Week 7 Update
Friday Five, Spooky Szn, Food Memory Narratives, AoWs, One-Pagers, 100-Word Memoirs, and More
Happy Sunday, everyone. On this crisp fall afternoon, let’s jump right into the latest edition of “10 Things.”
“Friday Five”: As a way to help bring closure to the week and “hear” from every student, I’ve started the “Friday Five” email, where students share their quick thoughts on five topics. For example, here’s what students answered last week:
What page are you on in Night? (I give students daily time to read in class, whether it’s their independent read or a whole-class text. With Night, I’ve provided checkpoints while also encouraging them to read at their own pace. *Let me know if you’d like me to discuss how I balance whole-class texts and choice in future updates.)
What are three words you’d use to describe Night? (pushing for strong word choice)
What essay topic(s) are you considering at the moment? (Students will be finishing Night this week and developing their own essay question.)
Why do the leaves change color? (the focus of our Article of the Week — see below.)
What is your favorite dessert?
Spooky Season Collection (boosting from last week). For those celebrating “Spooky Season,” I would love to know your favorites (poems, songs, short stories, short films, etc.). Planning to watch this short film with students on Friday. Hoping to sprinkle in a short story or two (but there’s just never enough time to do it all). You also can check out one of Common Lit’s Horror & Suspense text sets here. (I also created a Long Way Down educator guide during the pandemic, which is available for purchase here. In the past, I loved reading Long Way Down in late October/early November, but in my new school, I’m planning to read it in the spring following Romeo and Juliet. More thoughts on that later! If you end up buying the guide, feel free to reach out via email if you have any questions!)
Looking ahead to November (which is somehow almost here): I’m planning a mini “food-focused narrative” unit in November, and I’ll continue to add resources to this section. Let me know if there’s anything you’d recommend!
I love this personal essay from Kwame Alexander along with
“Fish Cheeks” (and others from this Common Lit text set)
There’s so much to dig through in this “Food Memory Narrative” blog post from Moving Writers.
This was the most beautiful review of a blender I’ve ever read.
After reading several mentors, students will brainstorm, draft, and eventually publish a food memory narrative of our their own. I’m hoping we’ll have time to put together a class cookbook, as well.
The goal is to celebrate our writing (and one another) during a class potluck brunch during the week of Thanksgiving
Article of the Week. I broke down our AoW process/protocol in previous updates (Weeks 3 and 4), and moving forward, I’ll keep a running list of articles here:
“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?”
Here’s Kelly Gallagher’s running list of AoWs for the 23-24 school year
Project LIT Updates:
A. 23-24 Nomination Process: You can check out our complete list of titles here. Now, we need your help. 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? NOMINATE TITLES here. (Thanks to everyone who has begun to nominate titles. Keep them coming!) Planning to share the preliminary results with everyone next week, so that we can announce our 23-24 titles by the end of the calendar year (December 2023).
B. Virtual Book Club Reminder: I recently finished Dashka Slater’s Accountable and cannot wait to discuss it with y’all. For those who are interested, we’re planning to host a virtual discussion later this fall.
C. Looking for more book club ideas and inspiration? Check out this slideshow, which includes more highlights from the early days of Project LIT Community.
Independent Reading Ideas: Looking to hold students “accountable” without killing their love of reading? In my upcoming book, Just Read It: Unlocking the Magic of Independent Reading in Middle and High School Classrooms, I share dozens of post-reading prompts and possibilities. Last week I shared the six-word summary and critique (and six-word scary stories). This week, I wanted to spotlight the one-pager (shout out Spark Creativity for the resources), which works wonderfully with whole-class texts or choice reads.
100-Word Memoirs: The NYT Learning Network is encouraging students to share a true story about a meaningful life experience in just 100 words. You can check out the contest here. Even if you don’t have students enter the contest, there are so many wonderful resources worth checking out. I took this concept and applied it to our current whole-class read, Night. At the end of each section, students work in groups to take words/phrases/quotes from the text and craft a 100-word memoir in verse. This example (which still needs to be shrunk down from 143 words) should help you understand the assignment. Let me know if you have any questions, but it’s been an enjoyable and worthwhile post-reading task for all of us.
Greek & Latin Roots: I’ve always struggled to “do vocabulary” well (again, there’s never enough time to do it all), but I’ve decided to use this list of 84 as a starting point, and the early returns are promising. We began with the first 20 roots (anti through mega), and students LOVED reviewing via Blooket. (Let me know if you’d like for me to share more vocab thoughts & strategies in future updates…)
Reading & Listening Recs: Are there any food podcasts that you’d recommend? (I’m thinking that some students may enjoy recording themselves discuss a dish/recipe with a family member as part of our food & identity unit next month.) Also, I want to read something great. What’s the last book (adult or YA) you’ve loved? Thanks in advance for any and all recs!
Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or ideas. Sending lots of love to you and your students during these heavy times, and as always, happy reading.
Jarred
