By Project LIT educators Jarred Amato and Nikki Healy

In our last blog post, Just Read It: Reflections From Two Project LIT Educators, we shared a look back at our first semester by the numbers. Now, in addition to our daily reading time full of book talks and book hype, we’re sharing 10 LIT highlights from our first semester:

1. Building Community From The Start: Book Talks & Project LIT Voting

We brought our classes together to preview all of our Project LIT selections. Students watched the author videos and submitted their ballot, listing the titles they were most excited to read and discuss. We then tallied the votes and set our Project LIT Book Club calendar for the year. As you can see, we host two book clubs a month (one at lunch, one after school), but we recommend that new chapters start with one!

2. Nic Stone in Conversation With Project LIT Founder at Parnassus Books

Jakaylia, one of our Project LIT founders and now a first-year student at Belmont University, had the honor of interviewing best-selling author Nic Stone, who was here in Nashville on her Jackpot book tour. In the pictures, you’ll see our current group of Project LIT students (the “Nic Stoners” fan club) along with many of our Project LIT founders (Lauren, CJ, Jakaylia and Jay). An awesome night all-around.

3. Jason Reynolds: Long Way Down & For Everyone Units

Looking to build community in your classroom? You can’t go wrong with anything by Jason Reynolds, the next National Ambassador For Young People’s Literature. We highly recommend whole-class reads of Long Way Down and For Everyone.

4. Fall Book Drive

One of the core tenets of Project LIT is service. In fact, LIT initially stood for “Libraries In The” Community. This year, our students spent time researching book deserts and discussing the importance of book access. From there, students coordinated a book drive as we continue to eliminate book deserts and promote a love of reading across Nashville.

5. Project LIT Book Club: FaceTime Conversation with Tiffany D. Jackson

Every book club is a blast, but one of the best moments was FaceTiming with Tiffany D. Jackson, author of Monday’s Not Coming. Students loved the book and interacting with Tiffany took the experience to another level. (Tip: Reach out to authors via social media as your chapter plans its book club discussion. They are extremely generous and while it won’t always work with their schedule, it’s worth a shot!) 

6. Born a Crime Unit

Another incredible whole-class reading experience! In our Freshman Seminar course, students listened to the audiobook (read by Trevor Noah himself) and created a beautiful one-pager for every chapter. It was a great way to build community, introduce many of our students to audiobooks and discuss a variety of important issues.

7. Building Community—Class Combo: The Undefeated Read Aloud

Who says high schoolers are too old for read alouds? We brought our classes together to read and discuss The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson. The next month, we brought nine of our student leaders over to a local elementary school to read the book with our LIT buddies. We can’t wait to pick another title and visit again next week!

8. Project LIT Book Club: With the Fire on High Empanada Cooking Demonstration 

When we asked students to name a highlight from the first semester, many picked this one…and for good reason! The empanadas were delicious. One of our students invited her family in to lead a cooking demonstration during our book. For those who have read With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, you know that Emoni would have loved it.

9. Project LIT Book Club: The Crossover Basketball Tournament

Fun fact: The first ever Project LIT Book Club pick was The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. It remains a favorite for readers young and old. Our basketball tournament was the perfect way to end the semester and blow off steam before finals. Maybe LeBron will join us for a discussion one day…

10. Author Visit: Pablo Cartaya

Author visits matter. Author visits matter. Author visits matter. Still don’t believe us? Check out what our students had to say about Pablo Cartaya’s visit.

“I like that he made everyone feel like they matter, and that they shouldn’t change who they are for anyone.”

“His quote when he said “We all have a story” really got me thinking about my life and what my story is.”

“I loved Pablo’s energy and how hyped he was. He was the best author that I’ve ever seen or even talked to. Definitely one of the best experiences ever.”

“He really inspired me to never forget my roots.”

“I appreciated the different stories he told about his family…It made me realize how my culture makes up who I am.”

“I really liked being able to connect to an author as a person instead of just reading about them from an article or biography.”

“He made me feel welcome and made me feel like I have a purpose in life. I love that he signed my book.” 

Final Takeaways

*When we increase book access and improve reading attitudes, we see better reading outcomes.

*All of the little moments, day in and day out, add up over time.

*Time + access + choice + community = a winning formula.

*Literacy work is hard work. School leaders, support educators who are passionate about nurturing lifelong readers!

*It’s so much easier to have a partner in this work; try to find at least one ally (in the same school or district) but don’t waste time and energy trying to convince everyone to get on board right away.

*Give students time to read books of their choice. Every. Single. Day. Trust us.

*Student-led book clubs are powerful and essential.

*Choice is the way to go, but whole-class reads (like Long Way Down and Born A Crime) still have value. 

*Author visits are a worthy investment.

*Start small, but start somewhere.

*Don’t worry about being perfect; embrace the journey with your students.

*Let students read; let students lead.

*Passion, patience, persistence.

*The school year flies when we’re constantly reading and discussing great books. As one student said, I love how we do book clubs because it shows that our school really loves to read.”

*Start a Project LIT chapter when you’re ready!

Again, Happy New Year, and as always, happy reading!

Jarred Amato and Nikki Healy are English teachers and Project LIT chapter leaders at Early Middle College High School (Nashville, TN). You can follow them online at @jarredamato and @mrsg_mchs.)