FYI

“Not Just for Black History Month: Reading Literary Text,” one of ORC's bookshelves for grades 3-5, features five books that will engage students and help them to understand discrimination and the fight for civil rights. All the 3-5 bookshelves offer teaching suggestions, highlights and insights about each book, connections to Ohio’s standards, and related trade books and ORC resources.

Teachers of kindergarten through grade 5, see our ORC-On e-publication, The 100th Day of School and Number Sense. You'll find a few very good lessons, activities, books, and other resources to help you add to the fun of the celebration and deepen your students' understanding of mathematics.

The Twenty-Third National African American Read-in begins on February 1 and continues throughout the month. Schools, churches, libraries, bookstores, community and professional organizations, and interested citizens are urged to make literacy a significant part of Black History Month by hosting and coordinating Read-Ins. Hosting a Read-In can be as simple as bringing together friends to share a book, or as elaborate as arranging public readings and media presentations that feature professional African American writers. For more information, good tips, and a read-in packet you can download, see http://www.ncte.org/action/aari/packetinfo.  

Created for fourth grade social studies teachers by the Ohio Historical Society, Ohio as America is a dynamic online textbook with teaching tools that bring Ohio’s history to life. This online text features lesson plans, student activities, videos, and more. Ohio as America is aligned to the Revised Ohio Academic Content Standards and supports the ELA Common Core State Standards.

The fourth grade edition is free for the 2011–2012 school year, and prices begin at just $7 per student for the 2012–2013 school year. In addition, the Ohio Historical Society is excited to unveil the new eighth grade edition of Ohio as America, which is free with a paid fourth grade subscription for the 2012–2013 school year. For more information, see http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/portal/education.shtml.

Nearly Lear is a perfect introduction to Shakespeare for younger students and a lively change of pace for those in high school who may have already read the Bard. The show confounds expectations of what a Shakespearean play “should” be and uses exuberant storytelling, music, and film, as well as Shakespeare's magnificent text, to take you to the heart of a great story, and on an emotional roller-coaster ride. The performances are recommended for grades 5 and up. Free admission is offered for K–12 school and home-school groups only.

Performances are at the Thurber Theatre at Drake Center at OSU:

The Wexner Center offers workshops and resource materials for teachers that introduce issues in contemporary art and culture and often involve social and environmental issues.

• February 7 Teachers in the Galleries (for teachers)
• February 18 Place and Story: Drawing Visual Narratives in the Galleries (for teachers)
• March 2 WorldView 2012 (for schools)

Call for applications:
Art and Literacy, 2012–2013, application deadline is March 31, 2012. High school students participating in the Pages program visit the Wexner Center at least three times during the school year, experience visual arts, performing arts, and film projects, and develop their own responses in poetry, prose, and artwork. Schools from throughout the state are eligible to apply to participate. For more information, see http://wexarts.org/learn/for_teachers/index.php?eventid=4679.

Spotlight Schools, application deadline is March 31, 2012. Spotlight Schools is a new free program created to develop meaningful, multilayered, and long-lasting partnerships with participating schools. This partnership begins with rigorous professional development for teachers, setting the foundation for school-driven, arts-integrated lesson planning. Educators will be encouraged to collaborate across disciplines, and teachers of any discipline can work with Wexner Center educators to dream up and carry out tailor-made, project-based learning experiences for their students. The Wexner Center will provide assistance and financial support that can include bus subsidies and special teacher support and help with purchasing project supplies. See http://wexarts.org/learn/for_teachers/index.php?eventid=6149 for more information. 

Art & Environment, Fall 2012, application deadline is May 1, 2012. Students will explore contemporary art and see how artists, scientists, and activists are working together to protect our natural environment. They’ll get to meet and interview contemporary artists involved in Wexner Center projects and take trips to environmental research and service sites around Columbus and further afield.  Art & Environment is open to high school juniors and seniors (in the fall of 2012) in central Ohio. It’s free to those admitted and comes with transportation assistance and free books and supplies. See http://wexarts.org/learn/for_teachers/index.php?eventid=5897.  

The Columbus-Area Writing Project (CAWP) Summer Institute begins on June 13. The institute is designed for teachers from all disciplines and all levels of instruction, including kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school, community college, and university. Participating teachers will have opportunities to learn from each other, to study writing theory and research, to write their own compositions and participate in writing workshops, and to develop leadership and professional development skills in the teaching of writing.

