The Great Thanksgiving Listen is a national education project that empowers high school students to create an oral history of the contemporary United States by recording an interview with an elder over Thanksgiving weekend using the StoryCorps App. This classroom assignment will help your students understand how to plan for and conduct an interview, how to listen critically, and help them to understand more about our shared history by experiencing a story as told through someone else's eyes. Explore Collection

Award Details
​Nomination Deadline:  November 1
Purpose:
Established in 1995 to recognize a distinguished national or international educator who has made major contributions to the field of language arts in elementary education.
Award Criteria:
Nominees must have dramatically influenced literacy classroom practice, made ongoing contributions to the field of literacy, obtained national and/or international influence in literacy teaching and learning, contributed a body of work that is compatible with the mission of NCTE.
Award Specifics:
The award recipient is presented a plaque at the Elementary Section Get-Together during the NCTE Annual Convention.
Judging:
The Elementary Section Steering Committee determines the winner based upon nominations received each year from NCTE Elementary Section members. Only one nomination may be submitted per member.
Nomination Form

2018 NCTE ANNUAL CONVENTION

Register now for the best rates. Prices go up after November 5th. Let your affiliate members know that if a school or district sends 10 or more teachers to the convention, registration is only $150 per person! Details here.

Halloween is a great time for teachers to encourage children’s imagination and creativity. Explore a collection that offers PreK-12 teachers an easy way to integrate Halloween themes into your classroom. Explore Collection

Looking to add a bit of change to the same old writing program? Why not have kids write blogs, create a website (coordinate with the social studies teacher for content?) or just have them use Pages for their projects instead of Word. It just might put a twist that will get kids excited again. 

​Check out these suggestions, but please be sure to follow COPPA. Be kid-safe if the site requires a log in (some sites, like Weebly, allow a teacher to create accounts, manage passwords, and keep information private, etc). Read more to find the apps!

Do you want teacher-recommended websites to help with anything from grammar to writing. 

Click here to see the suggested website from fellow English Language Arts teachers.

Here are some ideas

Validations, Vexations, and Victories
​Open Mic Night
Wednesday, Oct. 17, 6 p.m.
Rib and Chophouse

Join Moderator Dana Haring, Sue Stolp and Caitlin Chiller to launch your conference journey with a time designed for you, the reflective and responsive teacher. You are encouraged to bring your own writing to share and your own strategies of care. In this casual session, participants will build competence and collegiality through sharing victories and vexations in an open mike format.  Earn one renewal unit.
Limited to original material or reinterpretations of three or fewer minutes.

Have you written a poem? Designed a lesson? Researched an author? Have som artwork or photos you would like to share with colleagues? 

​Having your work published is an excellent tidbit to note on your resume. The works are adjudicated. Turn your items in now at the below submissions link to be considered for MEJ 2018.

 Submissions 

Who Is The Real-Life Teacher Behind the Mask?
FIND OUT HERE
Rich Lehrer, The D-Zign D-Coder! Helping those in need and seeing solutions where no one else has, Rich and his students are truly superheroes in their community. It began when he guided his class to create a functional, 3D-printed prosthetic limb for a child - Rich’s own 3-year old son Max - making his class one of the first school groups to do so. Today, his 6th graders work with senior citizens in the community to diagnose problems and design solutions. To the senior citizens whose lives they improve every day, they are true superheroes!

Follow #teachboldly #teacherappreciationweek on social media and share your teaching superpowers!

Move to Include: Assistive Technologies
Grades: 5-12
 
Design Squad Global
Grades: 4-9
 
Engineering is Saving the World with Cook Stoves
Grades: 6-12
Download this coloring page to help your students share their appreciation for the other superhero teachers in their lives!
 
Download Activity

• Thursday: Media Literacy Teacher
• Friday: Education in a Crisis Teacher

Click here to join the online conversation Wednesday, May 9 at 3:45 pm as the Montana Writing Teachers host a live discussion about writing in science. This is our last live discussion of the year and we look forward to seeing you there!

​Whether you are looking for professional learning, college credits, travel near and far, or participate in content standards revision, we have many wonderful opportunities for you:

• Arts Transform Communities: Montana Arts Integration Conference June 27-29, 2018 at the University of Montana, Missoula.  This is a wonderful opportunity to not only celebrate our successes but to gather additional resources and inspiration, rethink education through the arts, and participate in workshops by national presenters and local/regional teaching artists.  The Montana Arts Integration Conference is sponsored by UM Arts, Missoula County Public Schools, and SPARK! Arts Ignite Learning, in partnership with the Montana Arts Council and the Office of Public Instruction.
  • We would also like to extend an invitation for you to participate as a school team.  While the single conference fee is $95, large school teams of 3 or more may register for $65 each.  Participants in the MAC Teacher Leaders in the Arts program who bring administrators and or fellow teachers receive free admission!
  • Information concerning the website can be found on the UM Creative Pulse site.
  • For additional information, please contact christyanne.neely@gmail.com

Big Sky Country Fair is once again hosting its statewide writing competition-- in  this competition they ask children and adults to “tell your Montana story” in prose or poetry. Contest details here (on page 2)

General Rules for Writing 1. This competition is inspired by the Montana writer Ivan Doig, who told his own story and the story of so many other Montanans with great beauty, honesty, and humor.

​To explore his archive at Montana State University visit ivandoig.montana.edu. 2. Prompt: Tell us your Montana story. 3. Poetry (Class 26)-maximum 300 words; Prose (Class 27)-maximum 1,500 words. 4. Up to two original photos may be submitted with/as a part of the poem or prose. 5. All submissions need to be in one .pdf file that may be uploaded as part of the online entry process at 406StateFair.com. 6. Judging will be by the Yellowstone Writing Project