Background: The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) is providing Scrible Edu Pro, a comprehensive research and writing platform, to all Utah K-12 schools via a statewide contract.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Come learn how to use Scrible in English Language Arts (ELA)! USBE and Scrible are hosting an ELA training for Utah educators led by the ELA educators listed below, who will share how their schools/districts use Scrible for close reading, research and writing:
Jennifer Tillman, Teaching & Learning Specialist, 9 - 12 ELA
Caddo Parish Public Schools, Shreveport, LA
Yesenia Morales, Supervisor of ELA, ESL and Library
North Brunswick Township High School, North Brunswick, NJ
The training will be from 3:30-4:45 pm MT on Monday, December 7, 2020.
Register here<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScV_ehFsZ5v8FJmK45NFQHMwoQ-wf8njti…>. Info on how to join the session will be emailed to you closer to the event.
NOTE: Educators across subject areas (not just ELA) are welcome/encouraged to join!
RESOURCES: USBE and Scrible hosted a training webinar on October 8, 2020, to help you get started with and make the most of this new platform. The webinar recording and accompanying slides are posted at the bottom of this Scrible Utah webpage: https://www.scrible.com/utah
It is highly recommended that you watch the recording, ideally before the training.
Naomi Watkins, Ph.D.
Secondary ELA and Library Media Specialist
Utah State Board of Education
801-538-7616
Naomi Watkins, Ph.D.
Secondary ELA and Library Media Specialist
Utah State Board of Education
801-538-7616
From: Watkins, Naomi
Sent: Thursday, November 19, 2020 11:21 AM
To: library-media(a)lists.uen.org
Subject: November 2020 Secondary ELA & Library Media Newsletter
Secondary ELA & Library Media News: November 2020
With the holidays quickly approaching, I hope that you take time to rest and rejuvenate with sleep and reading and/or watching something that’s long been on your list. As always, thanks for all that you do.
What are you currently reading, listening to, and watching?
My Current Reads: Home Body<https://rupikaur.com/books/home-body/> by Rupi Kaur & Keep Moving<https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Keep-Moving/Maggie-Smith/97819821320…> by Maggie Smith
My Current Music Listen: “Chinatown” by Bleachers, featuring Bruce Springsteen <https://open.spotify.com/album/10fSu9RLAJlasIup4ylHPM?si=iVNQnfi3Raelas4fv-…>
My Current Podcast Listen: You’re Wrong About<https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/youre-wrong-about/id1380008439>. (Description: Mike and Sarah are journalists obsessed with the past. Every week they reconsider a person or event that's been miscast in the public imagination.) I’m currently listening to their deep dive into the life of Princess Diana because I’m also watching...
My Current Watch: The Crown, Season 4 on Netflix
Educator Spotlight
Keith Smedberg, Olympus High School
https://twitter.com/TheOlyCenter/status/1121490487976714240
[cid:image002.jpg@01D6BE66.32B6C9F0]When I was a kid, I thought being a teacher would be great. You get your summers off, long holidays, and you get to work in a school with kids, it was something I could totally get into! My first choice was physical education (PE), because you know, sports, what could be hard about sports? As it turns out, sports medicine, kinesiology, and athletics were harder than I imagined and not my scene. So, I decided to go with my love of the natural world and changed my major to biology education.
I began my career teaching biology at a high school just outside of Chicago. After two years, I answered the call of the mountains and moved to Utah. In 1995, I was hired by Granite School District and began teaching science at Westlake Junior High. Over the next 17 years, I taught at several schools including Churchill and Valley Junior High. In 2000, I went back to school and earned a Master’s degree in Instructional Technology and a library endorsement. This led to my current position as a Library Media Education Technology Specialist (LMETS) at Olympus High School. What a trip! Had I known the library was so going to be so wonderful, I would have done that from the start!
The best part of being a librarian is encouraging students to read for themselves and not just for school assignments. I want my students to enjoy books, not just analyze books and chapters. Every book that a student enjoys, increases their ability to read and better readers make better life long learners.
Some of my favorite authors include Douglas Adams, Jason Reynolds, Libba Bray, Alan Gratz, Tom Green, Neal Shusterman, Mary Roach and Cory Doctorow. When I was in high school, I enjoyed Tom Robbins and Robert Ludlum.
When I am not working, you’ll find me skiing or outside enjoying this great state with my wife and three children.
