Literacy teachers, working with community members and educators across a school system, have a special responsibility in the wake of school tragedy. They help students build empathy and understanding through reading literature, informational texts, and multimedia accounts of events in and around their school. They help students gain perspective by learning to place events in cultural, social, and historical contexts. And they help students organize evidence so they can write persuasively about changes that will promote safety, security, and healing. In a time where violence and social disruption do not stop at the school house door, NCTE honors the vital work of literacy educators, and all who collaborate with them, to advance learning under the most difficult circumstances.
-- Sandy Hayes, NCTE President
Response to Newtown
On Monday
Blog post by NCTE Member Kylene Beers
No Ordinary Monday
Responsive Classroom
Resources: Talking and Teaching About the Shooting in Newtown, Conn.
"The Learning Network," The New York Times, December 14, 2012
8 Ways to Show Your Support for Newtown
edudemic.com
How Literature and Writing Support Healing
Difficult Days and Difficult Texts
Voices from the Middle, Vol. 9, No. 2, December 2001
Writing Down the Grief
Huffington Post blog written by NCTE Member Lori Ungemah, May 23, 2012
Teaching in a Time of Crisis
NCTE Resolution
Lesson Plans
Responding to Tragedy: Then and Now
Lesson plan from ReadWriteThink.org
Reflecting on Tragedy in the Classroom
NCTE INBOX Ideas, August 30, 2011
Stories and School Violence
NCTE INBOX Ideas, April 17, 2007
Peace from Within: Teaching Texts That Comfort and Heal
English Journal, Vol. 89, No. 5, May 2000
Writing through a Tragedy
English Journal, Vol. 93, No. 6, July 2004
I Have a Dream: Exploring Nonviolence in Young Adult Texts
Lesson plan from ReadWriteThink.org
Helping Students in a Time of Crisis
Helping Youth and Children Recover From Traumatic Events
Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools, U.S. Department of Education
Resources for Coping With the Newtown School Tragedy
Education World
Helping Kids during Crisis
American School Counselor Association
School Resources
National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Talking with Children
Free Technology for Teachers
Working with Parents and Community Members
Doctor Advises Adults on How to Talk with Children about Connecticut School Shooting
Cincinnati Children's Hospital News Release, December 14, 2012
Parent Guides
National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center