Summer Reading

Transcription

1 Summer Reading All seniors must read two texts. The first title is required of all seniors, but you may choose from a list for your second book. Bring back to school a hard copy of The Last Lecture for reference throughout the year. Text One The Last Lecture Randy Pausch (ISBN# ) 1. Using 5 index cards (3x5 or 4 x 6), ask 5 different people (family or friends) to respond to the following four questions below on the note cards. ONLY ONE of these people can be a student, faculty, or staff member of TFS. Make sure each person writes a response and includes his/her first name and relationship to you. 1. What is the best advice you can pass on to others? 2. What matters most to you in life? 3. What is one of the greatest lessons you have learned throughout your life? 4. How would you want to be remembered by others? 2. On Word document, write down 5 direct quotes/bits of advice (actual lines) from Randy s book that are especially meaningful to you. Write them word for word and indicate from what page or pages the lines come. Assessment on 1 and 2 based on completeness of assignment. 3. Slogans, bumper stickers, and quotes are cool ways to condense moments and comments into short representations of learning moments, events, or other reflections about life. Reflect on this book and how you would create your own visual tribute to the text and the experience of reading it. On paper ranging in size from 8½ x 11 to tabloid-sized (11 x 17), design your own tribute in pictures, words or a word/picture collage that represents your experience of reading The Last Lecture. [Do not merely copy or paraphrase any of Randy s quotes from the book; do not find another well-known quote and copy that either.]be original! Suggested programs include Publisher, Wordle and other creative programs. Assessment will focus on neatness, placement and full utilization of space, accuracy, relevancy, and wow factor. Text Two Choose one of the following as your second text. Alive Piers Paul Read Whisper of the River Ferrol Sams A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini Snow Flower and the Secret Fan Lisa See The Color of Water James McBride

2 For the second selection, complete the assignments below. They can be typed or hand-written in ink. A. CHARACTER: Write down FOUR memorable or insightful lines from the text. This quote reveals something significant about the main character s feelings or thoughts. (If you do not focus on the main character, consider an antagonist or one of the other secondary characters.) It may be a pivotal moment when the character experiences an epiphany, a major shift in thinking, a moment of transformation, or some other significant metamorphosis of the character. After the lines, write the page number. B. THEME: How is this literature a statement about a mythological axiom or the human experience faced by everyone regardless of culture, gender, or ethnicity? Does the conflict speak to all humanity in some way? Support your claim with support from the actual text in actual events, dialogue, or character actions. (One paragraph in length of 5-7 sentences.) C. QUESTIONING: Write down questions as you read (another active reading strategy). Do not create more than one question from any one chapter, so I m looking for a span of the entire text. Create FIVE closed-ended questions that can be answered only if the book is actually read. (These can be answered with a word or phrase like To where did the man travel during the summer?) FIVE questions must be open-ended questions that cannot be answered in a word or phrase. (An example of this would be What was the most exciting part of the book and why?) D. SEQUENCING: As you read, create a timeline that consists of TEN pivotal plot events. You pick the actual event, but write them specifically enough that a clear, accurate sequencing of time is established. Overall, the written assignment of the second book choice, which includes several active reading strategies, is four lines, a paragraph, ten questions, and a 10-point time line. The above written material should be completed by the first day of school. Again, you may write in black/blue ink or word process your written assignments. NO PENCIL! If you have any questions, contact me at terri.bogan@tallulahfalls.org See you in the fall the beginning of your senior year!

3 11 th Grade Summer Reading Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom Mitch Albom tells the story about his reconnection with a favored college professor, Morrie Schwartz, who is dealing with the debilitation of the degenerative disease ALS. He and Morrie spend their Tuesdays together talking about love, happiness, and life lessons. An elegantly simple story about a writer getting a second chance to discover life through the death of a friend. Assignments Directions: Read Tuesdays with Morrie and complete each of the following activities. Upon completion, print the documents and put them into a notebook (paper notebook with 3 clips only please do NOT use a thick 3-ring binder). This activity is due on Wednesday of the first week of school. Be prepared to complete an activity and an assessment that demonstrate your understanding of the novel. (See below for specific instructions on each activity.) 1. Compile a list of six (6) quotes: three said by or about Morrie AND three said by or about Mitch. These quotes must demonstrate some quality, value, challenge, or learning experience related to each man. Include the following: A. the quote B. a 2-3 sentence description of what the quote demonstrates about the character C. the page number on which the quote was found Print and add to your notebook. 2. Keep a journal over the summer. In this journal, you need to write three (3) reflections at different points in your reading of the novel the first is your initial impression of the novel, the second toward the middle of the novel, and the third after you finish the novel. For each entry, describe what is happening in the novel at that point, explain the importance of the actions that are occurring, and discuss your impression of that part of the story. The final and fourth entry will be your overall impression of the novel. What important lessons can you learn from the story and how could you apply those lessons to your own life? Each reflection must be at least a full paragraph and include specific details from your reading. This activity must be completed on a Word document. Print and add to your notebook.

