William J. Johnston Middle School 360 Norwich Avenue, Colchester, CT 06415 Chris Bennett Principal Jennifer Olsen Assistant Principal Dear Incoming Eighth Grader and Family, Summer is upon us and we hope you are looking forward to the vacation. In order to keep certain academic skills fresh, we have prepared assignments for you to work on over the coming weeks. Attached to this letter, please find: 1. Summer Reading Form One reading book on your child s reading level is required for summer reading. 2. Eighth Grade Suggested Reading List 3. Study Island Instructions suggested for skill review and for extra credit Please have your child bring the reading form in on the first day. Your child s English teacher will collect this. If you need a new copy of any of these handouts, they are available on our district s website under William J. Johnston Middle School. They are also available in our office. Summer Reading Webpage - We have included our suggested reading list for eighth graders. You can also visit our summer reading wiki at www.wjjmssummerreading.wikispaces.com. This site contains lists of suggested books and book trailers to tell you a bit about the book. Some trailers were even created by some WJJMS students! While only one book is required this summer, we hope you find many fantastic books to read! E-books - Check out WJJMS s collection of e-books. Access WJJMS s e-books by going to https://wbb02966.follettshelf.com. Log in using your school username and password (what you use to log in to school computers). Select the book you want to read and check it out. You have the option to read online, or if you have an ipad or an android tablet, you can download the book to your device (meaning you do not need an internet connection to access). Simply download Follett Enlight (free), open the app and enter the following: wbb2966 your school username and your school password. Please email Michele Lane, the library media specialist with any questions regarding the use of e-books at mlane@colchesterct.org. Cragin Memorial Library is offering a fun summer reading program. Please visit the library, or go to their website for the details. www.colchesterct.gov. Study Island Instructions for students entering Eighth Grade: 1. Go to www.studyisland.com 2. Log in Username is the first letter of your first name and your complete last name. Password is school 3. On left side under CT programs, click on the grade you just passed 4. Click on ELA (Common Core) in the center of the screen 5. Under Language Standards, click on a subtopic or skill 6. Make sure you are in practice mode and click on next. If you would like to play a game, click on game mode. Then click next. 7. Start the lesson or skill 8. To obtain extra credit, print out a copy of the practice page with the list of topics you worked on over the summer and hand this in to your English teacher the first day of school. Sincerely, William J. Johnston Middle School
Eighth Grade Summer Reading Character Notes While you read a book this summer, take notes on the main characters in the book. To do this, fill in the form below. You will need to write down the character s name, and pull at least three quotes from the book that share information about that character. You are quoting the book, which means that you are writing down a sentence word for word from the book that tells about the character or describes an action or thought, or feeling of the character..really you are pulling any information from the story that helps you decide what kind of person this character is. Example: from Michael Vey: Prisoner of Cell 25 Michael Vey I don t know why I did it maybe I was still feeling great from finally putting Jack in his place, maybe it was the obnoxious smirk on Applebaum s face, or maybe it was that I was showing off for Taylor. But, most likely it was the culmination of too many years of being bullied. Whatever the reason, I was done with playing the victim. Page35 Book Title: Author: Character #1: Pages 1. 2. 3.
Eighth Grade Summer Reading Character Notes Character #2: Pages 1. 2. 3.
Sample Character Traits *Taken fromreadwritethink.org* able active adventurous affectionate afraid alert ambitious angry annoyed anxious apologetic arrogant attentive average bad blue bold bored bossy brainy brave bright brilliant busy calm careful careless cautious charming cheerful childish clever clumsy coarse concerned confident confused considerate cooperative courageous cowardly cross cruel curious dangerous daring dark decisive demanding dependable depressed determined discouraged dishonest disrespectful doubtful dull dutiful eager easygoing efficient embarrassed encouraging energetic evil excited expert fair faithful fearless fierce foolish fortunate foul fresh friendly frustrated funny gentle giving glamorous gloomy good graceful grateful greedy grouchy grumpy guilty happy harsh hateful healthy helpful honest hopeful hopeless humorous ignorant imaginative impatient impolite inconsiderate independent industrious innocent intelligent jealous kindly lazy leader lively lonely loving loyal lucky mature mean messy miserable mysterious naughty nervous nice noisy obedient obnoxious old peaceful picky pleasant polite poor popular positive precise proper proud quick quiet rational reliable religious responsible restless rich rough rowdy rude sad safe satisfied scared secretive selfish serious sharp short shy silly skillful sly smart sneaky sorry spoiled stingy strange strict stubborn sweet talented tall thankful thoughtful thoughtless tired tolerant touchy trusting trustworthy unfriendly unhappy upset useful warm weak wicked wise worried wrong young
WJJMS Grade 7 Summer Reading Requirements Read at least one age appropriate book over the summer. Then, complete all parts of the form below. Name Book Title Author Choose a character from your book and describe the external (these are what we can see if we meet the character) and internal traits (these describe how the character acts and what motivates him/her). Character name Physical description Personality traits *See reverse side for a list of traits.* Actions that support traits Paraphrase*(if lengthy) what characters say that support traits. Include page numbers!! *Paraphrasing: summarize in your own words