ELA and Reading Crew Weekly Brew

Happy New Year!

• ATTN MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHERS: Monday brings everyone's favorite evening... the town wide middle school spelling bee! This is the 10th anniversary of our partnership with the Noah Webster House to host this special middle school event. Which means it will be bigger than ever! And by that I mean about the same as every year, but I will be an extra enthusiastic emcee. We will be kicking off at 6 pm in the Town Hall auditorium, and we hope to see you all there.

• Please remind your speller today about the prompt 6 pm start time; he/she/they should plan to arrive by 5:45 the latest.

• If you have NOT yet submitted a bio for your team’s speller, please do so ASAP and by the end of the day today.

• ATTN HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS: We have a department CSI on Wednesday.

• Reading, you will meet to brainstorm and research and discuss possibilities for revisioning tier II service providing in a block schedule. Please let Amy know if you plan to meet in person or virtually; I will try to meet up with you later in the afternoon if I can.

• English, we will meet in person in TJ’s room (252) at Conard. We will begin at 1:30. Agenda here. You may use the time from 1:15-1:30 OR part of a PLC meeting time to prepare for this CSI by reading the prologue of Grading for Equity by Joe Feldman, titled “MALLORY’S DILEMMA” (xxvii-xli of book or page 11-25 of pdf). Highlight/jot down parts of the story that resonate with you. Be prepared to share out on Wednesday.

• ATTN TEACHERS AND LIBRARIANS: Believe it or not, it’s time to start our work on our summer reading lists! As we build our lists of recommended titles for rising 6th graders, rising 7th and 8th graders, and rising 9th and 10th graders, we are looking for title recommendations from you! We are hoping for a list of age-appropriate, engaging titles that cover a wide spectrum of character identities, genres, and interests. Our hope is to have a list of accessible (i.e. digital or audio options, library access, preferably available on paperback) texts by contemporary, living authors. Think about titles your students have shared with you, written about, talked about. Librarians, what are the high circulation titles you recommend? Thank you for your help! Complete this brief form with any titles for consideration for this year’s list.

• ATTN ELA Teachers of Students in Grades 8-11: Recommendation season begins this Monday January 12th and ends on the 22nd. You will have time allotted during the building faculty meeting. If you require more time to complete your recommendations, please communicate with your PLC team and DS and utilize part of a PLC team meeting time to complete your recs. Information has come via email from your school's scheduling AP. Please let Amy or Tom know if you need support. For ease of access, these are our relevant course codes:

• HSEN6700 AP English: Language. and Composition.

  HSEN8701 AP English: Literature and Comp. (ECE)

  HSEN7412 Contemporary Composition(ECE)

  HSEN7456 Contemporary Journalism

  HSEN7450 Creative Writing

  HSEN2400 English 9

  HSEN2600 Honors English 9

  HSEN4400 English 10

  HSEN4600 Honors English 10

  HSEN6400 English 11: Individual and Society

  HSEN7460 Monsters and Mythos

  HSEN7470 The Language of Poetry and Lyrics

  HSEN7413 Women's Literature (ECE)

  
  

• ATTN MS ELA TEACHERS: The Star winter window is open and ends on January 16th. If you need support administering, the Star FAQ document is a helpful place to start. To log in for the first time, visit the Star website, select the Teacher option, and click “Forgot Password” to reset. Most usernames follow this format: first initial + last name (example: ngosselin). If you have any questions or need support, please reach out to Nicole Gosselin.
• Important: Please use the secure browser (found under the “apps” button on student Chromebooks) when administering Star. While students can access Star through the district website, the secure browser is strongly recommended as it prevents access to the internet or games. Instructions for locating the secure browser are on page 2 of the Test Administration Procedures document.
• In addition, please ensure that students verify their name on the screen before beginning the assessment to prevent taking another student’s test. Once the assessment is complete, students must log out before leaving the device.
• See these helpful resources:

• Testing Log-in, Class Lists, IDs, and Chromebooks

• Generating Student IDs from PowerTeacher Pro

• ATTN HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHERS: We are back for year five of the Shakespeare Competition! Hall’s competition will take place after school in the Black Box on February 9th. Conard’s competition will take place after school in the Black Box on February 12th. Snow date for either: 2/19. To support your students in getting involved, please:

• Find 5 minutes of class time in the coming weeks to show this video of Amy explaining the competition. (or let Amy know if you’d like her to come in and give the spiel live!)

• Send this pre-written email with all materials hyperlinked to interested students and/or post on your Classroom. Hall version/ Conard version

• Promote the competition as much as you can. Our best way to get student competitors involved is by tapping students on the shoulder and letting them know we would think they’d be great. Hall version/ Conard version

• Help students sign up! Hall sign up / Conard sign up

• Approaching Department CSIs:

• MS only: January 21st. Focus on grading practices.

• MS only: January 28th. Quarter 2 Calibration.

• HS only: February 4th. Quarter 2 Calibration.

• NEW! Approaching! Real Art Ways in Hartford is hosting the Riverwood Poetry Series on Wednesday, Jan 14th at 7 PM. Admission is free. The evening begins with an open mic featuring readers with one poem (one page) and continues with a poetry reading featuring regionally or nationally known poets.This month, Riverwood Poetry celebrates new books by four Connecticut authors: Charles Rafferty (The Appendectomy Grin), Srini Mandavilli (Howrah Bridge), Sherri Bedingfield, (In the Dream You Wore Your Yellow Leaves), and Steven Ostrowski (Life Field). Authors will read from their new works, and books will be available for purchase and signing.

• NEW! WHPS parent and published author Rebecca Lowry Warchut, inspired by The Anxious Generation, has adapted Alice in Wonderland into a short film about tweens and technology. She invited you and your students to join for the world premiere of Lys in Cyberland, an original short film about the impact of cell phones on tweens. In Lys in Cyberland, a short film geared toward tweens, teens, their caregivers, and their teachers, 11-year-old Lys must navigate group chats, sleep deprivation, brain rot, viral trends, and tween beauty culture when she falls into the rabbit hole that is her first cell phone. The premiere will be held at Duffy Elementary School on Tuesday, January 27th from 6:30-7:30pm. The film will be followed by a short talkback with actors. Please register here. If you have questions, please contact rebeccalowrywarchut@gmail.com.

• New! Our friends at Kingswood Oxford invite you to save the date for their 43rd Annual Baird Symposium Dinner on February 13th, 2026. This year, the KO English Department is thrilled to welcome internationally acclaimed and award winning Irish author, Claire Keegan, to campus. Ms. Keegan is the author of several celebrated works, including Small Things Like These, Foster, and So Late in the Day, which have earned widespread critical praise. In keeping with tradition, our evening will begin with a dinner, followed by a reading and Q & A with Ms. Keegan. Additional details, including timing and registration information, will be shared soon.

• DEADLINE APPROACHING! NCTE is bringing teacher expertise to the forefront in the development of a scalable framework for responsible AI use in English language arts instruction, courtesy of a national grant from Google.org, the company’s philanthropy. The groundbreaking initiative centers ELA teachers as decision makers, following NCTE’s proven cohort model. A dozen groups comprising four teachers and one facilitator each will engage in sustained, collaborative professional development to deepen understanding of AI’s possibilities and constraints, facilitate implementation, and generate practical resources, including peer-reviewed lesson plans for ELA instruction. We invite cohort applications from ELA teachers in grades 6–12 who want to shape the future of AI in the field. Apply by Tuesday, January 13th. ET. Cohort work will begin in March, and participants will receive a stipend in addition to funding to attend the 2026 NCTE Annual Convention in Philadelphia.

• DEADLINE APPROACHING! Fund for Teachers (FFT) strengthens instruction by investing in outstanding teachers' self-determined professional growth and development in order to support student success, enrich their own practice, and strengthen their schools and communities. Deadline Jan. 22nd.

• APPROACHING! Join author and education philosopher Sarah Stitzlein for a conversation about her 2025 George Orwell Award–winning book, Teaching Honesty in a Populist Era: Emphasizing Truth in the Education of Citizens. In an age where multiple factors distort and complicate the discernment of truth, Stitzlein encourages educators to adopt an inquiry approach to citizenship education. This event will be held on Wednesday, January 28, 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET. Register to attend.

• The 2026-27 Human Rights Close to Home (HRCH) Teacher Fellow application is for any K-12 teacher in CT interested in professional development through a one-year stipend supported program for teacher fellows to learn and share human rights knowledge, civic engagement skills, and rights-based pedagogical approaches in order to bring human rights curriculum to their classrooms and schools. Please reach out to Kelly Fransen at Hall if you have any questions about the fellowship. The priority deadline for applications is January 30.

• Want to honor an amazing colleague in Reading? Amplify’s Science of Reading Star Awards honors educators for building background knowledge, implementing interventions, and/or championing comprehension strategies. Deadline Feb 13th.

• The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) supports professional development programs for K-12 educators, higher education faculty, and humanities professionals to study a variety of humanities topics. Programs are offered in residential, virtual, and combined formats. Participant stipends are based upon program format and duration. Application deadline is March 6th.

• NEW! Eye on Video, a paid summer apprentice program at Real Art Ways in Hartford, offers teens the opportunity to learn the art of filmmaking from local teaching artists and career-skills training to prepare for today’s creative workplace. Apprentices attend class Monday through Friday (9:00 am – 3:00 pm) for 6 weeks. During the program, apprentices learn the fundamentals of screenwriting, film production, and editing in a collaborative classroom setting. Each apprentice will create their own short film, which will be showcased at the program’s end-of-summer premiere in our cinema. The dates for the program are July 6 – August 14, 2026. Please fill out this form by April 17th to apply.

• NEW! Write the World’s monthly competition for students ages 13-19 focus on myths and fairytales this month! (looking at you, senior elective teachers!!!) Students are challenged to immerse themselves in old tales—perhaps those from their own cultural, ethnic, or racial background—and then write their own. Check out a few great examples to share with students before diving into the writing competition prompt. Encourage students to enter by Monday, January 26 for a chance to get feedback and win cash prizes!

