and assignments for the research paper

or for incorporating research in writing which defies the traditional paradigm. Consider, for in-

stance, the following issues. What value do you see in the traditional research paper? What oth-

er assignments or activities provide the same value? How do you use research in other assign-

ments which do not culminate in a traditional research paper? What purposes does research

serve in the overall curriculum? In what ways do you employ traditional elements (e.g., note

cards, annotated bibliographies, prescribed sources) effectively? What alternative forms (e.g.,

multigenre writing, I-Search papers, multimedia projects) have proven of value? What variety do

you recommend in alternate approaches (e.g., interdisciplinary collaboration, ethnographies, ser-

vice learning)? What technological developments or resources (e.g., smartphone apps, search

engines, databases) have proven useful for research? How does research today look different

from how it looked just a few years ago?

In addition to articles, contributions are sought for standing sections of the Bulletin:

Teachers as Writers: Poetry, Essays, Letters

KEB Teaching Strategy Exchange

Professional Reading Recommendations

Humor

What’s New in Young Adult Literature?

Speak Out: Professional Issues

Inquiries and drafts are welcome.

The Bulletin observes MLA documentation style and NCTE’s position on avoiding sexism in lan-

guage. Articles from 500 to 2500 words welcome!

Please See Revised Submission Guidelines/KEB Editorial Policy HERE.

Electronic submissions are preferred: keb@kcte.org.

Hard copies may be mailed to Dr. Judith Szerdahelyi, English Department, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd. #11086, Bowling Green, KY 42101-1086.

KY English Bulletin

Call For Manuscripts

At these sites, students will be introduced to the works of Thoreau, Emerson, Stuart as well as several other sto-

ries set in the wilderness around the world. Outdoorsman’s English will be linked with classrooms around the

state through distance learning, pen pals, book talks, book giveaways and other service learning opportunities.

These projects, as well as many others in the works, will involve students in leadership within the classroom set-

ting.

Before the school year ended last year, some of my junior students were already planning the components of this

new class. They discussed opportunities we needed to explore and formulated a student-led leadership structure

to catch failing peers before they dropped out or could not graduate. Other students read potential novel selec-

tions and gave peers a five-minute book talk in front of the class. Students even combined the idea of a classroom

cookout with reading Macbeth after school and at night. Interestingly, the excitement and engagement I’ve men-

tioned was created just by the thought of this class coming to UCHS. At that time, there was no guarantee the

course would be offered. These same students had been some of my most unmotivated just weeks prior to this

discussion! Teachers, counselors and parents have already noticed the shift in these students!

The stakes have never been higher. Only forty percent of senior students currently enrolled are ready for college

level writing. Only twenty percent are ready for college reading. Yet this class has already created excitement and

a readiness to be brave, lead nations and impact the future generations of Union County!

Recently Kristie Hofelich had the opportunity to attend the NCTE Affiliate Leader-

ship Meeting. The NCTE Annual Convention 2016 will be in Atlanta and will focus

on Advocacy/Action Groups. Below are some Instructional Ideas that Kristie took

away from the San Jose 2015 meeting:

Divide a large set of Legos into Ziplock bags (one per group at tables); give the whole group a task (i.e. build the vehicle for change in your organization) but avoid using specific instructions or restrictions. Pause about 5 minutes in to say that people can feel free to look at what other groups are doing. De-brief at the end: share out at each table, what were challenges, what does this tell you about yourselves and your group members, etc.

Give each student a plain birthday hat; have them decorate with any supplies available to represent themselves Can do group identities as well, like the Peacocks Students share with each other, but not with the whole group (saves time) Use them throughout the year for speaking, listening, accountability, grouping, etc.

Publish a literary journal at school in Journalism, sell them for a fee, publish student AND teacher writing, have online version in the newspaper; get shirts for all senior staff

Do intentional read-alouds of poems that have a specific impact on the audience to set the tone Mary Oliver’s “Crossing the Swamp” Mark Doty's "A Display of Mackerel"

What do we want to achieve as high school seniors if we lived in a world of complete wonder and possibility? Brain-storm as a class on chart paper. Give each person/student several sticky notes, tell them to determine barriers to achieving these goals, one per sticky, five per person; have them place these on "in our control" & "out of control"; categorize them into five themes; decide how to over-come the barriers

Brave up In ELA continued

Union County High School

Have you read David Drennan’s book Sludgefoot? You can

find it HERE.

Follow David on Facebook

Photos: Kristie in action at the NCTE

Affiliate Leadership Meeting

WHAT IS THE KCTE/LA WRITING CONTEST?

KCTE/LA sponsors a writing contest at the Elementary, Middle, High School, and College levels in with

winners in first through fifth place in the following four categories:

1. Narrative/Real or Imagined

2. Informative/Explanatory

3. Opinion/Argumentative 4. Poetry

WHO CAN SUBMIT STUDENT WRITING?

Submissions can be entered by any current member of KCTE (Email membership@kcte.org to check membership status)

WHEN CAN A TEACHER BEGIN SUBMITTING ENTRIES?

Submissions will be accepted electronically through May 31.

WHEN WILL STUDENTS AND TEACHERS BE NOTIFIED OF WINNING ENTRIES?

Teachers will be notified by August 31

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

Teachers may submit up to three (3) total student entries in each of the categories (for example, one mid-

dle school teacher may submit three student entries in the Narrative category, three entries in the Poetry

category, and so on).

See the KCTE/LA Contest Page for All Details and Submission Instructions.

NGID– Next Generation Instructional Design

This year I was given the opportunity to collaborate with the NGID cadre– forming teams of teachers to

collaborate on common units of study.

