I was pretty selective with these November 2023 YA new releases. I think very purposefully about what my students will actually read–and what may not be available in my school library. I want my classroom library to be a place where students find something special and personal–something that speaks to them.
Yellowjackets meets She Is a Haunting in this debut speculative thriller that follows a disgraced teen idol who comes face-to-face with the demons of her past in a glittering, cutthroat K-pop competition.She is a Haunting is a book I covered in my blog earlier this year.
Newly out trans guy Max is having a hard time in school. Things have been tough since his summer romance, Danny, turned into his bully. This year, his plan is to keep his head down and graduate. All that changes when new It-girl Gloss moves to town. No one understands why perfect, polished Gloss is so interested in an introverted skater kid, but Max blooms in the hothouse of her attention. Caught between romance and obsession, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her on his side.
AFTER
Haircuts, makeovers, drugs, parties. It’s all fun and games until someone gets killed at a rager gone terribly wrong. Max refuses to believe that Gloss did it. But if not Gloss, who? Desperate to figure out truth in the wake of tragedy, Max veers dangerously close to being implicated—and his own memories of that awful night are fuzzy.
Let’s get Christmas out of the way first. An African-American boy who works at his family’s bookstore falls in love with a fellow employee when they must stop a gentrifier from shutting down the bookstore on Christmas Eve. Still, it’s a swoon for me. Adorable.
Kirkus called it a bold addition to the queer academia genre. A student at a private school trying to solve a mystery stumbles upon something even more dangerous in the forest.
Starred Kirkus Review. When Sophia Galich was twelve, she starred in her older sister Layla’s amateur horror movie Vermillion, which recorded raw footage of her very real reactions to scenes her sister concocted in their old Californian house on the coast. A good follow-up would be Home Before Dark by Riley Sager, which I recently devoured, along with The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
When I became an English teacher, I don’t think I realized how much of my time would be spent on teaching how to “do” literary analysis. For me, it was something I just did–not necessarily because I was super talented, but because I wasn’t afraid to read something, have an idea about it, and then share that idea. By the time students reach high school, the gap between the students who read–ideate–write and those who don’t has widened significantly. How’s a teacher to stretch herself across that gap?
Literature Analysis Definition
At its core, I teach students to write a literary analysis paragraph. If they can build that, they can build an essay. The literature analysis definition I teach is really that it’s an argument. There are four main parts.
The Claim
This can be in response to a question (this often helps spark students’ thinking, working like a research question that guides inquiry). Even if it isn’t in response to a question, it is a statement about the text that requires reasoning and evidence to prove its validity. If you can say it without any evidence or reasoning, it is not a very strong claim (if it is a claim at all).
The Evidence
This is a direct quote or paraphrase from the text that supports the claim. Necessity applies here as it does with the claim. If the evidence can be stated and understood without any reasoning/explanation to connect it back to the claim, it’s not super compelling evidence.
The Reasoning
This can be part of the same sentence as the evidence or after it, but it ties the evidence back to the claim. It connects the dots for readers. The cycle of evidence and reasoning is repeated usually for several sentences because a claim needing only one piece of evidence and reasoning also isn’t very compelling.
The Fermata
This is the last sentence of the paragraph. The fermata is a term that comes from music, but I first heard it applied to writing in a book called The Magic Words by Cheryl Klein. This is a book about writing YA by a YA editor, which I applied to my own novel writing, but I also have used it to teach fiction, as well as fermatas in any writing. Klein describes it as holding an idea that readers can consider–an idea that grounds them in the message but also gives them food for thought. It’s not leaving things ambiguous to trick the reader, but allowing them a moment to dwell with their own thinking in the world built by the writer (which could be the world of the argument they are making). This metaphor has worked again and again with my students.
Literary Analysis Purpose
Often, teaching everyone to write literary analysis goes beyond teaching them the parts of literary analysis–then need to know the purpose behind it. I love Beyond Literary Analysis by Rebekah O’Dell and Allison Marchetti. In this book, they claim that students already know how to anaylze–they just don’t often apply it to literature. They analyze their favorite sports teams, shows, and trends, to name a few. The authors offer great ideas for letting students practice analytical writing that is not literature-based before having them apply it to literature.
If you don’t have the time to launch into a full non-literary analysis unit, you can also recreate that idea in one lesson. Students can share about a topic of choice and their analyses of said topic without doing any formal writing. You can draw their attention to how they use claims, evidence, and reasoning to explain their analyses.
A debate about a passionate topic can be another way to introduce claim, evidence, and reasoning, and why they matter. If you want to do a low-stakes debate form, check out resources from Dave Stuart, Jr.
Analytical Paragraph Writing Tips for Every Student
Because this is a mainstay of language arts classes, there is plenty of time to teach, reteach, and extend students’ understanding and execution of the writing. Here are my top tips:
Be prepared to make your own analytical paragraph writing example.
This is important because you are able to explain the process from the inside. You will also be a model of how to deal with the more difficult parts of the process. If you come with a premade example, students may believe there must be something wrong with them if they struggle. If you come with no example, the students may feel too overwhelmed to manage all the parts.
Starting with poetry can really help this process. It allows you to model analytical paragraph writing with a short text. I had students copy my example in their notes (they could type or handwrite–example is provided for those that need it). This hand-over-hand support lets them feel and see the sentence structure.
Give them analytical paragraph words to use.
As you may know, I am obsessed with domain language, and analytical writing has its own set of words to use. I start the year with a very repetitive set of language. The students who need it hold onto it, and the students who already have it use their own language. Their work can become exemplars. When students are ready to write with more sentence variety, you can pull similar language from the texts of advanced students.
This also becomes a fabulous time to teach between- and within-paragraph transitions. I am especially a fan of within-paragraph transitions (because it easily transfers to longer essays) and students get less exposure to considering the relationship between their ideas. They include three pieces of evidence because we said three, disregarding how said pieces work together (or potentially contradict each other).
Analysis Writing Techniques to Teach
There are so many analysis writing techniques to unpack for student. I recommend targeting them one by one, based on what you see students needing to practice.
First Pre-Skills to Teach
Though dependent on grade level, these techniques are primarily pre-skills. In the Common Core, students begin practicing analysis in the second grade, so these pre-skills prepare secondary students to do a secondary version of the standards with more complex texts.
Analyzing a prompt.
Analyzing a specific pieces of evidence.
The language to use for writing with evidence and reasoning.
Organizing pieces of evidence and their reasoning.
Writing with stamina (students being able to take said information and turn it into writing in 20 minutes or less).
Standard Analysis Writing Techniques to Teach
Again, it may depend on grade level, but here are some general considerations I make with 9th and 10th graders in mind.
Writing a claim inductively (gathering the evidence and generating a claim from it).
Introducing quotes grammatically.
Gathering strong and thorough evidence.
Advanced Analysis Writing Techniques to Teacher
Setting your own analytical purpose.
Writing a deductive claim that needs evidence.
Managing quotes vs. paraphrasing vs. using one- or two-word quotes.
Adding a fermata to wrap up their paragraphs.
Start With This Literary Analysis How To Guide
If you are looking for a resource, check out this bestseller from my shop. I have used this resource repeatedly in 9th and 11th grades for students who need a refresher on the basics of analytical paragraphs. They start developing these skills in elementary school, so having this guide frees me up to focus the whole class on what’s fresh at their grade level when it comes to analytical writing. This hacks guide lives as a quick-reference on my class page for students, but can also serve as a basis for mini-lessons when students need differentiated instruction during writing workshop. Enjoy!
There are several ways to organize units of study in classes–a timeline, or by text or skill, but my favorite is a thematic lesson plan in English–and not for the reasons you might think.
What is a thematic unit plan?
A thematic unit plan is a collection of lessons that are connected by a theme, such as a topic, idea, concept, or essential question. Since analyzing and generating themes are a significant part of the Common Core (and many) ELA curricula, this is a natural opportunity to teach students how to attend to theme.
This definition may seem fairly obvious, but it can still easily fall short. A good thematic unit
1. Can be problematized or complexified
If the answer is simple or obvious, it will not engage students intellectually. Curating texts and activities that promote diverse thought leaves the agency with the students. They will need to read, write, and discuss to understand and establish their own ideas–a core part of my literacy lesson plan for soaring growth.
2. Acknowledges students’ personal funds of knowledge and academizes them
By starting the unit with all that students already know, we prepare them to extend their learning. We validate their experiences as important sources of information and understanding. If we stop there, however, the student learns nothing new. All areas of academia are rooted in our daily lived experiences. Often times, students think that school has nothing to do with “reality.” Making these connections not only deepens students’ understandings, it shows them that their interests and lives are valuable to the intellectual community. This connection can be made through domain-related words.
