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
During the summer, select a book from the list below and, in addition to reading the book, complete one activity from List A and List B. Attach your activities to this packet and submit it by Friday, September 16, 2022.
downloadable version here
| Book Title | Author |
|---|---|
| Blade Runner | Philip K. Dick |
| Bud, Not Buddy | Christopher Paul Curtis |
| Chasing Lincoln's Killer | James Swanson |
| Counting by 7s | Holly Goldberg Sloan |
| Esperanza Rising | Pam Munox Ryan |
| Far Far Away | Tom McNeal |
| Fish in a Tree | Lynda Mullaly Hunt |
| Frindle | E.L. Konigsburg |
| Hatchet | Gary Paulsen |
| Hope Was There | Joan Bauer |
| Kira-Kira | Cynthia Kadohata |
| Lightning Thief | Rick Riordan |
| Lupita Manana | Patricia Beatty |
| Maniac Magee | Jerry Spinelli |
| Maze of Bones | Rick Riordon |
| Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life | James Patterson |
| Old Yeller | Frank Gipson |
| Schooled | Gordon Korman |
| Stitching Snow | R.C. Lewis |
| Swindle | Gordon Korman |
| The Cay | Theodore Taylor |
| The City of Ember | Jeanne Duprau |
| The Egypt Game | Zipha K. Snyder |
| The Family Under the Bridge | Natalie Carson |
| The Great Gilly Hopkins | Katherine Paterson |
| The House of Dies Drear | Virginia Hamilton |
| The London Eye Mystery | Siobhan Dowd |
| The Other Side of the Dark | Joan Lowery Nixon |
| The Schwas Was Here | Neal Shusterman |
| Waiting for Normal | Leslie Connor |
| Walk Two Moons | Sharon Creech |
| When You Reach Me | Rebecca Stead |
List A - 50 points (choose 1)
Select one of the following options to complete based on your novel of choice. This project will be due Friday, September 16, 2022.
| Diary Writing | Pretend that you are a character in the novel. Write three diary entries explaining three different events that occurred in the novel. |
|---|---|
| Sequel Ending | Write a short sequel to your novel or rewrite a different ending. |
| Author's View | Pretend that you're the author and describe the part that was the most fun or hardest to write. Explain why. |
| Impact | Describe how this book has made an impact on you. Is there any section that you would change in this book? Will this book be considered a "classic"? Why or why not? |
| Interview | Write an interview with one of the major characters from your novel. |
| Prequel | Write a one chapter prequel explaining what you think happened before the story began. |
| Book Review | Write a persuasive book review of the novel to try to get someone else to read it. |
| Quote | Pick a quote from the book that has a significant meaning for you. Explain it. What is the author's purpose in this selection? |
List B - 50 points (choose 1)
Select one of the following options to complete based on your novel of choice. This project will be due Friday, September 16, 2022.
| Quiz | Create a 20-question short answer quiz about your book. The questions should test a reader's knowledge of the story and focus on character, plot, setting, motivation, conflict, and resolution. Must include the answers to your quiz questions as well. |
|---|---|
| Comic Strip | Create an artistic comic strip representing the important events that take place in a chapter. |
| Word Scrambler | Make a scrambler using 20 words from the novel. |
| Book cover | Design a new book cover for your book. |
| Problem solving | Identify four problems or emergencies that occurred in your novel. Make a chart listing the problem, who was involved, how the problem was solved, and other possible solutions to the problem. |
| Map | Draw a map that includes all the different places in your novel. Include labels and a legend if needed. |
| Illustrations | Draw three pictures. Include at least one illustration from the beginning, the middle, and the end of the novel. Be sure to include a caption. |
| Character Comparison | Create Venn Diagrams comparing and contrasting the characters from the story. |
| Mobile |
Make a story mobile that represents your story. Remember to include characters, setting, and events from your story. Place the title and author's name near the top. *A hanger from your closet makes a great mobile* |
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.
click here to jump to your assignment
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.
Click here to jump to the assignment
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.
