MCELA Mattersprograms, resources, connections |
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Inside: Writing Contests Matter - Maine Student Writing Contest. Still open for submissions. Extended Deadline 1/10/24. $100 for grade-level winners & $50 for honorable mentions
- Margaret Chase Smith Essay Contest.Maine high school seniors only. Deadline 4/2/24. $1000 for first place, $500 for second place, $250 for third place, and five $50 honorable mention prizes.
- 2024 Terry Plunkett Maine Poetry Contest. Maine high school students and UMA students. Deadline 3/1/24. Winners will read their work at the Festival
- Expressions by Walgreens. Creative contest for students ages 13-18. Opens 1/9/24, Deadline 3/31/24. Prizes from $1000-$2000
MCELA Programming Matters Opportunities Matter - World Read Aloud Day and Virtual Author Visits
- Free videos and resources at Retro Report
Our Words Matter - Write for MCELA's Northwords. Submissions are due by May 1, 2024
Message from the MCELA President, Patti Forster: Every New Year’s Eve we create manifestation collages for the upcoming year. Our process includes flipping through magazines and collecting words, phrases, and images that resonant to then glue onto a scrapbook page. I knew I wanted to focus on my health this year, searching for messages about healthy eating and exercise. As I flipped the pages, I came across a sideways title with one word: perspective. I cut it out because it made me think about how I need to shift my perspective about eating and exercise to get healthy. The clipping of the word perspective is of course, now a part of my collage, but the word has also been sticking with me for the past few days, making me wonder what else needs perspective. Where do I need to shift my point of view? What do I need to look at more closely? One of my goals for this school year was to try to bring more joy into my curriculum. I feel like I’ve done that somewhat by bringing in more opportunities for student choice. Key word there: somewhat. Today, the first day back after the break, I introduced our choice writing inquiry. I thought students would be joyful as they selected their topics and started their research, but joy is not the word I would use to describe the room. So, what do I need to do? How can I ignite joy this semester? I know I don’t have the answers, yet, but I’m eagerly looking forward to learning from our 40+ presenters and Penny Kittle at our MCELA March 29th Conference. Will you be there? We still have space! Patti Forster MCELA President maine.ela@gmail.com MCELA website: mainecela.org |
Prizes! $100 to grade-level winners. $50 to honorable mentions. Deadline extended to 1/10/24 |
Maine high school seniors only. Deadline 4/2/24 $1000 for first place, $500 for second place, $250 for third place, and five $50 honorable mention prizes. |
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The contest is for Maine high school students and University of Maine system undergraduate students only.
The deadline for submission is March 1, 2024.
When you submit, please be sure to follow these guidelines: |
- Contestants may submit up to 3 pieces of original work.
- Please submit a SEPARATE entry for each piece of work.
- Each poem may have a maximum of 52 lines.
- Submissions will be judged blind, so please make sure your name is not present in the submitted poem document.
- Prior Plunkett Poetry Contest winners are not eligible to participate.
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Save the date: Saturday, April 27, 2024, for UMAs 22nd annual Terry Plunkett Maine Poetry Festival. |
This year, the festival will include live readings in the Danforth Gallery and the Jewett Hall Auditorium on the Augusta campus of the University of Maine at Augusta and will include participation from Maine high schools, the University of Maine System campuses, and the Maine poetry community. The keynote speaker will be Brian Turner, who is best known for his poems about serving in the Iraq War, and his poems resonate today given current global conflicts. His poems are empathic and intersectional, often showing multiple points of view and the ripple effects of violence on a community. The festival is free and open to all. |
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Select from one of four categories to submit an entry. Each participant can submit one entry per category solo or with a group of up to five people. - Spoken Word: Comprised of video/audio-recorded poetry. The videos must be either a voice recording or teen reciting their piece in front of a camera. No video storytelling. Poetry submitted cannot be used in the creative writing category.
- Visual Arts: Comprised of drawings, paintings, graphic design, photography, and sculptures.
- Media Arts: Comprised of music, PSA’s, and video entries telling a story. Entries in this category can be no longer than three minutes in length.
- Creative Writing: Comprised of up to 1,000-word short stories, poetry, and essays. Entries submitted in this category would need to be in a PDF file format. Poetry submitted cannot be used in the Spoken Word category.
Each category will consist of a first, second, and third place winner for a total of 12 winners. - First Place – $2,000
- Second Place – $1,750
- Third Place – $1,500
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MCELA Programming Matters |
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ED 562 (3 credits) Empowering ELA Educators to Lead Each Other This is a hybrid course with 2 in-person meetings and the rest virtual. This course empowers ELA educators to celebrate their own learning and elevate it to professional publication and/or presentation. This course will support learners by introducing them to mentors in the field of ELA education who will share their expertise and model strategies that reflect successful practice. The course is structured in a way where learners will inquire into and investigate a problem of practice or an area of curiosity (or frustration, or possibility) in order to create positive change. Learners taking this course will conduct informal research in their context and create a plan for sharing their knowledge and expertise with a wider audience of other practitioners in ways that contribute to excellence in the field of ELA education. Learners will be coached through this process by experienced ELA educators who will offer ideas for moving beyond a school or classroom context and into a wider sphere of influence. Course Objectives Learners will be able to: Articulate their professional goals and how their work in this course can develop their capacities toward that goal. Plan and conduct informal research for continuous improvement. Construct a project in an area of interest and/or need that is oriented toward wider communities of English Language Arts educators.
