Maui Prep Middle School Summer Reading Aloha Maui Prep Students,

Transcription

1 Maui Prep Middle School Summer Reading 2012 Aloha Maui Prep Students, Summer has arrived! You have worked hard all year, and you deserve a break. Go to the beach. Relax with your family. Swim in the ocean. Play games. Enjoy yourself... Then, keep enjoying yourself by picking up a book, and do the best thing you can for your mind: read. The Maui Prep English Department has one key goal for you this summer: We want you to enjoy reading. Few things will improve your chances of succeeding in school and in life as much as reading, especially at these critical early stages in your minds development. Also, few things stimulate your bold, young imaginations as much as disappearing into another world for a while. Reading at its best can be like dreaming in the daytime. The Maui Prep English Department has put together a list of reading possibilities for you. This list is an eclectic mix of classics, famous books, and unknown gems. There is something for everyone on this list. You will need to read one required book and two books of your choice from the list. This is the minimum amount of reading we expect to keep your brain growing over our 79 day summer break. In truth, if you want to expand your knowledge, your intelligence, your college possibilities, and your academic strength, you ll embrace the challenge to read all you can this summer. Teachers and parents provide the path, but only you can make the positive decision to feed your mind. Embrace the opportunity! For your required book, read carefully, and return to school in August ready to show your knowledge on a test. You will also be required to deliver one project about one of your two choice books. To help you choose, read reviews and summaries on Amazon.com. Spend a few hours at the Lahaina library or Barnes and Noble, and find as many of the titles as you can. Dip

2 your nose into a book. Check out the cover. Look at the reviews. Read a few pages. First impressions matter. What do you think of this book. Could you enjoy this? Take your time to choose carefully. Also, choose books from two different changes, and try a type of book you haven t tried before. The world is vast and interesting, and this is another chance for you to explore it. We definitely encourage you to read as much as you can this summer. Keep a running list of all you read, as we will all be sharing how much we read when we return on August 13. Our top readers will be eligible for a surprise. You will submit your personal reading list of what you accomplished to the English department on the first day of school. Responsibilities in the next 79 days 1. Read the required book for your class, and underline, highlight, and take notes on what interests you. Read with a pen or pencil in your hand. We will be checking to see that your book is marked up when you return. Bring the book with you on the first day of school, and be ready to show your understanding of the book on a test when you return. 2. Choose two other books from the list provided, and savor them. Do this by searching the internet, the library, and the bookstore to find which books interest you, and then choose what you want to read. Take risks, and push your boundaries! 3. Choose and create one project about one of your two choice books. 4. If you are willing, able, and excited, read more! 5. Keep track of all the books you read this summer, so you can build your reading list for a class competition when you return in the Fall. 6. Have a wonderful, happy, and book-filled summer! 7. On the first day of school, submit your summer reading list form (attached below), signed by you and your parent/guardian.

3 Also, bring your project to turn in, and be ready to discuss and take a test on the required class book. Project Requirements: You may type or handwrite your projects. These will be due on the first day of school, and will count for 10% of your first trimester English grade. Whichever project you choose, you must include at least seven of the nine following elements to earn full credit. 1. Setting : Time and Place 2. Characters (Protagonist/Antagonist) a. Protagonist: Main Character b. Antagonist Character or force in conflict with the protagonist. Not all stories have antagonists. 3. Point of view (the relationship of the narrator, or storyteller, to the story.) a. First-person point of view the narrator is a character in the story,referred to as I. b. Third person limited point of view the narrator reveals the thoughts of only one character, referring to that character as he or she. c. Third-person omniscient point of view the narrator knows everything about the story s events and reveals the thoughts of all the characters. 4. Rising Action: Rising action what occurs as complications, twists of the conflict develop. 5. Conflict: the struggle between opposing forces. This includes internal conflict (person vs. him/herself) and external conflict (person vs. person; person vs. environment or society, et. al.) 6. Climax: the point at which the conflict must be resolved, or the most intensely emotional part of the story. 7. Falling Action: the logical result of the climax 8. Resolution: the final outcome of the story 9. Theme: the central idea or message of a story. This can be a perception about life or human nature.

4 Project Options (Choose One. This means you have just one chance to show your best work. Make it count.) 1. Diorama: This is an old style book report! Take a shoe box and design the most powerful scene in the book. Use art supplies and creativity to create the scene. Do your best to identify all the elements you can in your scene. If you want to create more than one scene in a shoe box, go for it! 2. Cartoon Story: (Minimum Twelve Frames) Create a cartoon strip that tells the story of your book. Your drawings should be carefully chosen to best represent key scenes from the book. Include dialogue and narration. 3. Video: Make a video that re-creates your story. You can act this out with a narrator, or use voiceovers and digital animation, or you can think of another creative way to present your story. 4. Book Review: (500 words+). Pretend you are a journalist and review the book. You must include the required story elements, deliver a complete story summary, and give a detailed analysis of what was excellent and what could have been better. 5. Book Cover. Pretend you are a book agent trying to sell the book you just read. Your job is to make the book as exciting and attractive as possible. Give your book a new title, design a book cover, and write an exciting synopsis (summary) on the back ( words+). Include three imaginary quotes from various sources. Put a price on the book you think people will pay, as well as the genre and target audience. 6. Become a Character: (500 words +) Write in the first person, pretending you are one of the characters in the book. This can be a journal entry, Create the world, the feeling, the details, the characters, the theme, the plot, the conflict, the resolution. Bring me inside the story. 7. Reading Journals: (500 words +) Take ten quotes from different parts of the book that connect to different literary elements and interest you. For each excerpt, free write about why that excerpt means, how it connects to the greater story, and what you think about it. 8. Alternate ending: Create a different ending for your book. Use your knowledge of characters, plot, conflict, setting, and theme to imagine your story ending in a different way (500 words) st Century Media: If you have an original idea that combines video, sound, writing, and emergent computer programs, connect with Mr. O about your idea.

