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February 3, 2010

...news

News links are provided for informational purposes, do not imply endorsement by the National Council of Teachers of English, and were live when this issue was published; free registration or a paid subscription may be required for some news articles.

Celebrate the Twenty-First National African American Read-In
Sponsored by the Black Caucus of NCTE and NCTE, and endorsed by the International Reading Association, the 2010 African American Read-In will be held during all of February. Learn how to celebrate Black History Month with a Read-In for your school, church, library, bookstore, community, or professional organization.

. . . Enjoy a Few Celebrations
"African American Read-In Day 2010": Watch the video about introducing students to first editions of classic works by African American authors and having "characters" from the books on hand to read and act out excerpts of the documents. WAGA-TV (Atlanta), February 2, 2010

"Wallace School Honors Black Writers": See the photos from the event. Vineland Daily Journal, February 2, 2010

Partially underwritten by:

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"Annual Read-In Celebrates Black Literature": NCTE member Stephanie Carter is quoted (see a video from the event). Indiana Daily Student, February 1, 2010

"Black History Month Used As Teaching Tool": View the photos of "57 Great Faces in Black History": Cherry Hills Courier-Post, February 1, 2010

New City School Class Features Black Literature
The Pittsburgh public schools are offering a black literature course as one choice for senior English; other choices are the standard 12th grade AP or English. NCTE member Anna Roseboro is quoted. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 1, 2010

. . . Obituaries
"Catcher in the Rye Author J. D. Salinger Dies": Fox News, January 28, 2010 and "Author J. D. Salinger 'Doesn't Go Out of Style'": USA Today, January 29, 2010
"Howard Zinn, Philosopher": The Chronicle of Higher Education, February 1, 2010

Help Your Child Build Writing Skills
NCTE member Shelbie Witte gives tips that complement NCTE's "How to Help Your Child Become a Better Writer." See also NCTE's Tips for Writers for the National Gallery of Writing. School and Family.com, January 2010

. . . On Education and the Federal Government
"Obama to Seek Sweeping Change in 'No Child' Law": The New York Times, January 31, 2010
"Obama Calls for More School Funding": eSchool News, January 28, 2010
"National Review: Who Will Judge the Race?": National Public Radio, January 29, 2010

. . . On Teachers
"Gates Calls Teacher Grants a Risk": Education Week, January 29, 2010
"AP Exclusive: Report: States' Policies Protect Ineffective Teachers, Shortchanging Students": Los Angeles Times, January 28, 2010

New Critiques Urge Changes in Common Standards
The standards drafts cited in the article are drafts circulated for comment on January 13, 2010; the official draft for public comment won't be out until mid-February. NCTE member James Marshall is quoted. Education Week, January 28, 2010

States Rush to Join Testing Consortia
Six assessment consortia are planning to meet and talk about upcoming assessments in line with RTT funding. Education Week, February 1, 2010

Anne Frank's Diary Is Back on Culpeper Schools' Reading List
Apparently there's been a misunderstanding about the filing of a complaint against the book and about the school district's reaction. The Washington Post, February 2, 2010

English Language Learner Charter Schools
The National Council of La Raza is helping districts with large Hispanic populations to organize ELL charter schools. District Administration, February 2010

. . . Assessing the Effect of Higher Education
"Measuring Student Learning, Globally": Inside Higher Ed, January 28, 2010
"Assessment Disconnect": Inside Higher Ed, January 27, 2010

...views

Texts by African Americans for Your Classroom
Celebrate the African American Read-In, sponsored by the Black Caucus of NCTE and NCTE, all during Black History Month with texts by African Americans.

See "Selected Black Caucus Recommended Booklist" and "Supplemental List for Young Children and Young Adults." Also see this week's INBOX blog for 28 online resources.

...blog

African American Authors Online
From the earliest slave narratives to contemporary oral histories, there are dozens of texts by African American authors just a click away and ready for the classroom. NCTE INBOX blogger Traci Gardner shares links to these literary and historical documents in this week's NCTE INBOX Blog.

...ideas

Free access to journal articles mentioned in this INBOX is provided for 21 days. After this free access period expires, articles are available to journal subscribers only. Articles are intended for personal use only and may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from NCTE. Initials in annotations indicate academic level of the resource (E=Elementary, M=Middle, S=Secondary, C=College, TE=Teacher Education, G=General).

Plan Your African American Read-In

Join readers across the country and around the world in the Twenty-First National African American Read-In throughout the month of February. Learn more about what happens at a Read-In by reading the English Journal article "The African American Read-In: Celebrating Black Writers and Supporting Youth" (G). The following links can get you started and provide resources as your students read and explore the works of these African American writers.