4 3. Locate a newspaper or magazine article (provide a copy of the article; if online, print a copy) that illustrates someone portraying a value and/or characteristic similar to Mitch or Morrie. This action must take place during this summer, May July A. Summarize the article in 2 thorough & detailed paragraphs. In your summarization, include a direct quote from the article to support your summary. Be sure you explain the importance of this person s actions. B. Include a Work Cited entry at the bottom of your summary page for the article using MLA format. Complete this activity on a Word document. Print and add to your notebook. 4. This final activity will give you the opportunity to express yourself in the format that you feel is best suited for your learning style and strengths. Your summer reading project allowed you to read about people whose values affected their own lives as well as the lives of others. Create a product that introduces yourself to me and provides some insight into what you believe to be your values and strengths of character. Here are some ideas of possible formats: Wordle, Movie Maker, a poster, a short story, a pamphlet, a flyer, an original song or poem, or an existing song that represents you that plays in the background of a video or photo presentation with some text that explains who you are and what you value. I d like to see your creativity and imagination. Because we all express ourselves in different ways, I am allowing you to choose the format. Just be sure that it is creative, thorough in length and content, and not hastily put together. (*I understand that there may be some formats that are unable to be printed.) I look forward to working with each of you next year. If you have any questions over the summer about these assignments, please contact me at kelli.bly@tallulahfalls.org See you in August! Mrs. Bly

5 10 th Grade Summer Reading To be good is noble; but to show others how to be good is nobler and no trouble. ~Mark Twain Welcome to the 10th grade! The purpose of summer reading is many-fold: to keep your mind sharp over the summer, to read great literature, to create a common experience for the beginning of school, and to provide an early sample of your writing ability. If you have any questions about the assignment or about the story itself, please feel free to me over the summer at scott.davis@tallulahfalls.org I would be happy to respond! The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. Read the novel and make 8 one-paragraph entries. Space your entries across the entirety of the text, not just within the beginning, middle or end. Instructions: For each entry mentioned above, be sure to precede it with a quote from the text. Use quotation marks and put the author s last name and page number in parentheses as in the following example from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: You don t know about me without you ve read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but that ain t no matter (Twain 1). With each entry, reflect on a particular aspect of the story that caught your attention, sparked wonder, incited rage, caused confusion, etc. In short, you decide what you want your paragraph to be about. Just make sure it relates to the quote you select and demonstrates an understanding of the story. Example Paragraph Entry In chapter 18 of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Buck says, "Oh, yes, pa knows, I reckon, and some of the other old people; but they don't know now what the row was about in the first place" (Twain 136). This quote is significant to me because it alludes to Shakespeare's most famous tragic love story. In Romeo and Juliet, the Montagues and the Capulets feuded so long that most of their family had no clue what the feud was about. In Adventures of Huckleberry Finn with the Shepherdsons and the Grangerfords, the same situation arises, which illustrates how deep Mark Twain delved into classic literature for his literary inspiration. Have a great summer!

6 9 th Grade Summer Reading Required Text: To Kill a Mockingbird - by Harper Lee Students must have a hard copy of the book (not a digital copy) to bring to class during the first weeks of school Assignment: Read the required text before school begins. Due Date: 1st day of school Assessment: Students will be tested over the novel during the first few days of school and complete possible writing or project assignments as well. Active Reading Strategy: Keep a reading journal as you read. Your journal should contain the following: 1. Summary: At the end of each chapter, write a brief summary paragraph that reveals how you personally feel about what happened in that chapter. This paragraph should be 4-5 sentences. Make sure this is your work and not copied from an online summary. 2. Question (s): Write down at least one question that you developed during your reading and character actions with which you agree or disagree. 3. Vocabulary: choose 1-5 unfamiliar words from each chapter. Include the page number. TKM Journal EXAMPLE Chapter 1 Summary: In this chapter, the characters and are introduced. The point of view, the setting, and additional 3-4 sentences are summarized here. Question: Why does the narrator (put your words here)? Vocabulary: obstreperous (7) Austere (8) Character Focus: Most scholars agree that the main character is Scout, a young girl who witnesses the social injustices of her time and other unpleasant aspects of society, and gains insight, knowledge, and experience. Consider the many images Scout would remember during this time of her life. What would she pick as a memorable image from her life? Either on a Word document or PowerPoint, using multi-media images or hand-drawn original artwork or a combination, create 10 pages/slides that display one item significant from Scout s point of view. Under each picture, write one - four sentences explaining why the item is important to Scout. Bring in a digital copy and be prepared to print out a copy as well. Due date: Monday, August 17, For an example: (sculpturesinsoap.com) (The character) found soap carved children in the knot hole of a tree. This gift (the character) later discovered was left to her by (the character), further exemplifying the connection between the two characters. This was important to Scout because (your thoughts and opinion here). To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel that deals with several sensitive social issues previous to the Civil Rights movement. It is written in the language of the time and illustrates multiple layers of a society in a 1930's southern town. All such material will be handled in a sensitive and academic manner. We encourage parents to discuss the material with their student as this is a time period much removed from our own.