Required Summer Reading List and Assignments
Here are your choices for your required summer reading assignment for the upcoming school year.
Choose ONE book to read and then complete Section I and II listed below. They will be due the first week back at school. (You only need to do ONE assignment in Section II). The summer reading will be part of the first nine weeks curriculum so come ready to discuss the book, and present your project.
Click on the tabs to the right to find the books you can choose from according to your grade level. Please Note: ELL students have their own tab.
SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENTS
Instructions: Students must complete Section I and then choose one assignment to complete from Section II.
Section I- Choose from one of the following essay prompts.
- Write an essay that explains how the main character or subject of your book, changes throughout the book and what causes those changes to take place. Include 3-5 pieces of textual evidence to support your central idea/thesis statement.
- Choose a theme (universal lesson or moral) from the book. Write an essay that discusses how the author develops that theme throughout the book. Include 3-5 pieces of textual evidence to support your central idea/thesis statement.
- Think of a connection between something you read in the book and a current issue we face in today’s society. Write an essay where you discuss how you think the author feels about this topic, how you feel about the topic after having read the book, and what you think the author is trying to teach/show society about that issue. Include 3-5 pieces of textual evidence to support your central idea/thesis statement.
Section II- CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING TO COMPLETE
(Remember that this is a Museums Magnet School, so all work turned in must be of museum quality.)
- Create a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation to include the following: title page, about the author, characters (include a short description of each one), setting-time, setting-place, conflict, plot summary, resolution, themes (moral, lessons learned), 10 vocabulary words learned (include definition)
*Each slide must include written descriptions and images
*All PowerPoint presentations must be saved on a USB drive
- Complete a Graphic Timeline: Start by choosing 15 main events from the plot. For each one, create an illustration and a one to two sentence summary. Altogether, it should form a picture book or graphic novel. Make sure your artwork is done on cardstock or construction paper. Lined paper will NOT be accepted! (This may also be completed through PowerPoint.)
3. Make an Artistic Representation: This requires artistic talent. If you have an artistic hand when it comes to drawing, painting or sculpture, consider this option. You will create an artistic piece (painting, sculpture, collage, etc.) that represents important characters, settings, symbols, and motifs, and your pieces must work together to create a common theme (what universal truth is your author revealing, and how does this art piece represent that universal truth?). Please note that you must create the artwork yourself; but you may take images from the internet for the collages. Also note that artistic representation does not mean a basic crayon drawing. It should be a complete representation of the entire book, not just a specific scene or character.
4. Make a Book Kit: Choose a container that fits with the theme of your book. (An example of a kit for a book on women’s suffrage would be a shoe box made to look like a ballot box.) Then decide what 5 objects to make/gather to put into it. Consider anything that is important to the story, the theme, the characters, or the setting. (For example, common items are maps of the place where the book is set, pictures of what people wore in the time period, important objects that appear in the book, representations of themes and anything else that seems appropriate.) In your kit, include a one-paragraph explanation for each of the items you’ve included and how they relate to the book you selected
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Language Arts Department Chairperson, Beatriz Alvarez at email@example.com
Below is the link to the printable form.