The common unit incorporates an LDC template as a final product, but can involve many avenues along

the way including technology projects. The goal of the project is “ to create and implement common units of

study – instructional tasks, lessons and assessments to help students master more academically rigorous content.

“ (NGID—Fund for KY Blog)

The two-day initial meeting involved collaboration, idea generation and brainstorming, and Work Group

times to draft and fine tune a common unit of study.

Once units outlines were developed, we had a really need opportunity to “Pitch” our unit idea to students

to see if they felt it was a good idea . In this “Shark Tank” we were able to meet with students face-to-

face and via Skype. Team members explained the unit to the student with the question in mind, “Does

this sound like something you would want to do in the classroom?” For me, of everything we did the two

days there, this was the most interesting and exciting part. Actually getting student buy-in (or possibly

not)= back to the drawing board…) to make sure our unit idea would be motivating for students.

With this being the first endeavor in Kentucky to produce this type of unit, expectations are high. Some

groups were able to move straight into more innovative ideas for their units, while others went with tradi-

tional reading/writing ideas. The toughest part for me is trying to envision how I can make a unit work in

my classroom, and remaining open-minded to give it a try. For my group, I was with many reading

teachers, me being the only writing teacher present for middle school. My group quickly moved to the

analysis of theme as their focus, something I do not focus on in my writing class. My class looks more

specifically at writing techniques and skills. I will acknowledge that at this time, the unit idea is not com-

pletely meshing with what I need to teach.; however, I am committed to giving it a go nonetheless.

For this commitment we are required to teach the unit, produce student writing (or other) products to

share out with the NGID group and teachers of Kentucky. We will meet several more times both face-to-

face and virtually to work on our units in hopes of producing two common assignment units.

Opportunities will likely open again in the near future for those interested– it is a great way to collaborate

and network! Stay tuned for updates on our NGID MS Reading/Writing unit progress which incorpo-

rates cultural tales and the analysis of theme!

KCTE/LA Writing

Contests

Make plans now to save student writing for submission to our Writing Contest!

Conveniently, the deadline is the end of May so you have all year to select and sub-

mit student writing in up to 4 categories!

The Stephanie Kirk Classroom Learning Award

Any ELA KCTE/LA member may submit an innovative project that encourages attainable improvement in the

Language Arts areas. The purpose of the Award is to promote the teaching of reading/writing in classrooms in

KY and to honor former board member, Stephanie Kirk. The teacher-project selected will receive $500.00 to

be used in the classroom, free registration and complimentary hotel for the upcoming conference. The winner

of this award will be expected to present their project idea and its results the following conference year (in

February). Submissions may be made July– November1. Submit your Project HERE

Teachers of the Year Awards.

Each year, KCTE/LA recognizes teachers at the Elementary, Middle Grades, High School, and College level

who excel in their duties as teachers, mentors to students, and as teacher-leaders in their buildings, districts

and beyond. The winning teachers, one at each grade level, will receive a plaque, a free one-year membership

to KCTE/LA, and recognition at this year’s conference.

Submit your nomination HERE

Administrator of the Year Award

Each year, KCTE/LA recognizes an administrator (district or school level) who excels in promoting teacher

leadership and learning in English and Language Arts. The winning administrator will receive a plaque, a free

one-year membership to KCTE/LA, and recognition at this year’s conference. Submit your nomination

HERE. .

For a full list of the 2015 Award winners visit our Awards page at kcte.org.

Nominations accepted through November 1.

Looking for some fresh narrative ideas? Well, so was I. I have long been

“over” the traditional (and non-realistic) on-demand prompts used for narrative

writing. Let’s face it, much narrative writing today does NOT fit that mold.

Instead, I try new ideas each year and this year was no different.

Four Things Narrative Essay:

I stumbled across a flash fiction short story- “Six Reasons my Sister Hates

Me”. We used this model in class to look at how the narrative transitions, uses

personal examples, some compare/contrast and how it closes. Then I wrote

one with them to use as a more realistic model. Students chose their topic

and came up with 4 reasons rather than 8 (for reasons stated in the conclu-

sion below) For 8 graders, some got it and others didn’t, but ultimately my

goal was to expose them to something different in the narrative genre.

Pet Peeve:

This essay was a bit more traditional in that it had the introduction/conclusion

and body points. Students chose a pet peeve and wrote essays that explain

not only why it bothered them but included specific examples of “a time when”

that pet peeve occurred. Write Source has a great Pet Peeve Model that we

used in class. There were some wonderful examples of voice, description,

and figurative language in these rough draft essays– I’ve got my job cut out

for me to help them grow and improve!

Ultimately, my students now have two drafts that use personal examples/

“times when” that students can go to, in order to practice the writing tech-

niques we will focus on for the next several weeks in class. I was able to ex-

pose them not just to different kinds of writing/topics, but most importantly I

was able to give them choice in their ideas which produced two great writing

pieces that most students (and I mean some pretty reluctant learners too)

wrote and turned in on time! (See MODELS for both HERE! )

Narrative

Resources:

Achieve the Core:

Offers narrative

prompts and narra-

tive exemplars from

grades K-12

Flash Fiction Online

– See many narrative

stories most likely

suitable for upper

MS and HS students.

Write Source:

Many writing mod-

els across genres and

grade levels.

Lexington HS offers

a few HS Narrative

Models

Western Technical

College has many

narrative and reflec-

tive essay models

posted.

Oregon Dept of Edu-

cation has several

Narrative and Imagi-

native Writing ex-

emplars Scored from

high to low.