Author: Beth Carlson, NBCT. MCELA Executive Board Member, English Teacher and Department Head at Kennebunk High School, [email protected] ​

In the October newsletter, I wrote that my English department was centering reading in our classrooms this year. I was hopeful but also worried that our efforts would not generate the returns we wanted. As part of the changes we’ve made, we are only doing one full-class novel.  We designed the year to also include a couple of book groups to provide students with structured choice as well as full choice through independent reading. I have attempted book groups or literature circles over the years with mediocre results, but this time, I am excited to say that the groups were a resounding success. The unit was called People on the Move. The book choices included American Street; The Faraway Brothers; From Here;  Butterfly Yellow, Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card, Home Is Not a Country; and Four Winds. I gave each student the first three pages of each book to read and asked them to rank the top three that seemed most interesting to them. This gave the students agency, and all students ended up with their first or second choice. My students chose American Street (two groups), The Faraway Brothers, Butterfly Yellow, and From Here.  

Because my students’ choices were all immigrant stories, I asked them what they knew about immigration or how people make the choice to come to the U.S.  The answer was very little. Kennebunk may not be far from Portland or Lewiston and is neighbors with Biddeford, but my students had very little knowledge about the people who have settled in these towns or other places in Maine. I decided to use the 2023 New Mainers series, “Long Way Home” from the Portland Press Herald as well as an article from 2024 titled “400 Years of New Mainers” to introduce them to the idea of asylum seekers and immigrants who have moved to our state. Each student was assigned one article from the series plus the two photo essays. I gave each student an organizer for note-taking for a Socratic Seminar, and I was so pleased to see their knowledge grow, their questions answered by peers, and their curiosity piqued over the course of their discussion. Many had read more than the assigned articles, and several had had discussions with family members about immigration. They left that class motivated to begin reading their books.
Each group decided how to break up their reading across the classes in the unit. They had the month of November.  Using ideas from Kate Roberts’ book, The Heart of Fiction, I gave them criteria to record in their notebook in preparation for each class: three new vocabulary words defined as well as at least two synonyms; one or two lines (quoted) that show important aspects of the main characters or significant secondary characterization; one or two examples (quoted lines) that reveal moments when there seems to be a shift in a character (situation/feelings/knowledge/theme or big idea/plot); and one quoted line that you think is interesting/beautiful/revealing/well written/different: imagery/ figurative language, charged/emotional language/persuasive/ length of sentence/tone/attitude/etc.  This work gave them knowledge and evidence to start the group discussions. Their conversations were rich and students were engaged in the discussions. I walked around the room listening and occasionally answering questions.  Each group designated a notetaker to record their discussions and keep them on task.  I organized each class to start with the group work and end with reading time. I often taught a mini-lesson on the notebook criteria in between.  I found this structure particularly motivating as the students had just discussed what they’d read and were generally invested in getting back into the book for 10-20 minutes at the end of class, especially if they were a little behind.  Most were very earnest at keeping pace with their groups.  

The students closed out the unit with a paper about how being an immigrant complicated each character’s life.  Their book group then became a writing group, helping to develop and polish each other’s writing.  We were not quite done, however.  Students used an annotation template to take notes on the article, “What I Saw In the Darien Gap” published in The Atlantic magazine as well as two articles from the George W. Bush Presidential Center about the complexity of and controversy around immigration.  I then jigsawed the groups so each new group included a person who had read each book.  The students were charged to make a podcast episode to teach others about what they learned.  They spent one class deciding the importance of what they’d learned and what they thought others should know.  They had another class to plan and script and a third to record. They had to title the episode and include introductory music.  The podcasts, titled, “American Dream,” “Borderless Stories,” and “New Roots” are posted on The Herd, our online student publication.

During this month and a half, my class felt like a learning community.  The feedback from the students afterward reinforced this with comments such as, “This unit was fun,” and, “I learned so much, but it wasn’t like history.”  I never focused on politics at all, instead framing the unit around learning about why people move, and the kids rarely brought it up.  Other comments included, “I never knew some immigrants came here because their home was dangerous,” and “Seeing their stories through their point[s] of view gave me different ideas from those I’ve heard about.”  I am calling this unit a big success on several levels.