Why You Need Domain-Related Words
Domain-related words are groups of terms that are used in a specific discipline. We know tons of these–we may know terms that mean something completely different in our favorite sport, terms for using technology, and slang within our contextual groups. These words become connected to each other in our minds through their meanings, and they allow us to unlock a whole knew set of background knowledge. When children are young, we teach them words that go with families, houses, vehicles, and so forth to build their schema. In adolescence, we still need to teach students the words for new areas to expand their background knowledge. By teaching them to read, write, speak, and think like historians, journalists, researchers, scientists, mathematicians, and so forth, we are improving their ability to comprehend anything they encounter in the world.
Sample Thematic Unit Lesson Plans
Here is a list of some of the different units I’ve done.
Climate change. We explored the domain of climatology.
Gangs. We explored the domain of sociology, which is the academic field that studies gang organization and activity.
Race. This included a variety of terms from different disciplines. For ideas, check out me and white supremacy by Layla F. Saad.
Immigration. We focused on some legal and historical terms associated with this domain.
Democracy. We explored the domain of political ideologies since many students would not be familiar with terms surrounding conservative and liberal ideas.
Intelligence. We drew on terms from cognitive psychology and neuroscience.
Coming Up With Thematic Unit Plan Ideas
This year, I want to build my class around uplifting topics. The first thematic unit is around inspiration. Here are the steps I take to plan this unit.
1. Brainstorm
I start with some generative brainstorming before narrowing down because I want to account for my own bias. By not focusing on just my first thoughts, I increase the likelihood that I will anticipate more students’ ideas about the theme. What are the personal experiences students might have with the theme? What academic fields study this theme?
A thematic unit plan starts with brainstorming.
2. Segment the Unit
Instead of one too-short unit or one meandering unit, I divide the unit into segments so that we solidify learning objectives along the way. The three segments are
Establish common ground. This is because not all students will have the same (or much) experience with some themes. This segment helps all students find an entry point to the theme.
Expand on personal experiences. In this segment, students deepen their personal understanding of the theme. This is to validate their experiences–they have something worth saying on any theme. Taking this time to help them find their viewpoint will enrich further discussions.
Problematize or complexify the theme. In this segment, we explore a complex text with competing viewpoints that may or may not reinforce the “simpler” views presented earlier in the unit.
Planning for each segment includes domain-related words.
3. Develop the segments.
Each segment should have
A final assessment with identified standards
Invitational texts or activities
Key vocabulary that supports the domain
4. Backwards-plan each segment.
I then map out each day using my literacy lesson plan for soaring growth. Sometimes I use the full template I just linked, but I also I like overview of each day on one page.
I am so excited for this book. It’s told in two overlapping narratives. The first is set on an Ivy League campus in the wake of MLK Jr.’s assassination. The other takes place in 1995 amidst the Million Man March at a New England prep school. This is an examination of Black excellence and what it takes to succeed across time that I can I see students bringing into today. This debut novel received a starred Kirkus Review.
Only one person has fallen into the underground river (the Narrow) beneath a girls’ boarding school and lived. And now that girl and her roommate’s secrets become intertwined as they explore the Narrow and the ghosts that haunt it. This novel received a starred Kirkus Review.
A graphic novel that tells the story of a girl who falls in love with an AI humanoid. Great intersection of science fiction and contemporary issues. I would also recommend Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful.
Perfect for White Lotus fans, this book tells the story of a family reunion at a posh Caribbean resort. One person checks in and never checks out. After this book, you could recommend some classic closed-room mysteries from Agatha Christie or some more contemporary fare from Lucy Foley.
These titles are not new, but it takes me awhile to get through my professional TBR pile as I prefer to go slow and focus on fewer titles. Do you!
Literacy as Liberation, Visible Learning for Literacy, and Cultivating Genius
Literacy is Liberation by Dr. Kimberly Parker
First, I am so excited to read Literacy is Liberation. Dr. Parker and I know each other through the Book Love Foundation, of which we were both grant recipients. She is such a thought leader in our discipline. We agree that literacy is about social justice–I can’t wait for her to push me on how to enact that justice.
Cultivating Genius by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad
I purchased this book in 2020 (ack! I know!) and now there’s a companion text out called Unearthing Joy. Excited to read both of these because I love a framework that celebrates students assets, agency, and joy. These are what I’m building my teaching around next year (stay tuned).
Visible Learning for Literacy by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey
Okay, I know these authors have written tons of books and this is an oldie, but I still want to read this aggregation of literacy research. I’m always looking for touchpoints as well as reminders of what works.
Professional Reading for Teachers
Looking for something else? Check out my full bookshelf here.
As I planned back-to-school activities for high school students this year, I thought long and hard about what experiences and values I wanted to center, using that to drive what we did. The results are so great.
