Kansas English is the peer-reviewed journal of the Kansas Association of Teachers of English (KATE). It publishes articles and materials on subjects of interest to English teachers, including scholarly articles, reflective/practitioner essays, opinion pieces, interviews, book reviews, and creative works (including photos and artwork). The editor in chief is Dr. Katie Cramer, Professor of English Education at Wichita State University. Kansas English is published annually. ISSN 2997-4712 DOI: https://doi.org/10.62704/ke58x
Kansas Association of Teachers of English (KATE)
Reading Response Framework for Student-Led Discussion in an English Methods Course
The author describes the impetus and context for a change to her in-class reading response learning activities and shares a reading response framework that prepared students to lead class discussions.
Copyright (c) 2025 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The author describes a “listicle” writing activity in which students write about campus support services in a “five things you should know” format in order to share with their classmates. This fosters a sense of audience as well as a connection to the campus.
Poetry is meant to be shared, to provide an emotional experience for readers. It is difficult to define and explain. In a workshop, one might begin with some basic generalizations about openness, how readers participate in its creation, how to some degree it involves magic, both for poet and reader. During a first workshop experience, the group might begin with a few general questions to begin to dig below the surface.
Online Discussion Tools for Socratic Seminar
The author describes an educational technology tool called Kialo (https://www.kialo-edu.com) that may increase participation in classroom discussions.
Resilience in the Face of Traumatic Brain Injury in Jacqueline Woodson's Before the Ever After
The author reviews the middle grades novel in verse Before the Ever After (2020) by Jacqueline Woodson, providing a brief summary, essential questions, and teaching ideas.
Creating Remembrance in Alice Hoffman's When We Flew Away
The reviewer addresses the middle grade novel When We Flew Away (2024) by Alice Hoffman, including explication and justification for including the book in a middle school English Language Arts curriculum.
The author reviews the middle grade novel Show Me a Sign (2020) by Anne Clare LeZotte, providing a summary, character analysis and arguing for its accessibility to middle school readers.
Diving into the World and Going Beyond the Screen
The author reviews the young adult novel The Epic Story of Every Living Thing (2022) by Deb Caletti, providing analysis and suggestions for teaching.
The author reviews the young adult historical novel I Must Betray You (2023) by Ruta Sepetys, providing a summary, personal connection, and potential audiences and applications.
A poem titled Dawn over a Small Town.
A poem titled Jem Touches the Wall.
Author Lisa Fipps appeared as the featured speaker at the Literature Festival held on the campus of Washburn University in fall 2022. During this interview, discussion ranged from the impact of winning a Printz Honor to the influence of her background in libraries and journalism to the challenges and benefits of writing for an audience of young readers. The interview focuses on the prominent role of safe places and storytelling in Fipps’ debut verse novel Starfish (2021); following the interview, the article explores these same themes in her second verse novel And Then, Boom! (2024). In her books and in this interview, Fipps explores the reasons why young people need to count on having safe spaces in their lives to help them deal with a difficult and challenging world, and she explores the important role that storytelling can hold in the lives of her protagonists as well as her young readers.
This literature review examines the effectiveness of explicit morphological instruction in improving vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension for middle and high school students. Socioeconomic disparities in early language exposure contribute to a significant word gap, limiting students’ ability to access complex academic texts. Morphological instruction—focused on teaching roots, prefixes, and suffixes—provides students with strategies to analyze unfamiliar words and build word consciousness. Research supports the use of derivational morphology to strengthen comprehension, especially for English learners and struggling readers. The review draws on two theoretical frameworks—atomistic and abstractive—to explain how students process word structure. Evidence suggests that embedding morphology within meaningful literacy tasks leads to improved outcomes. Instructional recommendations include prioritizing high-utility morphemes, integrating vocabulary across content areas, and supporting teachers through professional development. Despite time constraints and the need for foundational training, morphology-based instruction offers a high-leverage approach to addressing literacy gaps and promoting academic equity.