National American Indian Heritage Month
November is National American Indian Heritage Month. The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum provide programming, exhibits, and teacher resources: https://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/
From Debbie Reese, Nambé Pueblo scholar and founder of American Indians in Children's Literature<https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/>, read “We Can Do Better: Rethinking Native Stories in Classrooms.”<https://ncte.org/blog/2018/11/can-better-rethinking-native-stories-classroo…> The key ideas are to choose books that are tribally specific (that name a specific tribal nation and accurately present that nation), written by Native writers, set in the present day, and relevant all year round, keeping Native peoples visible throughout the school year.
From PBS Utah, celebrate with films featuring Indigenous voices: https://www.pbs.org/articles/2020/11/what-to-watch-native-american-heritage…
Save the Date: Scrible in ELA Classrooms
Save the date for Monday, December 7 from 3:30-5:00pm for a virtual webinar and Q&A with ELA educators from across the U.S. who have successfully used Scrible in their classrooms. More information forthcoming!
Art and writing can help heal during times of trauma and loss
For many years, teen submissions to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards sponsored by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers<https://www.artandwriting.org/> testify to the potential for creative expression to help in hard times. Now, the Art and Writing Awards has published Healing Through Creativity: An Art and Writing Anthology and Discussion Guide<https://www.artandwriting.org/classroom-guides/#healing>, exploring work by teens on the theme of grief and loss. The free anthology includes accompanying Educator Guides providing visual arts and English Language Arts lesson plans, created by Red River Writing Project teacher-leaders, that help students respond to grief through the healing power of art and writing.
[cid:image003.png@01D6BE65.AA6C58D0]Using Notice and Note Signposts to create empowered readers, even at a distance
The WRITE Center will continue their webinar series in December by hosting Kylene Beers and Bob Probst in a presentation that demonstrates how their Notice and Note Signposts approach can work both in class and online. In this interactive workshop, they will discuss how the Notice and Note Signposts—both fiction and nonfiction—help all readers read closely to become empowered readers and writers. Yes, writers! Presenters will use picture story books, poetry, and current fiction and nonfiction as examples.
* When: December 10, 3:30-5p (PST) / 6:30-8p (EST)
* Registration: https://www.writecenter.org/webinars.html
Conversations with Authors of Young Adult Literature
Rebecca Harper, director of the Augusta University Writing Project in Augusta, Georgia, has put together an impressive schedule of conversations with authors of young adult literature as part of the AU Writing Project Book Club and invites you to join. All educators are welcome, even if you haven’t read the book. Join one or more of the year’s final meetings, and watch this newsletter for an announcement of the spring line up.
* Nov. 21 at 10 a.m.—Gary Schmidt, author of Orbiting Jupiter
* Dec. 5 at 10 a.m.—Jerry Pallotta, author of the Alphabet Books series
* Dec. 7 at 6 p.m.—Katie Henry, author of Let’s Call it a Doomsday
Register at bit.ly/AUWPBookClubFall20<https://nwp.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=74fb19be0914ed81636ed0372&id=…> and a Zoom link will be emailed to registrants the day before the book club.
Latinx KidLit Book Festival
The first ever Latinx KidLit Book Festival<https://www.latinxkidlitbookfestival.com/> will be held virtually on Friday, December 4th and Saturday, December 5th, organized by members of Las Musas Books<https://www.lasmusasbooks.com/> and a dedicated team of volunteers.
This unique and free event will bring together Latinx kidlit authors and illustrators and engage readers and educators from all over the U.S. and beyond. This festival is for everyone–not just members of the Latinx community. All lovers of kidlit are welcome!
They are attempting to reach as many teachers and librarians as possible so students far and wide can tune into this amazing event. Personal invitations will be sent to librarians and educators in October. This invite will include links to educator materials to use with students before, during, and after the festival, as well as instructions on how to enter to win a class set of books by authors featured in the festival.
If you'd like this information delivered to your inbox, please fill out one of these forms:
Form for schools<https://latinxkidlitbookfestival.wufoo.com/forms/k1qcaf1h117l7gc/>
Form for libraries<https://slack-redir.net/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Flatinxkidlitbookfestival.wuf…>
The Redford Stories Project
The Redford Stories Project is a learning and storytelling initiative providing educators and students with dynamic and integrative tools to actively engage in the movement for environmental justice, protection, and repair, and to develop their capacity as storytellers. This initiative supports educators in bringing an environmental context and content to any class, and brings educators and students into dialogue with youth activists, filmmakers, and environmental and social justice leaders to create a learning community at the nexus of joy for learning, transformational storytelling, and global justice. This year, the Stories Project invites young people ages 10-14 to participate by creating 90-second Apple Clips films about an aspect of environmental justice that is particularly meaningful to them for showcase in April 2021.