"Jacqueline Woodson: Real Characters, Real Voices" (E-M-S), from Language Arts, explores the people and experiences that influence the writing of Jacqueline Woodson.
Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963 is the focus of the ReadWriteThink lesson plan Graphing Plot and Character in a Novel (E), which invites students to graph the journey of the family while exploring the novel's plot and character development.
Nikki Giovanni's poetry is the focus of Childhood Remembrances: Life and Art Intersect in Nikki Giovanni’s "Nikki-Rosa" (M-S-C) , from ReadWriteThink. The lesson is based on an activity described in the NCTE title Nikki Giovanni in the Classroom: "The same ol' danger but a brand new pleasure" (S) by Carol Jago.
Nikki Grimes stresses the power of poetry in her article "The Common Denominator" (E-M-S) from English Journal and in "Interview with Poet Nikki Grimes" (E-M-S) from Language Arts.
Langston Hughes's poetry is explored alongside rap lyrics and jazz and blues music in the English Journal article "Culturally Responsive Teaching: The Harlem Renaissance in an Urban English Class" (S).
"Charles Johnson's Middle Passage as Historiographic Metafiction" (C), from College English, outlines techniques for using Johnson's postmodern novel in literature studies.
Alice Walker, bell hooks, and Nikki Giovanni -- all are explored in "Becoming a Writerly Self: College Writers Engaging Black Feminist Essays" (C), from College Composition and Communication, which asserts that personal essays by black feminist writers can be used to teach writers how to connect their personal and social identities.

For more ideas, see the ReadWriteThink Calendar entry for the African American Read-In, which includes more lesson plans, classroom activities, and online resources.

...news from CCCC

Data Privacy Day 2010
In a new report, NCTE and CCCC Intellectual Property Caucus member Martine Courant Rife outlines Data Privacy Day 2010 and offers a teaching idea to help students gain increased awareness on issues of digital privacy protection.

...announcements

Summarization in any Subject
Join Rick Wormeli in "Summarization in any Subject," an NCTE Web seminar on Monday, February 8, 2010, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST. In the 21st century, students not only have to know facts, but they have to be skilled "information managers." Focusing on practical applications, this Web seminar presents the specific steps of summarization, its impact on learning, and dozens of summarization techniques for all subject areas, not just English.

Can't make it to the live event? Buy the CD! On Demand Web seminars provide the recorded version of the virtual event and include all audio, video, chat discussion, and actions within the presentation.

Help Students Engage with the Writing of Zora Neale Hurston
With the publication of her landmark novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston has become a widely taught author in English classrooms across the nation. The authentic voices of her fiction and nonfiction embrace colloquial dialect and explore universal themes of relationships, self-discovery, race, and identity.

In Zora Neale Hurston in the Classroom, the eleventh book in the NCTE High School Literature Series, readers will discover new ways to share the work of this important author with students. The book offers a practical approach to Hurston using a range of student-centered activities for teaching Hurston's nonfiction, short stories, and the print and film versions of Their Eyes Were Watching God. Read a sample chapter.

See these additional NCTE resources for teaching the works of African American authors:

The Fiction of Toni Morrison	Alice Walker in the Classroom
Langston Hughes in the Classroom	Nikki Giovanni in the Classroom

2010 CCCC Convention Tweets
Be sure to follow @ncte_cccc for news about CCCC and the CCCC Annual Convention. And if you're tweeting about the Convention yourself, please use the #cccc10 hash tag!

"Reflecting on Our Practice: Pathways and Possibilities"
Plan now to attend the Whole Language Umbrella's Literacies for All Summer Institute, "Reflecting on Our Practice: Pathways and Possibilities." At this year's Institute in Indianapolis, Indiana, July 8-11, you'll be encouraged to join in reflective conversations about teaching and learning that will enhance the retrospective nature of learning and embrace the diversity of our lives. Speakers for the institute include educators Kathryn Mitchell Pierce, Eric Paulsen, and Franki Sibberson and children's book author Kevin O'Malley.

Candidates for 2010 Elections Announced

Nominees for the NCTE, NCTE Section (Elementary, Middle Level, Secondary, College), and CEE (Conference on English Education) elections have been announced; ballots will be mailed to NCTE members in mid-April.

2010 Midwinter Research Conference: February 19-21

Plan now to attend the 2010 NCTE Assembly for Research Midwinter Conference, February 19-21 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the theme is "Methodology Matters: Moving Literacy Research Forward."

Upcoming Deadlines for NCTE Awards

February 10: Promising Young Writers program for 8th-grade students
February 17: Achievement Awards in Writing program for 11th-grade students
February 15: Conference on English Leadership: Exemplary Leader
March 15: Research Foundation: Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color

NCTE Centennial: A Blast from the Past

Did you know that organizers have reported that nearly 6 million people, from the United States, Canada, Africa, Germany, Japan, and the Virgin Islands, have taken part in the African American Read-In? The program began in 1990 and has been a continuous success since then.

Partially underwritten by:

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