First, I wanted everyone to connect with me in some way. Of lesser importance was them connecting to one another, mostly because I cannot guarantee who in the room is safe for whom on day one. Still, I built opportunities for naturally connecting with others.
Then, I wanted to bring a sense of co-creation to the class, with the understanding that the experience in our room will be what we make of it. That we co-own our results. This fosters ownership, responsibility, and collaboration.
Finally, I wanted observational space for me, but them too. I am a hypervigilant person, and so starting with observations helps me (and can help students) feel safe. I know from the beginning there is a lot of information I don’t have about students, and I wanted a way to gather it that didn’t involve surveys that I will never look at again. I want students to develop an observational stance too, as it is key for readers, writers, listeners, and thinkers (not to mention scientists, citizens, etc.).
With these three goals in mind, I set out to plan activities that would fulfill one or more of them.
1. Write letters to each other.
I like this activity because it is authentic, offers the opportunity for selective vulnerability, and is a private way to ease into the school year. Here’s my letter that I plan on sharing with students.
I like to signal to students that their needs can be met here and also that they can meet them independently. The guide is great for new students who join throughout the year, as well as for reminding students of the positive choices they can make. I can also teach how to distinguish their wants from their needs. My definition: your wants are needs that can wait 50 minutes.
3. Build a class playlist.
I use Spotify for this, but you can use whatever way you like to organize music.
You can ask students for their favorite songs, of course, but you can also ask them for songs that help them study, hype-up songs, etc. to teach about how to support your own success with the music you choose. You can also ask for songs that fit a certain theme. We are starting the year studying inspiration, so asking for inspiring songs is the perfect way for me to do this. If we have extra time on any given day, I can put on someone’s song and ask them to explain it as a community builder. Here is an example from Maniacs in the Middle that I like.
4. Decorate notebooks (or binders or their desks or the room).
I love turning on the class playlist and letting students personalize their notebooks while I observe them. I can see how they work, who talks with whom, or just mingle and ask questions. I will know pretty quickly how the class will respond to unstructured or creative activities and be able to plan for the future.
5. Advertise for classroom jobs.
It really takes a village to run a classroom, and I like to hire students to foster that spirit. I “pay” students with letters of recommendation, time to listen to their own music (offers a proactive way for students to get what they want), and fun activities with me (e.g. I’ll teach you a dance combo or you can teach me about your favorite topic). This is such an awesome opportunity to teach students leadership skills.
6. Set personal goals.
We’ll be using a more or less chart, an idea I’m revising from Dr. Sarah Zerwin’s book Point-less. In my version, students review certain readings and graphs that inspire them to think about what behaviors they want to do more and less during the year. I can ask them to revisit these lists all year long to check on their own progress and guide necessary conversations. Here are the texts I am using:
I teach sophomores, who are experts in all things. Allowing them to make fun of the rules while reinforcing them is great. It provides me with a backstock of rule reminders that can be hung in our classroom for easy reference (and that I can have hung all over the school).
8. Be ready with a back-up activity.
My timing is always off as I get back into the swing of things. That’s why I like to have a fire pit activity ready to go. This idea, from Liz Prather’s Project-Based Writing, has students sit in a circle. You can even have a little fake fire on the floor. You introduce a topic, and students take turns telling stories from their lives about the topic. They can be inspired by the topic or by what the person before them shared, kind of like how when you sit around a fire pit the storytelling just flows from one to the next. If the students run out of ideas, you can pull another topic. You can also have them record their story ideas in their notebooks afterwards so they have something to write about (when they inevitably say they have nothing to write about).
What if back-to-school was the most relaxing time of the year?
If you’d like a done-for-you version of these activities, here it is! It includes
An editable three-day lesson plan for my exact sequence
An editable teacher-letter template
An editable needs guide
Song request cards
Observation sheets
Affirmations for decorating
An editable classroom jobs ad, application, and training materials
Directions and materials for the goal-setting activity
Directions and materials for the meme activity
Fire pit topic ideas
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, I receive a commission.
I always set goals for myself to read more actual research, but I rarely follow through. In this post, I’ll share some research from 2020 and later on independent reading that I actually read. Yay!
What comes first–print exposure or reading skills?
van Bergen, E., Vasalampi, K., & Torppa, M. (2021). How Are Practice and Performance Related? Development of Reading from Age 5 to 15. Reading Research Quarterly, 56(3), 415–434. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rrq.309
This longitudinal study asks the age-old question: are “good” readers successful early on because they have the skills that make reading easy/enjoyable or are they successful because they had a lot of exposure to books? Secondarily, what does that mean for older kids? Here are the key takeaways:
Their results agreed with the “Matthew effect”–essentially that early readers get exponentially better (i.e. “the rich get richer”). This is why early intervention is so important.
