(Slightly Late) Weekly Update
Snow Day + Book Birthday + Lots of "Lit Love"
Happy Tuesday everyone,
I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather lately, so I am extra grateful for today’s snow day. Before I sit back on the couch and finish Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake, I wanted to finish the weekly update that I planned to publish on Sunday.
Valentine-Themed WRAP Prompts: This week, during our WRAP time, I’m going to have our students show some “lit love” to their favorite characters, books, and authors. Here are a few possibilities:
Create a top ___ (3, 5, 10, etc.) list of your all-time favorite characters.
Create a top ___ (3, 5, 10, etc.) list of your all-time favorite books.
Create a top ___ (3, 5, 10, etc.) list of your all-time favorite authors.
Write a brief letter/email to the author of your favorite book, letting them know how much you enjoyed it.
Write a “Valentine’s Note” from one character to another.
As a class, work together to create a bulletin board full of your favorite books, authors, characters, quotes/lines, etc.
Author Email/Letter: For those who have a little more time to dedicate to the “Lit Love” assignment, here’s an excerpt from JUST READ IT:
In the first prompt, students write a letter (or email) to the author of a book they have read recently. Ideally, the author is still alive and able to receive correspondence, but it is not required. Reminder that the task can be as formal or informal as we’d like; it can be a quick heartfelt message on an index card or a typed two-page letter. (And please do not mandate that students receive a response from the author to get full credit.)
Write a letter/email to the author of a book you have read and enjoyed recently. Be sure to write in a conversation and respectful tone. Here are a few tips and guidelines to consider:
Briefly introduce yourself (what would you like the author to know about you?) and the book you read.
Share some of your major thoughts and takeaways from the book.
What did you specifically enjoy and appreciate?
Favorite character(s), and why?
Favorite scene(s), and why?
What other books, movies, series, and the like could you connect it to?
What tweaks or changes would you recommend?
What questions do you have for the author?
Don’t forget to provide a brief closing remark.
Speaking of love, here’s this week’s AoW: “Should we scoff at the idea of love at first sight?”
NOTE: I broke down our AoW process/protocol in previous updates (check out Weeks 3 and 4), and here’s a running list of articles we’ve read this year:
“Let Kids Get Bored. It’s Good For Them”
“Stop Multitasking. No, Really — Just Stop It.”
“Where Are the People of Color in Children’s Books?”
“Autumn Splendor: Why Do Leaves Change Color in the Fall?”
“Why is it fun to be frightened?”
“Listening to Taylor Swift in Prison”
“Oxford’s Word of the Year is….Rizz”
“A.I. Poses ‘Risk of Extinction,’ Industry Leaders Warn.”
Here’s Kelly Gallagher’s running list of AoWs for the 23-24 school year
As you can probably tell, we’re starting Romeo and Juliet (the modern English version side-by-side with the original text) this week. Please reach out if you have any questions — I’m happy to share how we approach this text! For example, we hold a mock trial at the end of the play (should Friar Lawrence be held responsible for their deaths?). I’m also planning to pair it with Jason Reynolds’s Long Way Down — my goodness, there are so many wonderful connections! Family and friendship, love and loyalty, fate vs. free will, the effects of trauma on the
adolescent brain, the power of peer pressure and following “the rules,” gun (or sword) violence and revenge, the brilliant word play and writing styles, and so much more.
I shared this in an Instagram thread the other day, but it’s worth repeating here: There is more than enough room for both choice and our whole-class reads, “classic” or contempoary. We do not have to pick one or the other. In fact, when we do choice well, it enhances our experience with the required texts.
Book of the Week: Parts of the book may feel a bit dated now, but I gained a lot from reading Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains. I plastered the book with sticky notes, and I’m excited to share my full thoughts in a future post…stay tuned! (And let me know if you’ve read it!) I’m also planning to dig into Kyle Chayka’s Filterworld.
Dynamic Debate: If you’re interested in having your students examine the role of technology in their lives and in our society as a whole, be sure to check out last week’s update. (And, as always, feel free to reach out with questions!)
January Reading Reflection: I have LOVED reading through our students’ January reading reflections. Here’s an example:
So far in January, I have read one book and got very close to finishing a second. These books are Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli and Scythe by Neal Shudterman. These are two very different, but very good books. These books were read partially at home, but most of them were read during our in-class reading time.
While my reading this month hasn’t been as good as “_____’s 2022 Reading Marathon”, it has certainly been better than 2023. I don’t think I’ve gotten into the “groove”, but I’d consider myself close. I speculate that the reason why I read so much in 2022 was because I had less homework, thus leading to more time to read. I can’t read for an hour before bed when I’m getting into my room after my “bedtime”.
In February, I plan to continue reading the Scythe saga and possibly start The Hunger Games in late February/early March. Some other books that I would like to add to my TBR (which will probably be read closer to the middle/end of the year) include Izzy at the End of the World by K. A. Reynolds and Loveless by Alice Oseman.
The things that stand out to me the most about these two books is just how different they are: a collage LGBTQ+ romance and a dark dystopian series, both of which are outside of what I usually read. Typically, I read fantasy books found in the “kids section” of Barnes and Nobles, but these two books couldn’t be farther from that description. Overall, my reading has really improved over January, and I hope to see a steady increase as we make our way through the not-so-new year.
I’d love your suggestions for our “READ WIDELY, READ OFTEN” campaign on Instagram! To help students find their next read, we’ll continue to share book recommendations across a whole bunch of categories (books about basketball, graphic memoirs, novels in verse, one-word titles, etc.). The books do not have to be past/present Project LIT titles but they can certainly can be :) Share your suggestions here!
Project LIT Book Club: As a reminder, you can check out all of our 23-24 Project LIT selections (along with all of our previous picks) in one place. You can check out many of our images and links here. (Hoping to update a few of our graphics in the weeks ahead.) 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 are the most recent MG titles in one place (thank you, Stephanie!). If anyone decides to create additional Project LIT resources — please pass them along so that I can share with our community!
Finally, JUST READ IT is officially out today! You can order here (try using the code RAVEN25 for 25% off + free shipping — hoping it should still work.) Corwin has also shared an excerpt from the book; check out Chapter 1 here.
Thanks for your continued support — it means more than you could imagine. Wishing everyone a wonderful week, and as always, happy reading!
Jarred
