Summer Reading
Summer reading assignments are now available to work on. Click the drop-down boxes below for the list of books you can choose from and details on your assignments.
6th Grade Summer Reading Project
7th Grade Summer Reading Project
The theme in a story is its underlying message. In other words, what belief about life is the author trying to convey?
In seventh grade, you will read novels about individuals that show the character trait of perseverance. Perseverance is persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. Use one of the books in the list below to complete your assignment.
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downloadable version here
| Book Title | Author |
|---|---|
| The Distance Between Us | Reyna Grande |
| Brown Girl Dreaming | Jacqueline Woodson |
| The War That Saved My Life | Kimberly Bradley |
| Where the Red Fern Grows | Wilson Rawls |
| The Seventh Most Important Thing | Shelley Pearsall |
| Esperanza Rising | Pam Munoz Ryan |
| Out of My Mind | Sharon Draper |
| Diary of a Young Girl | Anne Frank |
| Revolution | Devorah Wiles |
| The Goldfish Boy | Lisa Thompson |
| Booked | Kwame Alexander |
| Finding Perfect | Elly Swartz |
| Nest | Esther Ehrlich |
| Bystander | Preller James |
| OC Daniel | Wesley King |
| Unstoppable | Tim Green |
Assignment
Read one novel from the list above about a character that shows perseverance and complete three choices on the board creating a tic-tac-toe.
DOWNLOADABLE VERSION HERE
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Point of View Retell a major event of the novel from the perspective of a different character using 1st person point of view. Retell the event using thoughts and feelings of the character. (3 paragraph min.) |
Theme What is the message in the story? What lasting idea is the author trying to convey? Explain your reasoning by giving 3 pieces of text evidence (with page numbers next to entries). |
Characterization Draw a portrait of one of your characters. Include captions that explains what your character is thinking, feeling, doing, seeing, and hearing in the scene you choose. Explain the importance of your captions. |
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Setting Draw a map of the main setting of the story (natural and man-made landmarks, places in the story, etc.) and a “key” that explains your map. Why are these features important to the plot and theme of the story? |
Vocabulary As you read, make a list of 10 words that you did not know. Give the definition, part of speech, and why the word is important to the plot or message of the story. |
Plot Describe 5 main events in the story. One from each: Beginning, rising action, climax, falling action, conclusion. Include evidence for each from the text to support your ideas (with page numbers). |
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Conflict (problem) What is the conflict? Man vs. man? Man vs. nature? Man vs. society? Man vs. himself? Choose 2 types of conflict. Write one paragraph about each and include evidence and page numbers. |
Retelling Retell this story in a comic strip using your own words. Include main characters, setting, conflict, at least 2 major events, and conclusion. (Minimum of 6 comic strip boxes) |
Questioning What questions do you have about this novel? Create 10 meaningful questions about the lives of the characters, how the conflict was resolved, etc. |
8th Grade Summer Reading Project
Select a book from the list of classic books below. As you read your book, complete each of the following literary explorations. You may complete this on paper or in a document.
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downloadable version here
| Author | Book Title |
|---|---|
| Louisa May Alcott | Little Women |
| Alexander Dumas | The Count of Monte Christo |
| Lewis Carroll | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland |
| Arthur Conan Doyle | The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes |
| J.R.R. Tolkien | The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings |
| Robert Louis Stevenson | Treasure Island |
| Jules Verne |
A Journey to the Center of the Earth; |
| Charles Dickens | Oliver Twist |
| Ray Bradbury | Fahrenheit 451; The Martian Chronicles; The Illustrated Man; or Dandelion Wine |
| Stephen Crane | The Red Badge of Courage |
| Harper Lee | To Kill a Mockingbird |
| Jack London | The Call of the Wild; or White Fang |
| Mark Twain | Tom Sawyer |
| Jane Austen | Pride and Prejudice |
| Charlotte Bronte | Jane Eyre |
| Jack Schaefer | Shane |
| Betty Smith | A Tree Grows in Brooklyn |
| Emily Bronte |
Wuthering Heights |
| Daniel Defoe | Robinson Crusoe |
| William Golding | Lord of the Flies |
| Mary W. Shelley | Frankenstein |
| Bram Stoker | Dracula |
| Jonathon Swift | Gulliver's Travels |
| H.G. Wells | The Time Machine |
| Maya Angelou | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings |
| Dee Brown | Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee |
| J.D. Salinger | The Catcher in the Rye |
| Nathaniel Hawthorne | The Scarlet Letter |
| John Steinbeck | Tortilla Flat |
| John Knowles | A Separate Peace |
| Ken Kesey | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
| Rudyard Kipling | The Jungle Book |
| George Orwell | 1984 |
| Daniel Keyes | Flowers for Algernon |
| Douglas Adams | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy |
| George Orwell | Animal Farm |
| Richard Wright | Black Boy |
Summer Reading Project
As you read your book selected from the above list, complete each of the following literary explorations. You may complete this on paper or in a document.
- Write one eight-sentence paragraph summary about what you read. Let me know the important events of the plot.
- Quote at least five different statements from what you have read that you enjoyed, and comment thoroughly on them.
- Pay attention to any figurative language (metaphor, simile, alliteration). Select and identify two quotes which contain DIFFERENT figurative language. Explain the purpose of the author's use of that particular figurative language.
- Connect the text to other personal or social events/people. Connections may be text to text, text to self, text to world, text to media. You need four connections, with at least one in each category.
- Identify and define five advanced vocabulary words. Quote the sentence in which the vocabulary word was used.
- Write five questions that you have about your book's plot, setting, and characters. Can you answer the questions once you have finished the book?
- Select two symbols associated with your novel and provide a brief explanation for each.
- Identify a central theme for your novel and EXPLAIN, using concrete details to support your assertion.
- Give a review of the novel in which you rate it on a 5-star scale (5 being the best and 0 being the worst). Your review should be at least two paragraphs. EXPLAIN.
