2016 Annual Convention proposals are due TONIGHT at 11:59 pm PST
News & Ideas  

"Stories matter. Lived experiences across human cultures
including realities about appearance, behavior, economic circumstance,
gender, national origin, social class, spiritual belief, weight, life,
and thought matter."

-- NCTE Resolution on the Need for Diverse Children's and Young Adult Books


diverse books

Approved by NCTE members a year ago, the statement continues:

 Resolved, that the National Council of Teachers of English

  • advocate for more children's and young adult books from publishers and booksellers that reflect the culturally diverse lives and experiences present in the United States, and

  • highlight and support authors, illustrators, publishers, and booksellers whose work represents multiple perspectives and cultural diversity in the lives of all children.

Diverse Authors among Winners of NCTE's Awards for Children's Fiction and Nonfiction
Sharon M. Draper was recently named winner of the 2016 NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children for her book Stella by Starlight. Sharon and many other diverse authors were honored in the 2016 Charlotte Huck Awards and the 2016 Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children.

de la Peña's Last Stop on Market Street Takes 2016 Newbery; Blackall's Finding Winnie Wins Caldecott
School Library Journal, January 13, 2016

Listen to this conversation with Matt de la Peña from ReadWriteThink.org.

Latino Children's Book Authors Achieve Unprecedented Recognition
"I know this, it's powerful to see yourself in literature. And it's even more powerful to see yourself in literature that has been critically acknowledged in this way. That's a really exciting part of this whole Newbery experience." -- author Matt de la Peña.  NBC News, January 12, 2016

Celebrating African Americans: The Arts
School Library Journal, January 12, 2016

10 Children's Books That Feature Diverse Characters
PBS NewsHour, December 11, 2015

It's Exciting to See Many 2016 NCTE Charlotte Huck and Orbis Pictus Award Honorees on ALA's 2016 Awards List:

  • Newbery medal winner, Caldecott honor book, and Coretta Scott King honor book Last Stop on Market Street is an NCTE Charlotte Huck recommended title.
  • Caldecott honor book and Coretta Scott King winner Trombone Shorty is an NCTE Orbis Pictus recommended title.
  • Belpré illustrator honor book and Sibert winner Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras is an NCTE Orbis Pictus honor book.
  • Sibert honor book Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans is the NCTE Orbis Pictus winner.
  • Stonewall Children's Award winner George is an NCTE Charlotte Huck recommended title.
  • YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults winner Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsburg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War is an Orbis Pictus recommended title.

See also

Diversity and Dolls: How One Parent Is Teaching about Race
NCTE Vice President Jocelyn Chadwick is quoted.  NBC News, January 8, 2016

Statement about the Role of Early Childhood Education and Racism
Written by the Early Childhood Education Assembly of NCTE.  NCTE website

NCTE Position Statement in Support of Ethnic Studies Initiatives in K-12 Curricula
Hear Ethnic Studies Task Force member Iris Ruiz discuss the history and importance of this statement.  NCTE website

One Dozen Resources Celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Literacy and NCTE Blog, January 10, 2016

2016 African American Read-In

New from NCTE! Resources to Help You Plan Your African American Read-In
During the month of February, schools, churches, libraries, bookstores, community and professional organizations, and interested citizens are urged to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month by hosting an African American Read-In. Hosting an event can be as simple as bringing together friends to share a book, or as elaborate as arranging public readings and media presentations that feature professional African American writers (learn more about hosting an event).

See our new toolkit that includes booklists, badges, bookmarks, articles, and other promotional materials.

Hear NCTE member David Kirkland talk about how the Read-In has influenced participants and communities.

Announcements  

Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color

The NCTE Research Foundation's Cultivating New Voices among Scholars of Color (CNV) program is designed to provide two years of support, mentoring, and networking opportunities for early career scholars of color. Since 2000, CNV has supported more than 80 scholars/fellows of color across seven different cohorts. Participating fellows, working closely with an assigned mentor and other members of the cohort, investigate current issues in language, literacy, teacher education, English, and cultural studies.

Read more about CNV's 2014-2016 cohort and their activities at the 2015 NCTE Annual Convention in the 2015 NCTE Diversity Brochure (pp. 9-10). March 15 is the application deadline for the next program.

March 25: Early Career Educator of Color Leadership Award Deadline

Practicing pre-K to university level literacy educators of color who are in the first five years of a paid teaching career and who aspire to build a career in literacy education are encouraged to apply by March 25 for the NCTE Early Career Educator of Color Leadership Award. Recipients will receive two years of support from a mentor to help plan his or her convention experience and to use NCTE resources to enhance professional growth. Recipients also have the opportunity to present or co-present at the NCTE Annual Convention (year two). 

Next #nctechat Is January 17

January 17 #nctechat

Hosted by the members of NCTE's Studies in Literacies and Multimedia (SLAM) Assembly, "Beyond the Screen: Multimedia in the Classroom" is the topic of our next #nctechat on Sunday, January 17, at 8 p.m. ET.

SLAM as an assembly "promotes advances in the field of multimedia and digital literacies not limited to uses of multimedia in classroom teaching; modes of research production with digital tools; and cultural shifts in relation to societal uses of multimedia."

Nominations for WLU Awards and Elections Are Due January 15

The Whole Language Umbrella (WLU) of NCTE is accepting nominations for its Service Award, Lifetime Membership Award, and Reclaiming the Joy of Teaching Award. Nominations are also being sought for the WLU elections; candidates for board members and for the president-elect are being accepted through January 15.

Literacy That Matters: Curriculum, Creativity, and Critical Action

January 31 is the deadline for submitting a program proposal for the 2016 Literacies for All Summer Institute, July 14-16 in St. Louis, Missouri. The theme of this year’s Institute, "Literacy That Matters: Curriculum, Creativity, and Critical Action," invites us to share the ways in which we move beyond the limits of mandated curriculum, commercial programs, and testing as we explore language and literacy teaching and learning that matters in the lives of our students and their communities.

March 11 Is Deadline for Nominations for CCCC Offices

CCCC logoThe 2016 CCCC Nominating Committee invites you to submit nominations for the posts of Assistant Chair and for members of the Executive Committee and 2017 Nominating Committee. Further information about the CCCC elections process and responsibilities associated with each position is available on the CCCC website. Please send nominations via email.

First Folio! The Book That Gave Us Shakespeare!

This national traveling exhibition organized by the Folger Shakespeare Library is under way. Many NCTE affiliates are taking part in the tour and some participants are presenting workshops in advance of the exhibit reaching their locations. See the website for more information and a "find a folio near you" locator.

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A Professional Association of Educators in English Studies, Literacy, and Language Arts