Weekly Update: Spring Break Edition
Revisiting eight classroom highlights from 23-24 and previewing several activities to finish the school year strong
Happy Saturday everyone,
I’ve been on spring break this week, enjoying lots of family time as we prepare for the arrival of baby #2 next month. (Every day has reminded me of “Today” by Billy Collins — absolutely glorious.)
The focus here is two fold: 1) to quickly recap some of the things that have worked for us (me and my eighth-grade students) this year, and 2) to look ahead to May and June and preview some of my favorite end-of-year activities. Let’s jump right in, shall we?
Here are eight things that have gone well in our classroom:
Our Read & WRAP routine. Recently, we’ve incorporated poetry, grammar (check out last week’s update for more details), compare-contrast and argumentative writing, reflection, and next week, we’ll review narrative elements and rewrite a scene from a different point of view (here’s an example of the WRAP task).
Our study of Greek & Latin roots. Here’s the complete list of 84.
Our Article of the Week. Most recently, students selected their own AoW — we spent class time reviewing how to find a credible source — as they began their “Genius Hour” projects in Science class. Here’s the complete assignment. And here’s the running list of articles we’ve read this year.
Our intentional grammar instruction. Here’s a recent example.
Our poetry writing — both original poems and analysis/explication. Here’s the graphic organizer we used to compare and contrast “Introduction to Poetry” and “How to Eat a Poem” as well as “We Real Cool” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay.”
Our whole-class texts — Night, Fahrenheit 451, and Romeo and Juliet. Here’s a thread that shares some of my thoughts on reframing the “choice vs. classics” conversation. I also discuss this more fully in Just Read It.
Our dynamic debate in January.
Our food-focused memoir unit (see item #3) in November.
And now, here’s an excerpt from Chapter 6 of JUST READ IT that captures my mindset heading into May and June and previews several end-of-year activities that my students and I plan to dig into shortly. (But first, a special shout out to all-star educator and human Geneviève DeBose for completing the Boston Marathon earlier this month. You are so freaking inspiring!)
CHAPTER 6 EXCERPT
Growing up in Massachusetts, one of my favorite days of the year was “Marathon Monday.” And not just because we had the day off from school. The entire community comes together on the third Monday in April to celebrate the incredible feats of strength and endurance. I remember, as a nine-year-old, standing on the side of Commonwealth Avenue, passing out water to runners as they trekked up “Heartbreak Hill,” arguably the most grueling stretch of the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon. We were in awe as the professionals sprinted by us first, but for the rest of the day we were cheering on the amateur runners—moms and dads, friends and neighbors. As Adrian Hanft wrote in a 2019 blog post, “Every time I line up at the start of a marathon I am amazed by the diversity of humans I see. Running is truly a sport for all shapes, sizes, and varieties of people. While the top finishers steal the headlines, the real story to me is the thousands of runners who finish behind the winners” (Hanft, 2019).
For these individuals, it didn’t matter what time they crossed the finish line; it just mattered that they finished. And we were there, lined up near Mile 20, ready to do our small part to ensure that they did. Way to go! You’re almost there! Great job! Keep it up! We see you! Wooooo!
In many ways, the school year feels like a marathon. That’s why, in May or June, as we near the finish line and prepare for a summer of well-deserved rest and recovery, we owe it to ourselves to appreciate the journey and acknowledge our students’ accomplishments (along with our own). Think about where all of you were in the fall. Look at where y’all are now. How much you’ve read. How much you’ve written. How much you’ve learned. How much you’ve grown. Look at how many PRs (personal records) were set.
At the same time, as my middle or high school students grind their way through one state test after another—most recently, ninety minutes a day for eight days over a three-week period—there’s inevitably a moment of doubt. Are my students prepared? How could I have been better? My goodness, there are so many things I want to do differently next year. This ability to self-reflect is an important attribute. However, our desire for perfection cannot prevent us from celebrating or appreciating the solid work we are already doing. Yes, there’s always room for improvement. Yes, our students are prepared.
Because our “testing season” is so long and draining, it’s easy to lose momentum for the home stretch. (Which is another reason why I find high-stakes testing so frustrating.) However, it doesn’t have to be this way. In chapter 4, we looked at how to start the school year strong. Why not end it even stronger? While the year is inevitably full of ups and downs, I believe wholeheartedly that the final days and weeks should be some of our most enjoyable. For me and my students, they often are. That’s not an accident; it’s by design.
Therefore, the goal for this chapter is straightforward: to show how ELA teachers can make the most of the home stretch and ensure that we end the school year, or “season,” on a high note. Specifically, I share several joyful and challenging activities that encourage reflection, promote creativity and critical thinking, and push students to apply some of the skills they developed during our Read and WRAP time over the previous 8-9 months.
The “For Every One” activity ensures that our ELA classroom comes full circle. In “Lit Awards,” students take time to celebrate their favorite books, authors, and characters from the past year. The Independent Reading Project can be scaled up or down, depending on time and objectives, and we’ve included several quality options for students to choose from, including a Culminating One-Pager, Book Talk, and Character Graduation Speech (which also work well as standalone assignments).
Students also can write one final letter, whether it’s to their ELA teacher, next year’s students, or someone they’re grateful for. The ELA Portfolio and Reflection and third and final Reading Attitude Survey help students (and their teachers) document the incredible year of reading and writing and look ahead to the future.
The chapter closes with two teacher “assignments”—updating our Literacy Dashboard and developing our “Summer Reading” game plan.
UPDATES & REMINDERS
What I’m Reading Lately: I picked up Charlie Hustle from the local library earlier this week, and it is fantastic. I’m also reading Stephen King’s On Writing (a student has the copy at the moment) and still thinking about There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib. Other 2024 reads include: Hello Beautiful, Tomorrow X3, Tom Lake, The Deal of a Lifetime, Play Like a Girl, Swim Team, A Rover’s Story, The Probability of Everything, Rez Ball, Divine Rivals, The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, Filterworld, and Stolen Focus.
I wrote a few words for the Corwin Connect blog: “Tips and Strategies for Building Literacy Skills in All Content Areas.” I’m also featured on the Teacher to Teacher podcast — you can check out the episode here.
Just Read It Book Club: Join the fun here!
ICYMI: a new Jason Reynolds video, “The Power of Narrative.” You can check out the full transcript and unit plan here (and if you have only have a couple of minutes, be sure to jump ahead to the 32:00 mark for a special shoutout…)
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. 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!
JUST READ IT is officially out in the world and an Amazon Top New Release! You can order on Amazon or here (use the code RAVEN25 for 25% + free shipping.) Corwin has also shared an excerpt from the book; check out Chapter 1 here. Thanks again to everyone who continues to support the book and spread the word. I am appreciative of every Instagram post, every comment, every email, and every book review.
If your school, district, or organization is planning a JUST READ IT book study or would like for me to deliver a keynote address or lead a workshop/PD session, please reach out! I will be presenting in Maryland and Virginia in August and making the trip to Boston twice in November (including NCTE’s annual conference — excited to see some of y’all there!).
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend (don’t forget to throw open all the windows in the house), and as always, happy reading!
Jarred