Six things I'm working on this summer

Happy July everyone,

Between our 8th grade festivities, culminating in a wonderful graduation ceremony, and family trip to southern Maine to kick off summer, June was a long, beautiful month. Looking forward to a slower (and definitely hotter) July at home with my two young boys. I’m also looking forward to working on a few creative projects and updating my game plan for the 26-27 school year.

For example:

1. I’m continuing to update and expand my “bank” or collection of WRAP prompts.

   1. As a reminder, here are 96 WRAP prompts/cards that encourage students to REFLECT on their reading identity and to DISCUSS their reading lives in an authentic fashion. This set serves as excellent conversation starters for both students and educators alike -- in English classrooms, during student and/or faculty book clubs, to kick off department meetings, and around the kitchen table. Simply download the PDF, print in color, laminate, cut, and you’re good to go. As always, the resources are free; tips are never expected but always appreciated. Please let me know if you have any questions and/or suggestions. Happy reading!

   2. And here are 96 WRAP prompts/cards that encourage students to ANALYZE and DISCUSS any self-selected and/or whole-class book. The prompts in this set are intentionally short and sweet, allowing students to respond on a sticky note or index card or to simply turn and share with a classmate.

   3. I’m in the process of revising (and then sharing) two additional WRAP “sets” — one extended prompt/task per week and one that is aligned to my grammar sequence. Stay tuned :)

2. I’m continuing to update and expand my collection of AoWs.

   1. As a reminder, here’s 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). I’ll have an updated doc for 26-27 to share in the weeks ahead.

   2. Recently, I created this resource: 65 debate topics/questions to help middle and high school classrooms think critically and communicate effectively. Has social media done more harm than good? Should parents track their children online? Is tackle football worth the risk? Has legalized gambling ruined sports? Are pro athletes overpaid? Should we share our DNA with genetic testing companies? Are energy drinks bad for you? Does money buy happiness? And dozens more. Along with the list of topics/questions, you’ll also find a front-back handout that includes a graphic organizer and extended response to help students analyze each author’s argument before developing and supporting a claim of their own.

   3. Reach out if you have any questions about how I approach the AoW, or if you’d like to collaborate in any way :)

3. I’m continuing to update my poetry collection.

   1. As a reminder, here’s a beautiful collection of poems that we can read and celebrate (and perhaps analyze) with middle and high school students throughout every “season” of a school year. I also created two different templates to help us compare/contrast, defend, analyze, justify, etc. two similar texts (poems, short stories, short films, songs, etc.).

4. I’m continuing to update my grammar and vocabulary sequence. Spoiler: I don't plan to change my approach to Greek and Latin morphemes (this year was an overwhelming success). However, I want to do an even better job of aligning/merging this grammar sequence with our WRAP prompts (two birds, one stone).

5. I’m continuing to refine my core units, which leads to the primary inspiration for this update :) As many of you know, our first unit of the year, what I call the “Intro to Lit” unit in JUST READ IT (use the code RAVEN25 for 25% off + free shipping) and has since evolved into “Reading and Writing in an Algorithmic and Artificial Age”, includes Fahrenheit 451 as our anchor text. I’ll share the full unit again later this summer (I’m super proud of it and love it sets the tone for the entire year), but in the meantime, here are five TED Talks that I’m excited to watch and discuss with fellow educators and potentially share with students:

   1. “The Love of My Life (and Why I Need to Share It With You)” by Ann Patchett. I almost dedicated an entire post to this brilliant talk — please give it a watch if you have not done so already :)

   2. “Why We Still Need Poetry — and How It Saves Us” by Kwame Alexander.

   3. “The Power of Narrative” ft. Jason Reynolds.

   4. “What Reading Slowly Taught Me About Writing” by Jacqueline Woodson.

   5. “How and Why We Read” by John Green.

   6. And here are “49 Must-Watch TED Talks for Kids and Teens” curated by We Are Teachers.

6. Finally, I’m continuing to refine my 2026-27 Reading Challenge (shout out to the NYT Book Review for the inspiration) as I encourage students to “read widely and read often.” Imagine if every young (and old) person read at least 10 beautiful books a year . . .

   

7. Please let me know if your school, district, or organization is planning a JUST READ IT (use the code RAVEN25 for 25% off + free shipping) book study, or if you would like for me to deliver a keynote address and/or lead a workshop or PD session in 2026 or 2027. Feel free to share this letter with your school and/or district leaders. You can also contact Authors Unbound (requests@authorsunbound.com) to arrange a speaking engagement and view my speaking profile here. You can also reach out directly via email (jarred.amato@gmail.com). I love connecting with fellow educators and supporting/strengthening your team’s literacy efforts, and it’d be an honor to collaborate.

Happy summer, and as always, happy reading,

Jarred