5 Book List Required Reading: Grade 6 Crispin: The Cross of Lead Avi Grade 7 The Graveyard Book Neil Gaiman Grade 8 House of the Scorpion Nancy Farmer Choice Reading (Choose Two) Awesome MS Summer Reading Student-Interest List: Mr. O recommends: * -There are grade restrictions on some authors and books. If there is no specific restriction, consider that book or author available to all grades. Science Fiction (Comedy) Douglas Adams (Grade 7+) Hitchiker s Guide to the Galaxy* Restaurant at the End of the Universe Life, The Universe and Everything So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish Mostly Harmless And Another Thing... Science Fiction/Adventure Paolo Bacigaluci Shipbreaker (Grade 7+) Margaret Peterson Haddix Among the Hidden (Grades 6-8) Hard-hitting, Mature, Realistic Books Laurie Halls Anderson Speak (Grade 8) Deborah Lida Middle Son (Grade 8) Walter Dean Myers Monster (Grade 8) Jerry Weiss Big City Cool (Grade 8) Historical Fiction Laurie Halls Anderson Fever, 1793 (Grade 6-8) Gennifer Choldenko Al Capone Does My Shirts (6-8) John Hersey Hiroshima (Grade 8) James Houston Farewell to Manzanar (7-8) Lois Lowry Number the Stars (6-7) Richard Peck A Year Down Yonder (6-7) Graham Salisbury Under the Blood Red Sun (6-8) Art Spiegelman The Complete Maus (Graphic novel) (Grade 8)* Jane Yolen Devil s Arithmetic (6-8) Teen Futuristic Fantasy Paul Westerfield Uglies Pretties Specials Extras

6 Fantasy/Adventure Lloyd Alexander * The Book of Three The Black Cauldron Castle of Llyr Taran Wanderer The High King Davy Barry/Ridley Pearson Peter and the Starcatchers Kristin Cashore Fire Graceling Suzanne Collins Hunger Games (Grade 6-7) Catching Fire (Grades 6-7) Mocking Jay (Grades 6-7) Jeanne Duprau (Series) City of Ember People of Sparks Prophet of Yonwood Diamond of Darkhold Raymond Feist (Grade 7+)* Magician: Apprentice Cornelia Funke (Series) Magician: Master Inkheart Inkspell The Thief Lord Shannon Hale Princess Academy Philip Pullman The Golden Compass (Grades 6-7)* The Subtle Knife (Grades 6-8) The Amber Spyglass (Grades 6-8) Rick Riordan (Series) J.K. Rowling J.R.R. Tolkien The Lightning Thief Sea of Monsters Titan s Curse Battle of the Labyrinth The Last Olympian Red Pyramid Throne of Fire Lost Hero Harry Potter and the Philosopher s Stone Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows The Hobbit The Fellowship of the Ring* The Two Towers The Return of the King Middle School Comedy Edward Eager Eleanor Estes Half Magic The Moffats Award-Winning, Brilliant Teen Literature Sharon Creech Walk Two Moons Christopher Paul Curtis Bud, Not Buddy

7 Kate Dicamillo Because of Winn-Dixie Magician s Elephant Miraculous Journey of Ed Tulane Tiger Rising Elizabeth Enright Gone Away Lake Susan Fletcher Shadow Spinner Carl Hiaasen Flush Jamake Highwater Anpao: An American Indian Odyssey* Norman Juster The Phantom Tollbooth* E.L. Konigsburg View from Saturday (Grade 6) Sterling North Rascal Katherine Paterson Jacob I Have Loved Robert Newton Peck A Day No Pigs Would Die Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings The Yearling Lois Sachar Holes Elizabeth George Speare The Bronze Bow Johanna Spyri Heidi Jerry Spinelli Maniac Magee (6-7) Stargirl/ Love, Stargirl (6-7) Mildred Taylor Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Paul Zindel The Pigman Markus Zusak I Am the Messenger Fantastical Classics Roald Dahl Matilda (Grade 6) Witches (Grade 6) The BFG (Grade 6) Danny the Champion of the World (Grade 6)* If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about summer reading, you may contact Mr. O Riordan at aoriordan@mauiprep.org. Seize this chance to develop your mind based on your interests. Happy Reading! The MPA English Department.

8 Summer Reading Form: Here is What I Accomplished Name: Grade: Required Reading 1) Required book: 2) Choice Book #1: 3) Choice Book #2: For one of my choice books, I elected to do this project:. (Refer to the attached project list) Additional Books 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) Reading honor code: I pledge that I read the books listed above from cover to cover. I pledge that I created one original project based on one of the books I read. Student Signature: Parent Signature: Date: Date: (Your signature is a binding promise that you read the books above during Summer Any untrue statements or plagiarized projects are a disservice to your own education, and will be submitted to the student-led honor council for judgment).