Cheers to summer (and a look ahead to the fall)

How we can work together to prepare for the 25-26 school year

Jun 27, 2025

Good morning,

Happy Friday and happy summer, everyone. Thanks again to all of you who joined us for one (or more) of our Tuesday evening planning sessions earlier this month. As I reflect on those conversations, I remain incredibly inspired.

This work is impossible to sustain alone, which is why I am so grateful for this community. Whether you’ve been rocking with Project LIT since the beginning (get ready for our 10-year anniversary in 2026!) or just recently stumbled upon this newsletter, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for your passion and expertise, kindness and curiosity. And thank you for all you do to champion young people in your classrooms, libraries, and communities.

For those who are closing the computer for the summer, I salute you. We’ll see you back here in the fall. For those who are working a bit (hoping in between naps and dips in the pool), keep on reading. I’ll share what we discussed in the Tuesday chats and how you can be involved in our literacy efforts moving forward. The goal, as always, is to work alongside good people (all of you!) to create the kinds of classrooms and schools our students (and staff members) deserve.

Strength in Simplicity: Here’s How I’m Planning for the 25-26 School Year

I recently developed a weekly WRAP sequence for the 25-26 school year. This document remains a work in progress, but I love how it’s coming together! Over the past two months, I went through my book, Just Read It: Unlocking the Magic of Independent Reading in Middle and High School Classrooms (use the code RAVEN25 for 25% off + free shipping), and attempted to “place” or sequence the WRAP prompts intentionally — one per week for an entire school year. Take a look through the document and let me know if you have any questions, ideas, suggestions, etc. When you get to page 11, you will also find 30+ prompts that students can respond to on a sticky note/index card and that serve as excellent conversation starters. And when you get to page 13, you’ll see that I’m beginning to develop more prompts that combine grammar skills/concepts and literature analysis (two birds, one stone). Please reach out if you’d like to collaborate on this endeavor!
I’ve begun to develop a potential Article of Week “sequence” for the 25-26 school year, which includes thematic text sets/mini-units (pages 1-2) along with standalone articles and debate topics (page 3). You will also see my “year at-a-glance” on page 4. Check it out here! Again, please reach out with questions, comments, suggestions, potential texts and topics, etc.
I’ve also updated a beautiful collection of poems (more than 200!) that we can read and celebrate (and perhaps analyze) with middle and high school students throughout every “season” of a school year. Check it out here — and please reach out with poems that we should add to the collection!
Later this summer, I’ll share more thoughts on how I’m approaching grammar and vocabulary (including this updated list of 100+ Greek & Latin morphemes.)
I’ll also share more about the larger units and projects that I have planned in addition to the four “pillars” above (Read and WRAP, AoW, poetry, grammar & vocabulary). For example, our first unit, “Coming of Age in an Algorithmic and Artificial Age,” is a modified version of the “Intro to Lit” unit in chapter 4 of Just Read It.
I’ve been meaning to share the NYT Book Review’s “Summer Reading Bucket List.” It could be cool to tweak for the 25-26 school year and share with students!
Finally, be on the look out for more virtual planning sessions throughout the summer. The June sessions were an absolute blast. In the meantime, please continue to reach out with questions, ideas, recommendations, etc. Additionally, please let me know if your school, district, or organization is planning a JUST READ IT book study or would like for me to deliver a keynote address and/or lead a PD session/workshop in 2025 or 2026. Feel free to share this letter with your school and/or district leaders. I love connecting with fellow educators and supporting/strengthening your team’s literacy efforts.
Oh, one more thing (I promise): In the comments, let me know what you’re reading this summer! I just started My Friends by one of my favorite authors, Fredrik Backman. What a delight.