Applications are available online at http://cawp.ehe.osu.edu. For more information, see http://cawp.ehe.osu.edu/summer-programs/summer-institute. You can also call 614-247-4292 or e-mail mwilson@ehe.osu.edu.

Thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Ohio Historical Society is digitizing 100,000 Ohio newspaper pages published from 1845 to 1894 as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program. The newspapers can be accessed at the Library of Congress’s Chronicling America website. Newspapers from Gallipolis and Millersburg are the newest additions.

2012 National Reading Recovery & K–6 Classroom Literacy Conference, February 4–7, 2012, Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus. For more information, see http://www.rrcna.org/conferences.

eTech Ohio Education Technology Conference, February 13–15, 2012, Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus. For more information, see http://www.etech.ohio.gov/conference.

OCTELA (Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts) Spring Conference 2012, March 9–10, 2012, Doubletree Hotel, Worthington. For more information, see http://www.octela.org/conferences.html.

NSTA 2012 National Conference on Science Education, March 29–April 1, 2012, Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis. For more information, see http://www.nsta.org/conferences/2012ind. Because the national conference will be held (relatively) close by in Indianapolis, there will be no SECO conference in 2012.

2012 Ohio Early Care and Education Conference, April 19–21, 2012, Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus. For more information, see http://www.oaeyc.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1.

The Children’s Book Council has named Walter Dean Myers its new National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature for 2012–2013. You can read more about this remarkable writer and his inspiring life in the New York Times article “Children’s Book Envoy Defines His Mission.” And you can listen to what he has to say in a recent NPR interview "To Do Well in Life, You Have to 'Read Well.'"

Set 9 of Stella's Stunners is now available. Teachers and students will both enjoy the challenge of the Stella problems. Some classic, some new, all different, and all with solutions provided, the Stella problems can spice up mathematics classes or can as easily provide the substance for problem-solving contests or math club programs.

The Works 2012 Winter Lecture Series presents three guest speakers who will lecture on World War I.

Dates:  Sundays February 19 and March 18
Location: Meeting Room, 55 South First Street, Newark, Ohio
Time: 2 p.m.
Ages: 16+
Cost: $2 members of The Works, general admission nonmembers

Seating is limited for these 2-hour lectures and granted on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, see The Works.

For the first time, taxpayers will be able to donate a portion of their state income tax refund (by checking a box on the 2011 Ohio individual income tax form) to the Ohio Historical Society. The society will use the funds to create a new grant program to support history-related projects throughout Ohio.

From the fund, matching grants will be awarded for projects including exhibits and public programs, repair and rehabilitation of historic properties, care for historic objects and documents, education initiatives, and much more, in communities across the state. The new grant program will be open to the hundreds of history-related organizations, academic institutions, and local governments looking for support of their local history-related initiatives. Call 614-297-2341 for more information.

Under the direction of the Ohio Board of Regents, ilearnOhio is currently offering one-time funds for public school students in the state of Ohio who want to enroll in an online Advance Placement course. The approved student will receive a one-time tuition-only fee waiver for that course. The program covers tuition only (go to ilearnOhio for the details).

The process is straightforward: (1)The student and a public school staff member (counselor) will search the ilearnOhio catalog for an AP course, and (2)the staff member will preregister the student through ilearnOhio for that course.

Go to ilearnOhio to learn more about the ilearnOhio clearinghouse for online courses and then begin the process, or go straight to the "Search for courses now!" button to start the process now. The program will continue until all the funds have been allocated. First come, first served. One fee waiver per public school student. Check it out!

SECO is sponsoring free workshops in 2012, developed with ODE, to complement ongoing introductory seminars at the Educational Service Centers (ESCs).

The SECO sessions will:

• Provide an overview of the Science Model Curriculum
• Promote examples of inquiry-based instruction
• Discuss the features and benefits of the Science Model Curriculum

To learn more about these regional offerings, to find one in your region, and to register, go to www.secoonline.org.

Please contact Tracy Cindric (tlkcap@yahoo.com) with any questions.

Choose to Read Ohio offers a list of recommended books by Ohio authors. The list is divided into sections for children, tweens, teens, and adults. You can read about Choose to Read Ohio at http://oh.webjunction.org/ohctrointro/-/resources/overview or go straight to the 2011–2012 list at http://oh.webjunction.org/ctrobooks2011.