• NEW! ATTENTION MS STUDENTS: Every month, the Future Scholar Foundation hosts a short story competition (350 words max) for elementary and middle school students, with each new prompt centered around a monthly theme. January’s prompt asks students to consider what happens when your main character enters a game where anyone can quit at any time - but anyone who loses a round faces consequences that last far beyond the game itself. As the rounds continue, players are pushed to risk their reputations and even relationships. Write a story about what your main character chooses to do as staying in the game becomes increasingly dangerous. Deadline January 28th.

• NEW! ATTN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS! Gannon University, in Erie, PA, invites high school writers to submit to their National High School Poetry Contest by February 1st.

• NEW! The Connecticut Writing Project (CWP) sponsors Connecticut Student Writers, a magazine established to provide an arena for CT K-12 students to present their original work in poetry or prose. Through the CSW pages, Connecticut students recognize the importance of writing in their lives. For some, writing for the CSW offers the stepping stone for further literary endeavors. Annually, over 1,500 students from across CT submit entries vividly demonstrating their passion for the craft of writing. From this pool of poetry, essays, stories, and drama, submissions in Poetry and Prose are chosen to be published or honored from each grade level. See the submission guidelines. Deadline February 16th.

• NEW! The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Society invites middle and high school students to submit a story or a poem on any aspect of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s work. Deadline March 1st.

• NEW! ASAP!’s 21st Annual Celebration of Young Writers empowers students to share their love of writing with the world. Students from across Connecticut are invited to submit for a chance to be recognized for their outstanding work, and read their piece in front of a live audience. The Celebration of Young Writers stage is a place where student voices are amplified, and their passion for writing can be shared with the world. Submission deadline March 22nd.

• The Neag School of Education, the Connecticut Writing Project, and the UConn Department of English invite your students to enter the 33rd annual Letters About Literature contest for students in grades 4-12. Students are asked to read a book, poem, or speech and write a letter to that author (living or dead) about how the text affected them personally. Deadline January 26th.

• Arizona Mystery Writers’ Mary Ann Hutchison Memorial Story Contest for Youths is open to mystery writers aged 9-17 Years Old. Stories under 2500 words only. Deadline February 1st.

• The UConn ECE Wallace Stevens Poetry Contest is open to all UConn ECE students in classes during the 2025-2026 school year. Students should submit a 3-5 page packet of poems with one poem per page. Further details and submission guidelines can be found here. Deadlines for submissions February 1st.

• Narrative’s Eleventh Annual High School Writing Contest prompt is “One True Thing.” If you were asked to name one true thing in your life, what would it be? If you wanted to tell someone the story of how you came to know that one true thing, how would the story go? Using the prompt as a springboard, high school students may write a story, essay, or poem that takes your reader on a journey toward at least one crystalized moment of truth. Deadline Feb 4th.

• Echoes & Reflections is proud to partner with Chapman University for this year's Sala and Aron Samueli Holocaust Art & Writing Contest, presented by Chapman University and The 1939 Society.Middle and high school teachers can register now for this unique learning opportunity, which allows students to explore Holocaust survivor testimony and create an art, poetry, prose or film piece exploring how survivors and rescuers were sustained by hope and how they found meaning and purpose in their struggle to survive. Digital submissions are due by February 4th.

• NCTE’s Student Writing Awards are now open for submissions. The Achievement Awards in Writing challenges 10th and 11th grade students to respond to the prompts on the topic of the Joy and Power of Reading and the Promising Young Writers program challenges 8th grade students to respond to the prompt on Good Trouble. Share them with your students along with parts one, two, and three of our Q&A blog post series with back-to-back contest winners. Deadline Feb. 15th.

• Write the World hosts Summer 2026 Virtual Writing Camps on a variety of different genres for students ages 13-19. Sign ups are open now and will fill up quickly!

• Creative Writing Camp: Exploring Fiction Genres (July 6 - 10)

• How to Write a Novel Camp: Tools for Your Book Writing Journey (July 6 - 10 OR July 27 - 31)

• Science Fiction and Fantasy Camp: Writing New Universes (July 13 - 17 OR August 3 - 7)

• Poetry Camp: Finding Your Voice (July 20 - 24)

• How to Write a College Essay (July 20 - 24)

• Fiction Writing Camp: The Art of Storytelling (July 13 - 17 or August 3 - 7)

• Shout out to Lucinda and the 19 Team Leopard 6th grade student-writers who were selected for publication in the anthology, "Stranger Sagas-Twists & Turns" sponsored by Young Writers. Winners were chosen in this nationwide contest based on their ability to use tension, atmosphere, and suspense. Way to go!

• Shout out to all the middle school teachers for taking the time during this crazy time of year to hold class-wide and team-wide spelling bees to prepare our finalists for Monday’s district-wide event. We are so E-X-C-I-T-E-D!