The study explores the challenges English teachers in Oklahoma’s secondary schools face when including diverse perspectives in their classroom literature selections. There is a disconnect between state standards that encourage inclusivity and the pressures from the local community, including conservative opposition to DEI initiatives, increasing political restrictions on curriculum content, and resource shortages. Through interviews, two English teachers explain how they work through these tensions, aiming to diversify the curriculum while also managing the expectations of more conservative viewpoints. Despite the challenges, the experienced English teachers actively strive to provide students with opportunities for self-reflection and exposure to diverse perspectives. Findings indicate a pressing need for increased institutional support, particularly in securing funding for contemporary and multicultural texts, and clearer guidance on navigating political and community pressures. Expanding thematic teaching approaches, such as integrating literature with broader discussions on social issues and fostering collaboration between educators, administrators, and local stakeholders, could help mitigate these barriers. Strengthening these areas would create more inclusive, critical-thinking classrooms that align with the intentions of state standards while addressing the realities teachers face.
All American Boys Has Staying Power a Decade Later
Four future English language arts teachers explain why Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely’s 2015 award-winning young adult novel All American Boys remains relevant a decade after its publication.
The rise in popularity of dual enrollment/dual credit (DE/DC) programs offers both challenges and opportunities for students and faculty alike. The voices and experiences of faculty, while less often studied, provide insights into the nature of these programs and the ambiguities and liminalities they create. This reflective essay, while presenting the experiences of only one faculty member in only one of these programs, may be useful for faculty, administrators, and students.
Phonological awareness and phonics are critical components of early literacy development, serving as foundational skills that support decoding and reading comprehension. This manuscript explores the integration of phonological awareness and phonics through explicit, systematic instruction. It highlights the importance of transitioning students from recognizing and manipulating sounds to connecting these sounds with written symbols. Using evidence-based practices, educators can effectively address diverse student needs, ensuring all learners build a strong foundation for reading. Practical applications, such as tailored lessons and activities, are provided to guide educators in fostering successful literacy outcomes.
2025 KATE Conference Preview and Invitation
KATE Past President and Conference Committee Chair Nathan G. Whitman previews the 2025 KATE Conference, including keynote speakers Colby Sharp (educator and co-founder of The Nerdy Book Club) and NCTE Executive Director Emily Kirkpatrick.
KATE President Caleb K. Thornton reflects on transitioning into new positions—personally, professionally, and in a global sense—highlighting the transformative power of English education.
Kansas English Editor-in-Chief Katie Cramer is fed up with anti-DEI agendas at the state and national levels and urges readers to share their own efforts to uplift diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. She also previews the 2025 issue; offers thanks to outgoing YA Book Review Editor John Franklin and a warm welcome to incoming YA Book Review Editor Kevin Kienholz; and provides an update on indexing Kansas English in ERIC.
Revising Writing Assignments in Response to Generative AI
The author describes how she revised writing assessments in the university’s first-year writing sequence to emphasize rhetorical analysis of multimodal texts, prompts to which generative AI and ChatGPT struggle to respond.
Copyright (c) 2024 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The author reviews the young adult novel Growing Season (2023) by James V. Jacobs, providing a brief summary, teaching ideas, and a list of similarly-themed texts.
The author reviews Jennette McCurdy’s 2022 memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died, providing a brief summary, personal connections, and potential classroom audiences and applications.
Monumental Stories Found in We Deserve Monuments
The author reviews the young adult novel We Deserve Monuments (2022) by Jas Hammonds, providing a brief summary, historical and contemporary connections, and instructional strategies.
The author reviews Amber McBride’s 2021 young adult novel Me (Moth), providing a brief summary, potential classroom audiences and instructional strategies, and similarly-themed texts.
The authors review the children’s book Brave Every Day (2022) by Trudy Ludwig and illustrated by Patrice Barton, providing a brief summary, background information on Ludwig, and potential audiences and instructional strategies.
The author describes an instructional strategy that deepens students’ understanding of and engagement with texts.
Heads Up! and Collaborative Sentence Writing
The author describes two instructional strategies that strengthen students’ understanding of key vocabulary.