LibGuides: Novel Ideas: March 2018

Announcements

Quarter 3 Collections Survey
And the fourth quarter begins!

Wow! What a year! When one looks at the big picture, ELA teachers are navigating not only new curriculum and new resources and assessments, but many have also stayed the course during building renovations and rebuilding. And, amid the dust and boxes, the packing and the moving, truly amazing things are happening in our classrooms. I have been honored to be invited into many classrooms where students are engaged in their learning in new and different ways. Kudos to our OPS ELA staff. You are the best!
In this issue of Novel Ideas, the Quarter 3 Collections Survey is available for you to complete along with the surveys for Quarters 1 and 2. Your feedback is important and will be instrumental in any adjustments to the curriculum. Your instructional leaders in your building will be asking for your participation in a variety of summer opportunities to fine-tune our curriculum framework. These surveys provide for you a voice in those tweaks to our existing curriculum.
What would March and April be without some state testing? As the state moves forward with new assessments and acronyms (NSCAS), we, too, move with our students to new learning and achievement. Hard work? Of course. Worth it? Absolutely.

I wish you all a happy fourth quarter!
Shelley

Our new New Teacher Meeting will be April 12!

Classroom Spotlight: Word Walls

What are word walls?

"A Word Wall (Cunningham & Allington, 1994) is a collection of words that support ongoing teaching and learning in the classroom. Words collected on the Word Wall could be high-utility words. These are words that used often in an individual classroom...a topical Word Wall consists of words related to a theme or unit of instruction" (Allen, Inside Words, pg. 119).

Why use word walls?

"Word Walls can make an immediate and significant difference in students' academic writing" (Allen, Inside Words, pg. 120). They are even mentioned in our Best Instructional Practices Handbook.

Examples:

According to Allen, Word Walls can be displayed in the classroom. But if you are looking ways to support students outside of class, you may consider creating a portable wall.

Examples are from King Science Magnet Middle School.

Example from Monroe Middle School

Examples from Burke High School

Artcles of Interest

A plagiarism poster – This detailed graphic, created by Curtis Newbold (Westminster College, Salt Lake City) can be used as a wall chart to help secondary-school students understand the different dimensions of plagiarism:

https://sites.google.com/a/concordian.ac.th/cis-ee/_/rsrc/1426666553411/research/referencing/Infographic_Did-I-Plagiarize.jpg

“Did I Plagiarize? The Types and Severity of Plagiarism Violations” by Curtis Newbold, 2014, http://thevisualcommunicationguy.com

The Rhetorical Analysis of Poetry
Poetry is not a given in AP Language and Composition—in fact, some teachers use only nonfiction texts because a major focus of the class is rhetorical analysis. But rhetoric is everywhere, and its compact form and concentrated language make poetry a particularly effective vehicle for introducing students to rhetorical analysis.
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Why Giving Effective Feedback Is Trickier Than It Seems
Teachers intuitively know that giving feedback on student work is an important part of the learning process. Research on different learning strategies conducted by John Hattie bears out what many know instinctively to be true — in order to improve at something humans need to know what they’re doing well and how they can improve. But giving effective feedback in the classroom can be trickier than it seems. It’s more of an art than a simple practice and requires the teacher to be disciplined and thoughtful about what is worthy of feedback, as well as when to give it.
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Four Ways to Teach with Wordless Picture Books
Picture books are no longer relegated to elementary school. Middle school (and high school!) teachers love them because they are accessible to all learners, are a quick way to share a text, and there is a picture book for every topic. My favorites are the books without words.

When I use wordless picture books in my classroom, I am able to push my students even further, because they are doing all the textual work. I love the freedom and the range of interpretation that these books give my kids.
The books also allow for differentiation: each student is working with the text at their level. The books are accessible to those still learning a skill and afford great challenge and depth to those who can take it further.
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Mentor Texts for Teaching Argument Writing
As a follow-up to our November 2017 #NCTEchat, Using Mentor Texts, we asked our social media community to share some of their favorite mentor texts with us. In the first part of this series, we’ve compiled educators’ favorite mentor texts for teaching argument writing. To see the original messages this list is based on, click here.
https://wakelet.com/wake/2d91b900-0b04-4419-a72f-163435318d3a

Learning Goals

Previous Collections Surveys

Quarter 1 Collections Survey
Please take a moment to provide feedback on your experiences with the Quarter 1 Collection. This information will be used to make any necessary tweaks to the curriculum for next year.
Quarter 2 Collections Survey
We would like to gather your feedback on your experiences with the Quarter 2 Collection. This feedback will be used to make any necessary tweaks to the curriculum for next year.

Collections Corner

Who do you call if you have issues with my HRW? Follow the Technology Protocol document, located on our ELA SharePoint in the HMH folder (as seen below). If you are not reporting issues, we can't fix them!

For Hardware Issues

Contact your Building Tech Support, and they will contact District Tech Support if needed.
Consider creating a Computer Log to keep in the classroom for students or teachers to record hardware issues with specific computers.

