Summer Reading Assignment

Transcription

1 Summer Reading Assignment DSA English I and Honors English I School Year The Assignment We know that reading over the summer can prevent what s called summer slide : the tendency for students to lose some of the academic gains they made the previous year. We also know that when students choose books themselves and read for enjoyment, they experience the most growth in everything from comprehension to vocabulary to writing style. Also, ninth graders at DSA are expected to read about one book of choice every month. Since there are two months of summer Over the summer, choose, read, and respond to two books. Bring your completed responses with you on the first day of school. Some assignments in the first few weeks of school may stem from the reading of this book. Therefore, completing this summer assignment is a key component to your engagement and success in the course. In addition, any student signed up for Honors English who does not complete the summer assignment cannot remain at the Honors level of the course. Step 1. Select TWO books: ONE memoir/autobiography and ONE novel Where do I get them? The books can be from home, a public library, or a new or used bookstore. What kind of books should I get? Make sure the nonfiction book is an autobiography (in which an author tells his or her own life story) or a memoir (in which a person tells about a specific part of his or her life, such as childhood, going to war, the time she climbed Mount Everest, etc.) Memoirs and autobiographies are written in first person ( I ), so the narrator should be telling his or her own story. Make sure you do not choose a biography (in which a writer tells about someone else s life). We ve included a list of some of our favorites at the end of this handout. The novel can be anything you choose, as long as it s book-length fiction. We re expecting you to read something at least 200 pages long, since that s the length of most novels. If you re reading on your nook or Kindle, that s fine--but a book version of it must exist somewhere even if you don t have access to it. (For instance, reading fan fiction online doesn t count!) We ve included a list of some of our favorites at the end of this handout. Choose books you are excited about reading! Spend some time browsing through the titles to find one you like. Read the backs of books and the first pages. Explore a new topic or not. Reading can be an excellent way to dig deeper into a subject you love OR to see through the eyes of someone completely different from you. And if you don t like the book you started, find a different one! How do I know if it s right for me? Choose a book that is written at a level with which you are comfortable. If you are not sure, read the first page. If you can count more than five words that you don t know, you might not enjoy reading the book, even if it is about your favorite subject. On the other hand, if the language is very easy for you, you might want to challenge yourself more. This is a judgment call on your part some of the most powerful stories are told in the simplest words.

2 What if I need help from a librarian or a bookstore employee? What should I say? Tell the librarian or clerk that you need to find both a memoir / autobiography and a novel for a school assignment. You might want to have an idea of a person, topic, or time period that interests you. If you are unsure, take this paper with you. The librarian or bookstore clerk will be able to read over it and help you find the appropriate section. What if I have questions about the assignment? Your ninth grade English teachers will be happy to answer your questions in person before the end of the year or over this summer. MB Braker: mary.braker@dpsnc.net Caitlin Donovan: caitlin.donovan@dpsnc.net Alexa Garvoille: alexa.garvoille@dpsnc.net Teresa Del Dotto: teresa.deldotto@dpsnc.net Step 2 : For the memoir / autobiography you read, complete the attached Important Moments Chart First, identify three important moments from the beginning, middle, and end of the story. How do I know what makes an important moment? In stories, important moments could include important descriptions, times when the character has a realization about life or an important choice, or times when the author is reflecting on the deep meaning of their experience. These moments should be easy to identify because they make you go, Wow! or That s so deep! Sometimes, these moments even make you cry or laugh. If you feel like your book doesn t have any of these moments, select a moment that you think is important to the development of the plot. Next, copy out (on the attached chart) a key passage that represents each moment you ve selected as important. You could also do this step on notebook paper or on a computer as long as you print it out. A passage could be several sentences or one paragraph, however much of the text you think is necessary to show what you thought was important in this moment. Then, summarize what is happening at this part of the story. If someone who hasn t read the book came up to you and asked you what is happening, what would you say? What is happening at this moment in the text? Finally, explain your answer to one of these questions: Standard : What made this passage stick out as an important moment? Honors : What about how the author wrote this passage stands out to you? In your responses, try to focus on literary devices that you have learned in middle school (metaphors, symbols, theme, irony, imagery, structure, etc.). Step 3. For the novel, use the space on the back of your Important Moments Chart to write a Personal Response that addresses some or all of the following questions in at least 5 complete sentences: Personal Response Prompt : Great books often transcend ( go beyond ) the individual and speak to experiences that many humans have had. What common or universal human feelings, struggles, joys, losses, or lessons does this book explore? What meanings / big ideas / lessons do you think the author was trying to communicate through this book? What might have been the author s purpose in telling this story?

3 Important Moments Chart *Before completing this chart, reread the directions for Step 2.* Important Moment #1 (toward the beginning) Important Moment #2 (in the middle) Important Moment #3 (toward the end) Key Passage that represents Moment #1 (Copy out a passage from the book. Include the page number in parentheses.) Summary / Context (Summarize what is happening at this moment in the text. What would someone who isn t familiar with the novel need to know for this passage to make sense? ) Explanation Standard : Why did you choose this passage? What makes it stick out to you as significant? Honors: What do you notice about HOW the author wrote this passage?

4 Personal Response to the Novel You Read: Great books often transcend ( go beyond ) the individual and speak to experiences that many humans have had. What common or universal human feelings, struggles, joys, losses, or lessons does this book explore? What meanings / big ideas / lessons do you think the author was trying to communicate through this book? What might have been the author s purpose in telling this story?

5 Summer Reading Assignment DSA English I and Honors English I School Year You do NOT have to choose books from these lists. These are just to help you if you re stuck. Memoirs and Autobiographies Ninth Graders Have Liked in the Past A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah We Should Hang Out Sometime, Josh Sundquist Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy Bossypants, Tina Fey Yes Please, Amy Poehler Marley and Me, John Grogan A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers The Pregnancy Project, Gaby Rodriguez Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, Misty Copeland Girlboss, Sophia Amorusa The Pact, Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt I am Malala, Malala Yousafzai Binge, Tyler Oakley Challenge Memoirs Ninth Graders Have Liked in the Past Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory, Caitlin Doughty Wild, Cheryl Strayed Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer The Color of Water, James McBride Novels Ninth Graders Have Liked in the Past The Hate U Give, Angie Thomas Dear Martin, Nic Stone Turtles All the Way Down, John Green I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Erika L. Sanchez The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky It s Kind of a Funny Story, Ned Vizzini Dante and Aristotle Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Benjamin Alire Saenz The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie Booked, Kwame Alexander The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. LeGuin The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros Challenge Novels Ninth Graders Have Liked in the Past Life of Pi, Yann Martel Feed, M.T. Emerson Room, Emma Donoghue The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie A Separate Peace, John Knowles The Hitchhiker s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams