Lake Mead Christian Academy s Summer Reading Program for all incoming 9 th Grade students

Transcription

1 Lake Mead Christian Academy s Summer Reading Program for all incoming 9 th Grade students Purpose Statement: Numerous studies have shown the loss of learning over the summer months can be detrimental to students education. Most studies maintain a difference of two years between students who read over the summer compared to those who do not. Providing students with the opportunity to read over the summer allows a fun way for students of all ages to combat this learning slide. Our Sumer Reading Program offers the following benefits: Ø Students discover the joy of reading Ø Students practice reading, writing, speaking skills Ø Students experience challenging enrichment to prepare them for the upcoming school year Ø Students choose from a variety of interactive activities related to their reading Ø Students interact with text by conversing with parents who read along with their student We hope that this program enriches your reading life and prepares your student for future success in school.

2 Requirements: All incoming 9 th grade will read three (3) books over the summer. One book will be of the student s own choosing, one book students will choose from the Approved Summer Reading List (provided) and the final book is the teacher chosen Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. For each book completed, students must complete an assignment from the list provided. This will constitute a total of three (3) assignments. These assignments will be due to their English teacher on the first day of the school year. Students should be prepared to discuss and complete activities for the teacher chosen book on the first day of class. Title and Author Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom (required) 9 th Grade Approved Summer Reading List Description Nearly 20 years after their first lessons, now dying college professor Morrie imparts his wisdom to student Mitch during weekly Tuesday meetings. A gentle mentor imparts the lessons of a long life. A Separate Peace by John Knowles The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett Same Kind of Different as Me By Ron Hall An American classic and great bestseller for over thirty years, A Separate Peace is timeless in its description of adolescence during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence to the second world war. Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world. A bestseller for more than thirty years, A Separate Peace is John Knowles's crowning achievement and an undisputed American classic. Sam Spade is hired by the fragrant Miss Wonderley to track down her sister, who has eloped with a louse called Floyd Thursby. But Miss Wonderley is in fact the beautiful and treacherous Brigid O'Shaughnessy, and when Spade's partner Miles Archer is shot while on Thursby's trail, Spade finds himself both hunter and hunted: can he track down the jewelencrusted bird, a treasure worth killing for, before the Fat Man finds him? Meet Denver, a man raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana in the 1960s; a man who escaped, hopping a train to wander, homeless, for eighteen years on the streets of Dallas, Texas. No longer a slave, Denver's life was still hopeless until God moved. First came a godly woman who prayed, listened, and obeyed. And then came her husband, Ron, an international

3 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte arts dealer at home in a world of Armani-suited millionaires. And then they all came together. The tragic story of the complex bond between two migrant laborers in Central California. They are George Milton and Lennie Small, itinerant ranch hands who dream of one day owning a small farm. George acts as a father figure to Lennie, who is a very large, simple-minded man, calming him and helping to rein in his immense physical strength. Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed. With a heroine full of yearning, the dangerous secrets she encounters, and the choices she finally makes, Charlotte Bronte's innovative and enduring romantic novel continues to engage and provoke readers.

4 Assignment Options 1. Draw a map: This assignment requires students to draw a map of the setting of their book and label 5 important places in the novel. Maps may be poster size or smaller, but should be clearly labeled and detailed. 2. One Year Later: This assignment asks students to use their imagination and creative writing abilities to write a short story (1-2 pages) about a character one year after the novel ended. Stories should be typed and in MLA format. 3. Interview: This assignment requires that students know the main character well. Students will pretend to prepare for an interview with the protagonist and come up with 5 questions they would like to ask him/her. 4. Cover Design: This assignment utilizes student s creative abilities. Students should redesign the cover for their novel. Keep in mind that covers entice readers, but do not give away the storyline. Covers should be on 8.5x11 pieces of paper and adequately detailed with title and author s name. 5. Letter to the Author: Students have the opportunity to ask the author whatever they want in this assignment. Students write a letter to the author of their novel discussing the book and asking questions. Letters should be in the correct format and neatly typed. 6. Book Review: Students take on the role of critic in this assignment. A book review provides a short summary (1 paragraph) WITHOUT giving away the ending as well as a critique (2-3 paragraphs). Reviews should be typed in MLA format. 7. Journal: This project requires that students keep a reading journal with at least ten (10) entries for the book. Each entry must include the title, author, a significant quote and an explanation for why that quote was chosen. 8. Photo Collage: If students choose this option, it will be the only assignment they have to do! Students will create a poster size photo collage of their books. Collage should include the following: a picture of the covers of the books, a 2-3 paragraph summary of each book, a 1-2 paragraph review of each book as well as any other pictures that students feel displays the essence of the novel. All three books may be displayed on one board.

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