For Platform Issues

Call or email OPS Helpdesk to add students, deactivate students, change student settings, change student classes, student cannot log into HRW, teacher cannot log into HRW to confirm roster and access. First, you may need to contact your building Data Processor to verify information is correct in Infinite Campus.
Contact HMH Product Technical Support. See Below for directions. Be sure to get a CASE NUMBER from HMH Tech Support. Reply to HMH follow-up email/call to confirm resolution. ***Note: case will be closed if no reply.
If you cannot resolve the issue, contact Building Tech Support and provide your CASE NUMBER, and they will contact Billy Pugliese, billy.pugliese@hmhco.com for escalation.

Contacting HMH Product Technical Support

Hours of Operation 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. CST M–F – Holidays Excluded

To save time, please consider sending an email. Many customers find it helpful to receive written documentation when addressing issues.

When sending us an email request, please be sure to include the product name, any applicable user account information, and any other information that may help us research the issue you are experiencing.

PHONE: 800-323-9239

EMAIL: techsupport@hmhco.com

Professional Development

New Perspectives Teaching Fellowship The New Perspective Teaching Fellows will join Street Law staff and experts for a three-day, collaborative workshop to learn and practice the deliberation method, explore empathy-building activities, and plan to conduct deliberations with their students and with members of their communities. Fellows will then lead four deliberations with students during the 2018-19 school year. Two of those four deliberations will include adult members of the wider community, deliberating with and alongside students. Those two community-inclusive deliberations are intended to bring cross-generational perspectives together, and could happen during or after the school day. Teaching Fellows will be supported throughout this process by Street Law staff, a local coordinator, and one another. Street Law will provide classroom-ready teaching materials for at least eight current, controversial topics. The topics will be selected with local input and advice, but may include juvenile justice, immigration, free speech, religious freedom, and more. Preference will be given to language arts and social studies teachers. Applications are DUE APRIL 9.

New/Updated Novels: 6th Grade

Color of My Words by Lynn Joseph
ISBN: 9780064472043
Publication Date: 2001-12-24
Twelve-year-old Ana Rosa is a blossoming writer growing up in the Dominican Republic, a country where words are feared. Yet there is so much inspiration all around her -- watching her brother search for a future, learning to dance and to love, and finding out what it means to be part of a community -- that Ana Rosa must write it all down. As she struggles to find her own voice and a way to make it heard, Ana Rosa realizes the power of her words to transform the world around her -- and to transcend the most unthinkable of tragedies.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
ISBN: 9780312659301
Publication Date: 2011-01-04
In this witty historical fiction middle grade novel set at the turn of the century, an 11-year-old girl explores the natural world, learns about science and animals, and grows up. A Newbery Honor Book. Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones. With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century.
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
ISBN: 9781416590842
Publication Date: 2008-06-17
Based on the remarkable true story of Helen Keller and her teacher Annie Sullivan, this inspiring and unforgettable play has moved countless readers and become an American classic. Young Helen Keller, blind, deaf, and mute since infancy, is in danger of being sent to an institution because her inability to communicate has left her frustrated and violent. In desperation, her parents seek help from the Perkins Institute, which sends them a "half-blind Yankee schoolgirl" named Annie Sullivan to tutor their daughter. Despite the Kellers' resistance and the belief that Helen "is like a little safe, locked, that no one can open," Annie suspects that within Helen lies the potential for more, if only she can reach her. Through persistence, love, and sheer stubbornness, Annie breaks through Helen's walls of silence and darkness and teaches her to communicate, bringing her into the world at last.
Now Is the Time for Running by Michael Williams
ISBN: 9780316077880
Publication Date: 2013-03-12
Just down the road from their families, Deo and his friends play soccer in the dusty fields of Zimbabwe, cheered on by Deo's older brother, Innocent. It is a day like any other... until the soldiers arrive and Deo and Innocent are forced to run for their lives, fleeing the wreckage of their village for the distant promise of safe haven in South Africa. Along the way, they face the prejudice and poverty that greet refugees everywhere, but eventually Deo finds hope, joining dozens of other homeless, displaced teens on the World Cup Street Soccer team--a possible ticket out of extreme hardship to a new life. Captivating and timely, Now Is the Time for Running is a staggering story of survival that follows Deo and his brother on a transformative journey that will stay with readers long after the last page.
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
ISBN: 9780060760908
Publication Date: 2011-12-27
In this Newbery Honor novel, New York Times bestselling author Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of three sisters who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them. "This vibrant and moving award-winning novel has heart to spare."* Eleven-year-old Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. She's had to be, ever since their mother, Cecile, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California. But when the sisters arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with their mother, Cecile is nothing like they imagined. While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their mother sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panthers. Unexpectedly, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern learn much about their family, their country, and themselves during one truly crazy summer. This moving, funny novel won the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction and the Coretta Scott King Award and was a National Book Award Finalist. Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern's story continues in P.S. Be Eleven and Gone Crazy in Alabama. Readers who enjoy Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham and Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming will find much to love in One Crazy Summer. This novel was the first featured title for Marley D's Reading Party, launched after the success of #1000BlackGirlBooks. Maria Russo, in a New York Times list of "great kids' books with diverse characters," called it "witty and original." *Brightly.com, in Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich's article "Knowing Our History to Build a Brighter Future: Books to Help Kids Understand the Fight for Racial Equality"