Learn More →<https://educatorinnovator.org/elevating-student-voice-environmental-justice…>
Utah’s 21st Annual Do the Write Thing Challenge
(see attachments for more info)
The Office of the Governor and the Utah State Board of Education invite you and your students to participate in Utah’s 21st Annual Do the Write Thing Challenge.
The Challenge offers 7th and 8th grade students across the state an opportunity to examine the impact of youth violence on their lives and then write what they think should be done to change the culture of violence. Personal responsibility is emphasized by encouraging students to make a commitment to do something about the problem. The program ultimately strives to help them break the cycle of violence in their homes, schools, and neighborhoods.
Two writings per participating schools will be selected as state finalists and will be invited to attend a recognition luncheon where the top two authors will be announced in April 2021. State finalists will receive a scholarship deposit to their My529 Education Savings Account. The top two essays will be published and placed in the Library of Congress as Utah’s national finalists.
Teachers are encouraged to incorporate the Challenge into their regular classroom curriculum. Lesson plans can be found on the website at www.schools.utah.gov/prevention/dtwt<http://www.schools.utah.gov/prevention/dtwt>. Rules, entry forms, and additional information are also available on this website. The following is a list of ideas for the classroom:
* English: use as an essay or poetry-writing assignment;
* Health: discuss personal safety and well-being of others;
* Civics: conduct an exercise on personal and civic responsibility;
* History: use an historical perspective to examine youth violence.
The deadline for entries is January 15th, 2021. The 2020 challenge involved more than 2,400 students participating in classroom discussions about youth violence with more than 1,100 submitting essays from 24 different teachers. We look forward to increasing these numbers in the 2021 Challenge.
If you have any questions, please contact Cuong Nguyen at cuong.nguyen(a)schools.utah.gov<mailto:cuong.nguyen@schools.utah.gov> or call (801) 538-7790.
We encourage your students’ participation and look forward to this year’s Challenge.
Sincerely,
Governor Gary R. Herbert
Secondary Literacy Director Meeting Dates, 2020-2021
Mark your calendars! To receive a meeting invite, contact Brenda McMurtrey at brenda.mcmurtrey(a)schools.utah.gov<mailto:brenda.mcmurtrey@schools.utah.gov>
* January 20, 2021 from 1-3pm
* March 24, 2021 from 1-3pm
Join the Listservs
Want to stay in the loop of future newsletters?
Join the Secondary ELA ListServ at https://lists.uen.org/mailman/listinfo/secondaryela or
the Library Media ListServ at https://lists.uen.org/mailman/listinfo/library-media
UEN’s Learn @ Home Resources
Find many learn at home resources for educators, students, and families at https://www.uen.org/learnathome/
Have an item for the monthly Secondary ELA & Library Media newsletter, a research or teaching tip, or an educator spotlight nomination? Email brenda.mcmurtrey(a)schools.utah.gov<mailto:brenda.mcmurtrey@schools.utah.gov> by the first of the month.
Naomi Watkins, Ph.D.
Secondary ELA and Library Media Specialist
Utah State Board of Education
801-538-7616
The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) is providing Scrible Edu Pro, a comprehensive research and writing platform, to all Utah K-12 schools via a statewide contract.
USBE and Scrible hosted a training webinar on Thursday, October 8, 2020, to help you get started with and make the most of this new resource. The webinar recording and accompanying slides are posted at the bottom of the Scrible Utah webpage here: https://www.scrible.com/utah
Scrible Office Hour II is TODAY, Wednesday, November 18, 2020 from 3:30-4:30 pm MT
Register here<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEeHF0dluM__RlRbrKRLh-mDePNw-94Mc…> for this upcoming Office Hour session to get help and answers to your questions, ideally after you've tried using Scrible yourself.
Naomi Watkins, Ph.D.
Secondary ELA and Library Media Specialist
Utah State Board of Education
801-538-7616
The Utah State Board of Education (USBE) is providing Scrible Edu Pro, a comprehensive research and writing platform, to all Utah K-12 schools via a statewide contract.
USBE and Scrible hosted a training webinar on Thursday, October 8, 2020, to help you get started with and make the most of this new resource. The webinar recording and accompanying slides are posted at the bottom of the Scrible Utah webpage here: https://www.scrible.com/utah
Scrible Office Hour II is on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 from 3:30-4:30 pm MT
Register here<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEeHF0dluM__RlRbrKRLh-mDePNw-94Mc…> for this upcoming Office Hour session to get help and answers to your questions, ideally after you've tried using Scrible yourself.
Naomi Watkins, Ph.D.
Secondary ELA and Library Media Specialist
Utah State Board of Education
801-538-7616
Naomi Watkins, Ph.D.
