June 1, 2012 John F. Kennedy High School Summer Reading for 2012 Dear Students and Parents/Guardians, Research shows that well-read students have advanced vocabularies and are sensitive to the nuances of language. Also, research strongly suggests that reading, like most skills, improves with practice and decreases when we don t engage in it for even a short time. Consistent with our commitment to student success during high school and after graduation, each student enrolled in an English course for the 2012-2013 school year is required to complete summer reading as specified below. Students enrolled in ESOL classes will choose one or more books from the lists provided and complete the attached graphic organizer and writing assignment. Students who are also enrolled in English classes will need to complete the summer reading assignment for the English department as well. Yes that means two separate projects! Check the public library or local bookstore for your selections. Books may also be checked out from the John F. Kennedy High School library. Check with Ms. Jones in the Media Center for which dates are available. Bring your school I.D. START READING NOW!!! DO NOT WAIT UNTIL AUGUST!! DO NOT COPY FROM THE INTERNET!!! A FAILURE TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT WILL RESULT IN AN E. Students who transfer between schools during the summer are expected to complete the assignment for either school. As you read the book(s), complete a graphic organizer (attached) for your book. The scoring rubric is also attached. Use it to make sure you have completed all parts of the assignment. The assignments are due to your ESOL teachers on the second day of school, Tuesday, August 28, 2012 Ivan J. Aranha ESOL Resource Teacher John F. Kennedy High School
Writing Assignment For each book you read, you should write a summary. The components of the summary are the same for every ESOL level, although some levels will have to do more writing than others. Title: Don t forget to capitalize correctly and underline! Subject: What is the story generally about? Who?: Who is/are the main character(s) in the story? Where and When?: Where and when does the story take place? What is the setting? What?: What happens in the story? What is the main idea or problem? How?: How do the main characters solve the problem? Why?: Why is this book worth reading? Students entering ESOL 2: Complete the graphic organizer and write a short summary of one book. Students entering ESOL 3: Read a total of four books (or more) in English. Read for at least 30 minutes a day. Every day, record your progress in a reading log. As you read, keep a vocabulary journal where you record the page number, sentence where found, definition in your language, part of speech (noun, verb, adverb, adjective, etc.), and an original sentence of your own. The reading log and vocabulary journal are due on August 30. Choose your favorite book from the four (or more) and write a book report. Your report must be typed and must include: protagonist, characters, setting, plot, and theme (main idea). Students entering ESOL 4: Read two books. Fill out the graphic organizer for both books. Then write a two-page summary for each book. DO NOT COPY YOUR REPORT FROM THE INTERNET. Teachers can tell when you write the summary or if you, plagiarized! Students entering ESOL 5: Complete the graphic organizer for 1 book and a 5-paragraph summary of the book OR 1 graphic organizer for and a 5-paragraph summary for each of 5 articles. Include why you enjoyed or did not enjoy what you read. Your summaries must be typed.
Summer Reading Book Suggestions The author is listed by last name and then first name. The title is in italics and bold print. Level 2 easy to harder Fitzgerald Howard, Elizabeth. Papa Tells Chita a Story (pictures) Soto, Gary and Ed Martinez. Too Many Tamales (pictures) Tokuda, Wendy and Richard Hall. Humphrey the Lost Whale: A True Story (pictures) Gutman, Dan. The Million Dollar Shot Parke, Barbara. Mick Harte Was Here Porter, Connie. Meet Addy an American Girl Fleischman, Sid. The Whipping Boy Fritz, Jean. Homesick: My Own Story Kidd, Diana. Onion Tears Osborne, Mary Pope. Mummies in the Morning or any other Magic Tree House books Level 3 Alvarez, Julia: How Tia Lola Came to Visit/Stay Armstrong, William: Sounder Beatty, Patricia: Lupita Manana Blume, Judy: Iggie s House Byars, Betsy: The Computer Nut Bunting, Eve: The Hideout Carlson, Natalie Savage: The Family Under the Bridge Christopher, Matt: Soccer Halfback; Johnny Long Legs; Top Wing Cleary, Beverly: Runaway Ralph or any other books by Cleary Clements, Andrew: Frindle and Room One (Clements has also written several other books.) Dahl, Roald: The Magic Finger Danziger, Paula: The Cat Ate My Gymsuit Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds: Shiloh Rylant, Cynthia: Missing May; A Fine White Dust Schwartz, Daniel and Byars, Betsy: House of Wings Sobol, Donald J.: Two-Minute Mysteries Soto, Gary: Jesse; Pacific Crossing Stine, R.L.: Rotten School Yep, Laurence: Child of the Owl Wallace, Bill: Red Dog Whelan, Gloria: Goodbye, Vietnam White, E.B.: Charlotte s Web; Stuart Little Level 4 Cisneros, Sandra: Woman Hollering Creek; The House on Mango Street Cohen, Sasha: Fire on Ice (autobiography of a championship figure skater) Draper, Sharon: Darkness Before Dawn Enright, Elizabeth: Return to Gone-Away Gallico, Paul: The Snow Goose and Other Stories Irwin, Hadley: Kim/Kimi Kalnay, Francis: Chicaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa Mead, Alice: Girl of Kosovo Munoz Ryan, Pam: Esperanza Rising Paterson, Katherine: Bridge to Terabithia Sachar, Louis: Holes Sachar, Louis: There s a Boy in the Girl s Bathroom Soto, Gary: The Afterlife Yep, Laurence: Dragon s Gate Level 5 Avi, Nothing But the Truth Carson, Gifted Hands Danticat, Behind the Mountains Hinton, Tex Blake, Dances With Wolves Kennedy, Profiles in Courage Kincaid, Annie John Crane, The Red Badge of Courage Crichton, Jurassic Park Parks, The Learning Tree Potok, The Chosen Forbes, Johnny Tremain