Beth Carlson
Nationally Board Certified Teacher/English Department Chair at RSU21, Kennebunk High School
[email protected] 
MCELA Executive Board Member

I’ve been teaching long enough to experience the adage in education that we always cycle back to past practices. When I started teaching English in 1987, Nancie Atwell’s Write From the Middle was the English teacher’s bible. I was the looping 7th and 8th grade teacher-facilitator of dynamic reading and writing workshops. There was energy and excitement in my classroom. Years later, I moved from York to Kennebunk where my new job was teaching freshmen with a more traditional, teacher-directed, and novel-based curriculum. These classes looked more like the ones I attended in high school. When the Common Core State Standards were adopted, our department struggled to shift from teaching novels to teaching standards. In hindsight, this shift seemed like a bigger lift than it should have, and now we all understand the importance of prioritizing skill-based assessments over novel content. Currently, we are undergoing another curriculum overhaul, and under the tutelage of Penny Kittle, who authored Book Love and co-authored 180 Days, we are moving back towards classrooms that center reading and writing for engagement.  

My department has observed a steep decline in students who read at home. Their vocabularies are not what they used to be. Even students who have historically been readers claim they don’t have the time. Since the pandemic, their engagement with our classroom content has varied from disengaged to rote. This is why placing student engagement at the center of our curriculum has been a priority. We are starting with free choice reading with our first 9th grade unit titled “Patterns of Storytelling.” We are making space for students to read for 15 to 20 minutes of our 80 minute block. We’re getting them to write based on mentor texts; teachers and students are doing daily book talks. All writing is quick writing to eliminate it being done by AI. Students will choose pieces to bring through the writing process.  
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This means we’ve had to let some things go. For some, it’s been a favorite unit. For some, it’s being the sage on the stage. For others, it’s a grip on the familiar and the comfortable. I am back to facilitating student learning. The onus for learning has been put back on the students with opportunities to choose their reading and flexibility in what writing pieces they process to polished copies. We piloted some of these practices last year. This year, we’re 100% in.  

I am really hopeful. Yesterday, I noticed two students in my advisory reading. Another teacher said she has readers in her study hall. These are small anecdotal trends, but exciting ones nonetheless. I’ll let you know how it goes!
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This year MCELA has new leadership. Carrie Barbosa–who generously served as MCELA president these past two years leading our abrupt shift from an in-person conference to online webinars, book studies, and author talks–has moved to Portugal. We are so thankful for all that she did to support literacy in Maine during that time.

Patti Forster, English teacher at Camden Hills Regional High School, will be taking the lead as the new MCELA president, as we transition back to the in-person conference.
Yes! Our conference is back! March 17, 2023 at the Westin in Portland. Save the date! Get your PD funding and approval early. Conference details on Events and Programs tab.

Todd McKinley, instructional coach and middle school ELA teacher at heart, will be our vice president.
Bre Allard, Literacy Coach at Lewiston Middle School, is stepping up as our secretary.

Sheila Bennett, English teacher at John Bapst Memorial High School, is returning as our Treasurer.
We also have a very experienced and committed Executive Board to help guide us and support our important work to improve the teaching of literacy across the state (learn more about our Executive Board on the MCELA Leadership Tab).
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2022-23 MCELA Goals:

• Advocate for intellectual freedom
• Increase visibility for the organization and board diversity
• Be a connection for learning and growing in the teaching of literacy through our in-person conference, online offerings, social media, monthly email newsletter, and Northwords

​Maine Council for English Language Arts Honored with 2021 Affiliate Journal of Excellence Award from National Council of Teachers of English
Award honors exemplary Affiliate Journals

Champaign, Illinois—The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has selected the Maine Council
for English Language Arts (MCELA), as a 2021 Affiliate Journal of Excellence Award honoree.
Northwords, co-edited by Dan Murphy and Patti Forster, and published by the Maine Council for English
Language Arts (MCELA), has been named a recipient of the 2021 Affiliate Journal of Excellence Program
Award, given by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). 
 
Established in 1995, this award honors outstanding affiliate journals and their editors who demonstrate
excellence in these publications. The winning affiliate journal must be a magazine-type
publication—print or online—and provide members with scholarly articles on issues and topics related
to English language arts teaching. The journals are judged on content, organization, and scholarly
exploration, appeal to many different groups within the affiliate, coverage of important issues in English
language arts education, and inclusion of other types of writing (e.g., poetry, affiliate news, book
reviews).
 
The Affiliate Journal of Excellence Award winners will be announced at the 2021 NCTE Annual
Convention, during the Affiliate Event on Sunday, November 21.  
 
About NCTE
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is devoted to improving the teaching and learning of
English and the language arts at all levels of education. For more than 100 years, NCTE has worked with
its members to offer journals, publications, and resources; to further the voice and expertise of
educators as advocates for their students at the local and federal levels; and to share lesson ideas,
research, and teaching strategies through its Annual Convention and other professional learning events.