Independent Reading Prompts, Projects, and Possibilities
Several WRAP prompts to share with students as we close out 2024 and look ahead to 2025
Happy Monday everyone,
Hope you all had a restful, enjoyable Thanksgiving. Please know that I am incredibly grateful for this entire community, and as I reflect on my recent trip to Boston for NCTE (so great to see so many of you), I cannot wait to keep at it in 2025 and beyond. Put simply, I love doing good work alongside good people, so please continue to reach out with any ideas, questions, projects, etc. you may have. And I will be sure to do the same.
I’m working on a longer update that outlines my game plan for the second half of the school year (January to June 2025), but in the meantime, I wanted to share several independent reading prompts to help students close out 2024 in style. Before I do, a few quick notes:
You can find many of these prompts in my book JUST READ IT: Unlocking the Magic of Independent Reading in Middle and High School Classrooms. Use the code HOLIDAY25 for 25% off + free shipping. (Thanks again to everyone who has purchased a copy, spread the word in your school/district, facilitated a book study, shouted out Just Read It on social media, wrote a Goodreads review, or sent me a kind message or email. It means more than you know.)
As you go through the list below, think about which prompts make sense as standalone tasks over the next few weeks (if you have the time), which prompts can be grouped together into some sort of “Independent Reading Project” (menu/choice board), and which prompts you can save for January (or sometime in 2025). (Please be sure to share anything that you come up with!)
This is the perfect way to spend our WRAP time over the next few weeks. (For the new readers, WRAP stands for Write, Reflect, Analyze, Participate. After the timer goes off — signaling the end of our independent reading time — we take out our notebooks and WRAP.)
And with that, here are several prompts to help students reflect on what was hopefully a wonderful year of reading and look ahead to 2025.
LIST all the books you’ve read this year, including our required reads (italicized title, author, and genre).
OVERALL REFLECTION: How would you evaluate your performance in ELA thus far? Feel free to consider reading, writing, communication, critical thinking, creativity, effort, and participation. In what areas do you think you’ve shined and/or improved? What essays, assignments, projects, or work are you most proud of? How have you grown as a reader and/or writer?
GOAL-SETTING & FEEDBACK: What specific reading and/or writing goals do you have for the new year? What will you need to do in order to achieve those goals? How prepared do you feel for high school English? Is there anything you’d like for Dr. Amato to teach or review over the second half of the year? What do you enjoy most about this class? How can Dr. Amato make this class better moving forward? What ideas or suggestions do you have? (Be specific!)
TBR: What books do you have on your TBR (To Be Read) List? What genres would you like to try? Do you have any books that you’d recommend to others? Are you in need of any recommendations—if so, what are you interested in reading?
CHARACTER ANALYSIS: Who was the most memorable character you “met” this year? What made this character stand out? What qualities did they possess? What conflict(s) did they overcome, and how? In what ways are you similar and/or different? Approximately 100 words
LETTER TO AUTHOR: What was one of the most memorable books you read this year? Write a brief letter to the author of that book. What would you like to share with them? For example: what you appreciated and enjoyed, favorite characters and/or scenes, lessons and takeaways, personal connections and questions, and the like.
BOOK “WRAPPED”: During homeroom one December morning a couple years ago, students were discussing their “Spotify “Wrapped” with excitement, which got my teacher brain thinking . . . How could we apply this concept to reading? For those who are unfamiliar, Spotify tracks its users’ “listening behavior” (songs, artists, podcasts, total minutes, etc.) from January to October 31. By early December, users can access their personalized “Wrapped” in early December and share it with friends and followers on social media. Inspired by Spotify’s description of their viral marketing campaign, I created my reading-focused version, “Book Wrapped”: “Book Wrapped” is a celebration of the school year gone by and an invitation to join in on the fun . . . We know that no two readers are alike, so Book Wrapped encourages you to gaze into your vibrant literary kaleidoscope and show it off to the world . . . Spotify also developed a variety of “Listening Personalities,” such as “The Replayer,” “The Specialist,” and “The Adventurer.” How cool would it be if our students created their own “Reading Personalities”? The Rereader, The Adventurer, The Speed Reader, The Crier, The Mystery-Lover, The Picky Eater, The Fantasy Fan, The Thrill Seeker, The Emo-Reader, The Abandoner…what am I missing?! Additionally, as we close out a semester or school year, we can have students reflect on their favorite authors, books, and genres and estimate the number of pages or minutes read. We can also create a class or schoolwide graphic, inspired by Spotify’s “Most-Streamed Artists Globally” chart, that includes our Top Five “Most-Read Books” and Top Five “Most-Read Authors.”
CHOOSE ONE
Write a POEM that focuses on one book/character, makes connections between several you’ve read, and/or celebrates your year of reading.
Create a VISUAL of your choice (collage, painting, one-pager, character sketch, cartoon, etc.) that honors the book(s) that you’ll remember
most from the past year.
Deliver a BOOK TALK where you provide a recap of your 2024 reads and/or rank some of your favorite books, characters, authors, etc.
Create a PLAYLIST (minimum of ten songs) inspired by your reading from the past year. In your interactive slideshow, be sure to share your rationale for each selection.
Have another idea? Just be sure to run it by Dr. Amato first!
UPDATES & REMINDERS:
I recently recorded a webinar that outlines my Read & WRAP framework and general approach to the ELA block. You can check it on Corwin’s YouTube channel here.
I was honored to join Natalie Daily, Stephanie Wilson, and Amy Hermon, the incredible host of the School Librarians United podcast. You can listen to our conversation here.
JUST READ IT is officially (or perhaps unofficially?) an Amazon Top New Release and Corwin bestseller. This book continues to find readers because of y’all. You can order on Amazon or here (use the code HOLIDAY25 for 25% + free shipping.) Corwin has also shared an excerpt from the book; check out Chapter 1 here.
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, please reach out. I love connecting with fellow educators and supporting/strengthening your team’s literacy efforts.
Project LIT Book Club: As a reminder, you can check out all of our Project LIT selections in one place. You can check out many of our graphics and links here. Thanks again to Rebecca A. for creating this fantastic slideshow, featuring all of the YA titles sorted by genre, to help students find their next read. And here are the most recent MG titles in one place (thank you, Stephanie!). If anyone would like to work on creating a slideshow featuring all 200+ titles, please let me know! AND, NOMINATE TITLES here! What middle grade (MG) and young adult (YA) books should we add to our collection?! What books are super popular with your middle and high school students? What books would y’all like to read, discuss, and celebrate together as a local chapter and/or national community? (The goal is to announce 25 MG and 25 YA titles in early 2025 — stay tuned!)
Again, more to come soon! Wishing you and your students a joyful December, and as always, happy reading,
Jarred