ESOL Summer Reading Assignment Scoring Rubric Excellent Good Poor Must do Over Introduction (n/a ESOL 1) Excellent (3) 1st paraghraph: includes title of the chapter book, clearly stated main idea including who/what the story is about and what about them. 7-10 sentences. 1st paragraph: includes the book title with a brief description. 5-7 sentences. 1st paragraph: no title, minimal description, too much plot, 5 sentences. Main Characters (Who?) Excellent (3) Main characters are clearly named and a brief character description is included for each main character. Main characters are mentioned with plot elements. Characters are named (not main). Setting (Where? When?) Excellent (3) Setting is clearly described with the time the story takes place and where it takes place is clearly described. Setting, when and where is mentioned with little details. Setting is briefly mentioned, either where or when it takes place, but not both. Problem/Conflict (What? How?) Excellent (3) Problem is clearly stated and summarized. 3 specific major events are clearly listed and described. Solution to the problem is described concisely. Problem is briefly described with 3 major events not specifically described. Solution is present. Problem and Solution are described with minimal details. Difficulty providing information regarding the problem and solution. Conclusion (Why? How?) Excellent (3) How the book ends is clearly stated with details. Clear conclusion of the book with details. 7-10 Sentences Continuation of plot. Somewhat of an ending to the book is present. 5-7 Sentences Ending is unclear. No specific details. 5 Sentences Grammar/Mechanics Excellent (3) Book report has been edited and the final copy contains very few errors in puntuation, spelling, and grammar. Book report contains 5-10 errors in punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Book report contains between 10-15 errors in punctuation, spelling, and grammar. More effort could have been put into proofreading. Book report is difficult to read and doesn't appear to be proofread very carefully or not at all. Structure Excellent (3) Clearly followed outline format. Each paragraph is indented and seperated clearly. Presents with proper sentence structure. All topics are present. Attempted to follow outline format. Paragraphs are indented. Good sentence structure. Topics may be out of order. No indentation. Format is not followed. Poor sentence structure. Neatness Excellent (3) Report is clearly and neatly typed. Report is neatly typed with little to no mistakes on format. Report is typed, but in incorrect format and not easy to follow. Score: /24
Summer Reading EXEMPLAR : The Amigo Brothers by Piri Thomas By Mr. Aranha In the book, the Amigo Brothers, by Piri Thomas, the author tells an inspiring story about two young boys who learn the value of friendship and the dangers of competition. The story takes place during the summer, in Spanish Harlem, located in New York City. Thomas describes the busy streets, the noisy neighbors shouting at night, and the local community areas like the park and community centers. The setting affects the story because it creates a lot of tension for the main characters and the readers as well. The main characters are Antonio Cruz and Felix Vargas. Both characters are seventeen years old, Puerto Rican, and love boxing. Antonio is light skinned, tall, skinny, and has a faster style of boxing. Felix is dark skinned, muscular, short, and has a more powerful style. They have known each other all their lives. They constantly train together, joke around, and they share their dreams about becoming professional boxers one day as if they were brothers. Each character is important because their dreams and friendship become the central conflict. The story begins when Antonio and Felix are training one day and they realize that they will have to fight each other in an important Championship Tournament. Although they have trained and sparred with one another, they feel uncomfortable about putting their friendship at risk. On page 136, Felix states, Let s stop a while, bro. I think we both got something to say to each other. They basically discuss the how their upcoming match might put their friendship at risk and they decide not to let it do so. They will fight like professionals and still be friends afterwards. The conflict intensifies one day when Antonio and Felix realize that it will become to difficult to train together and still fight each other seriously. They eventually decide not see each other until the day of the fight because they want to make sure that they don t pull punches when it is time to fight and that they will give it their best. Therefore, they train in different parts of the city. Thomas describes each character s training as they find it difficult to sleep, focus, and not worry about the other friend. This only builds their tension. When they do finally fight, they fight like cats and dogs. They are relentless and try to destroy each other. Even the audience watches in silence. However, the story ends without the reader knowing who the victor is. Antonio and Felix walk out of the boxing ring and the reader is left wondering what happened. In conclusion, I would recommend this book because it teaches a valuable lesson about friendship. Thomas never tells the reader who won the fight because the boys friendship is the most important thing. He forces the reader to learn this lesson because he never tell us who won. I would recommend this story to teenagers because the vocabulary is easy to understand and the characters are teenagers and it is easy to relate to them. If I could make any changes to improve the story, I might add some scenes that show the boys parents or their family members. This would help the reader understand more about the characters.
THE KEY TO GETTING AN A ON YOUR SUMMER READING ASSIGNMENT Directions: Use the table below as a guide to review and revise your summer Reading assignment successfully to standard. 1) Review each of your paragraphs and answer the questions below. 2) If you are answer no to any of the question, revise your paragraph and add the information needed to improve your writing. 3) Following directions and paying attention to details will be the secret to earning an A. Paragraph 1: Introduction Did you state the title of the book? Did you state the author of the book? Did you state the main idea/the theme/lesson that the reader will learn after reading the book? Paragraph 2: Setting Did you state where the story takes place? Did you state when the story takes place? Did you explain how the setting affects the story? Paragraph 3: Main Characters Who are the most important characters of the book? Did you give a short description of the character? Did you explain why the characters are important to the story? Paragraph 4: The Plot Did you explain how the story begins? Did you explain the conflict of the story? How does the conflict develop? How does the conflict get resolved? Paragraph 5: Conclusion Did you state whether or not you would recommend the book? Did you explain why? Who would you recommend the book to? Did you explain why you would make that recommendation? What recommendations would you make to improve the book? Did you explain why you would make these recommendations? Yes/No