Secondary ELA and Library Media Specialist
Utah State Board of Education
801-538-7616
From: Peterson, Mark <Mark.Peterson(a)schools.utah.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2020 10:06 AM
To: Peterson, Mark <Mark.Peterson(a)schools.utah.gov>
Subject: Utah State Board of Education News Release: Utah State Board of Education Announces State-wide Access to Scrible to Support Utah Schools with Research and Writing Amid Distance Learning
[cid:image002.jpg@01D6B74C.25CA22D0]
November 10, 2020
For Immediate Release
Contact: Mark Peterson, public relations director, Utah State Board of Education
801-538-7635 ∙ mark.peterson(a)schools.utah.gov<mailto:mark.peterson@schools.utah.gov>
Victor Karkar, chief executive officer, Scrible, Inc.
866-SCRIBLE ∙ press(a)scrible.com<mailto:press@scrible.com>
Utah State Board of Education Announces State-wide Access to Scrible to Support Utah Schools with Research and Writing Amid Distance Learning
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah State Board of Education<https://www.schools.utah.gov/> (USBE) announces a statewide partnership with Scrible<https://www.scrible.com/>, a modern research and writing platform that supports distance learning. The partnership ensures that every Utah school district has access to Scrible Edu Pro, bringing the company’s full suite of online research and writing tools to more than 665,000 students, teachers and librarians in grades K-12 for the current 2020-21 school year.
“USBE’s purchase of this innovative system will empower our educators and students with versatile tools to impact student learning and development of writing, reading and research skills,” shared Jennifer Throndsen, Director of Teaching and Learning at the Utah State Board of Education. “There couldn’t be a better time to support our teachers with technology that’s useful across subjects and grade levels.”
Scrible is the most comprehensive platform built to support the research and writing process. It provides robust tools to curate, annotate, manage and collaborate on researched content. It supports authentic writing with citation capture, bibliography and outline editors and word processor integration. Instead of cobbling together 3 or more apps and paper methods to manage the whole process, students have one workspace to streamline and scaffold their work, helping them save time and stay organized.
The partnership comes at a time when distance learning is a top priority for school districts across the country, including those in Utah that have moved to virtual or hybrid learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. USBE worked with Scrible to fast-track this launch in order to bring timely support to educators looking for effective remote instruction solutions. As a result, despite coronavirus disruption, teachers and librarians across Utah’s 41 school districts and 100+ charter schools can continue the research and writing instruction vital to preparing students for success in later grades, college and the workplace.
Research and writing instruction historically involves in-person check-ins between students and educators, who would meet with students to review their research, bibliographies, outlines and papers. Scrible centralizes that work online so educators can assign and access student work remotely to assess it and provide feedback asynchronously. This eliminates the need for face-to-face feedback meetings, which are difficult during the pandemic. A novel assignment dashboard also enables educators to monitor student progress in real-time and provide timely, individualized support for each student, which is otherwise challenging during distance learning.
“This statewide partnership is rare in the education world, said Scrible CEO, Victor Karkar. “We’re excited to work with USBE, which quickly appreciated our ability and desire to help Utah students, teachers, librarians with one of the most complex and time consuming teaching and learning experiences - the research and writing process.”
American students struggle with research and writing. A Pew Research Center study<http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/11/01/how-teens-do-research-in-the-digital-…> found that nearly 60 percent of secondary teachers reported that their students struggle with key research skills such as using multiple sources to support an argument and assessing the quality of online information. The writing skills crisis is also pervasive. The process-intensive nature of teaching writing deters teachers from assigning the kind of authentic argumentative composition expected of students in college and career contexts. A 2015 study of U.S. middle schools by the Education Trust found that only 9 percent of assignments required writing more than one paragraph.
“Scrible puts great tools inside the ecosystem of devices and software used in our schools,” said Rick Gaisford, Education Technology Specialist at USBE. “If students open up their computer at school or home, they can use Scrible with popular software tools native to that device, which is far better than being a separate, disjointed program.”
Partnered with Google and Microsoft, Scrible integrates deeply with the ecosystem of G Suite and Office applications widely used in the classroom, including Google Chrome, Docs, Drive and Classroom and Microsoft Edge, Word, OneDrive and School Data Sync. Scrible also offers single sign-on, roster sync and other integrations with widely used education technology platforms, including Schoology, ClassLink, Clever and Canvas. The connection to Canvas is noteworthy given that Utah schools also have access to that learning management system via a statewide partnership.
Utah districts and charters can learn about getting started with Scrible by visiting www.scrible.com/utah<http://www.scrible.com/utah>.
www.schools.utah.gov<http://www.schools.utah.gov>