Publish a contribution (article, paper, presentation, etc.) to wider English Language Arts communities.
Main Topics Covered in the Course Educator self-efficacy and empowerment Successful practices in ELA (according to research and lived experience) Continuous Improvement Research Research writing and presentation skills for sharing out knowledge to other ELA professionals
Disclaimer: We welcome educators from all content areas to participate in this course if they are willing to be courageous and join with our ELA community. |
Membership year is September 2023-August 2024. MCELA Membership Includes: - Discounted conference rate
- Monthly newsletter
- Northwords Publication
- Free or discounted book studies
- Free or discounted workshops
- and other surprise events and opportunities along the way!
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| Educator Opportunities Matter |
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WORLD READ ALOUD DAY IS FEBRUARY 7, 2024!The authors & illustrators listed have volunteered their time to read aloud to classrooms and libraries all over the world. These aren’t long, fancy presentations; a typical one might go like this: - 1-2 minutes: Author introduces himself or herself and talks a little about his or her books.
- 3-5 minutes: Author reads aloud a short picture book, or a short excerpt from a chapter book/novel
- 5-10 minutes: Author answers a few questions from students about reading/writing
- 1-2 minutes: Author book-talks a couple books he or she loves (but didn’t write!) as recommendations for the kids
If you’re a teacher or librarian and you’d like to have an author Zoom with your classroom or library on World Read Aloud Day, here’s how to do it: - Check out this list of volunteering authors and illustrators, and visit their websites to see which ones might be a good fit for your students. Note that this is a list of traditionally published book creators. This year, the wonderful Judy Campbell-Smith, author of AJ’S NEIGHBORHOOD, is also coordinating a list of self-published authors offering WRAD visits, and that will be posted here soon. For both lists, you’ll want to check out the authors’ books ahead of time to make sure they’re a good fit for your readers.
- Contact the author directly by using the email provided or clicking on the link to his or her website and finding the contact form. Please be sure to provide the following information in your request:
- Your name and what grade(s) you work with
- Your city and time zone (this is important for scheduling!)
- Possible times to connect on February 1st. Please note authors’ availability and time zones. Adjust accordingly if yours is different!
- Your preferred platform (Zoom, Google Meet, etc.)
- A phone number where you can be reached on that day in case of technical issues
- Please understand that authors are people, too, and have schedules and personal lives, just like you, so not all authors will be available at all times. It may take a few tries before you find someone whose books and schedule fit with yours!
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Free documentary films that connect the past with the present.Retro Report is an independent nonprofit newsroom creating trusted documentary videos and classroom resources. |
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The Institute for Racial Equity in Literacy (IREL) is a professional development experience for all educators interested in examining the intersections of literacy and racial equity. Since its founding in 2019, IREL has impacted hundreds of educators across the country and world. Join co-directors Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul and Tricia Ebarvia along with educators from across the country as we gather in 2024 in Boston, MA, at Boston University in the Winter/Spring, as well as Washington, D.C. this summer at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. Special thanks to our partners, The Center for Educating Critically and the D.C. Public Library Foundation, whose support helps to make IREL possible. Session 1: Reading Toward Freedom (K-12) - January 4, 5, 6 – Boston University (Center for Educating Critically)
- July 7, 8, 9 – Washington, D.C. (MLK Memorial Library)
Session 2: Writing Toward Freedom (3-12) - March 21, 22, 23 – Boston University (Center for Educating Critically)
- July 11, 12, 13 – Washington, D.C. (MLK Memorial Library)
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The Literacy, Language, and Culture Department and the Southern Maine Writing Project are pleased to announce a new peer-reviewed, open-access journal that features practitioner’s writing. The inaugural issue of Wellspring: A Practitioner-Oriented Journal of Literacy and Language Education was published in July 2023. Wellspring features practitioner-oriented work in literacy and language education. The primary goal is to create space with, for, and by teachers, teachers-researchers, and teacher-writers to share insights from their practice. Wellspring encourages submissions from practicing educators, defined broadly to include pre-service and in-service teachers, literacy specialists, literacy coaches, interventionists, ESOL teachers, adult language educators, librarians, school administrators, etc. The journal also encourages submissions from teacher education faculty provided the work is co-constructed with a practicing educator and does not simply report on research about practicing educators or their students. A new issue will be published in Spring 2024. Submissions for the spring issue will be accepted until December 31st. For more information on submitting a manuscript, please visit the journal website at https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/wellspringlled/about.html -- Andrea Stairs-Davenport, PhD Associate Dean, School of Education and Human Development Professor, Department of Literacy, Language, and Culture University of Southern Maine 218A/F and 8 Bailey Hall Gorham, ME 04038 |
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MCELA's Academic Journal. Click the cover above to access the 2023 volume and past volumes. Submissions welcome for the 2024 Northwords and are due by May 1, 2024. More information can be accessed here: Northwords Call for Submissions. |
Here's what Patti Forster, MCELA President and teacher at Camden Hills Regional High School, is reading right now: |
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stay tuned via social media |
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