In middle school, students’ skills were positively influenced by reading material of interest (greater print exposure), but the absence of feedback in independent reading limited its possible positive impact.
More research needs to be done–nothing they found was causal.
Print exposure and reading skills have a reciprocal relationship that slightly favors reading skills at this time.
This study makes me think about how tough it is to help high school readers. If you’ve had a lifetime of disinterest and not gotten the skills you need, why would you invest now? It’s like deciding to go pro in a sport but you never played it growing up. It feels way too late. This is why I think high school students need special attention to interest and also direct skills instruction. They are way too intertwined.
Can literacy clubs boost reading?
TICHENORq, M., PIECHURA, K., DIEDRICHS, R., & HEINS, E. (2020). Building a Culture of Independent Reading through Literacy Clubs. Reading Improvement, 57(1), 11–15.
In this study, small groups of upper elementary students were paired with pre-service teachers to read books.
One group was a “lunch bunch,” where the pre-service teachers would read to the students while they ate and then discuss the book. The students were of “average” reading ability. Books were chosen from awards lists. The students were surveyed and found the experience positive and wanted to continue it.
The boys’ book club was for boys labeled “at-risk” in reading. Also meeting during lunch, the students chose books that were of interest to them and that the pre-service teacher could access. This group increased its classroom and standardized reading scores, as well as the volume and rate of their independent reading.
The third club was a STEAM club that met after school. The students each chose their own books on the topic and shared them with classmates, which often led to informal recommendations. This group increased its standardized test scores and read more complex books independently.
This study was not done at the secondary level and listed no limitations, so take it for what it’s worth.
Should teachers use independent reading in the classroom?
Brannan, L. R., Johnson, R. B., Giles, R. M., & Kent, A. M. (2020). The Beliefs and Practices of Second Grade Teachers Who Implement Independent Reading and Its Effect on Students’ Reading Achievement and Reading Volume. Language and Literacy Spectrum, 30(1).
In this mixed-method study, the researchers were trying to square the idea that independent reading isn’t research-based or effective, as has been stated in other studies.
They examined 6 second-grade teachers and found all the ones who met their definition of “highly effective” to use independent reading, but the result was not statistically significant, as it was too small of a sample size and not randomized.
The teachers emphasized quantity and quality of independent reading, often linking it to classroom reading. They used some method of accountability with the students.
During conferences, they used student data, asked open-ended questions, assessed students, helped them set goals, taught them new strategies, and took advantage of teachable moments.
The classrooms were not silent. Students engaged in partner reading and discussion during independent reading time.
This study makes me think about the absolute intentionality that must go into independent reading, and that we cannot just assume it’s working for all students because it possibly worked for us.
Is independent reading important for gifted students?
Churchill, S. (2020). Left to Chance: Gifted Students and Independent Reading. Knowledge Quest, 48(5), 24–31.
In this case study, a librarian-researcher looked at how to support the reading of gifted students, whose needs may be neglected in favor of more disruptive or blatantly “needier” students. She interviewed 11 students, so again, this is a small sample. Recommendations included
facilitating peer groups to increase motivation
engage in reading conferences but do overdo the accountability measures (students who read A LOT may find this way more laborious than slower readers).
stretch them with new titles, classics, a wide variety of genres. They may gravitate toward fantasy and science fiction, so deepen your own resources for those titles.
not chaining them to reading levels (can only read “advanced” books). There is a point at which book levels becomes truly meaningless.
protect reading time in class.
attending specifically to the needs of male readers, who are less motivated to read, no matter their “level”
This study echoes many of my own recommendations for advanced students in my Creating Readers Workshop, but I like the reminders to keep things social, approach some expectations differently, and to attend to male readers.
How do you create readers?
I have a straightforward process I use to create readers of every student. This short workshop will be opening up soon, so if you’re ready to create readers in a research-backed way, join me. Check out the details and join the waitlist.
In this queer rom-com, teen girl has to choose between spending the summer with her dad (and the girl she’s crushing on) in NYC or with her estranged mom in LA (and the guy she never saw coming). Both timelines play out Sliding-Doors-style.
For fan’s of Netflix’s Outer Banks. A teen must search for her town’s sunken treasure to clear her family’s name and save her future. Starred Kirkus review.
