SLA@Beeber

Rising 10th and 11th* Grade Summer Reading

An important goal of the English curriculum at SLA Beeber is for students to become lifelong readers. Reading should be fun because it opens up new experiences to us and allows us to think more critically about more familiar experiences. It is a form of entertainment and life-long education that we hope you will value!

For your summer reading you must read two books from the list below. You must choose books that you have not read in the past. If you are a rising 11th grader, one of your books must come from the “classic” category.*

For each book, you must complete a response to the book from among the following choices. You must complete a different response for each book:

1) 2 Page Double Entry Journal: Draw a line down the middle of a page. For one column, label it “Notes from the Text.” Here, you should write down notes from the text that stand out to you as important (Be sure to label it with the page number). For the other column, label it “My Response.” In this column, you write what you are thinking about the text or the questions that you have about the text.

2) Body Biography of a Character: Draw an outline of a character, this could just be a stick figure. Then, for each major body part: hands, heart, eyes, nose, arms, feet, knees, stomach, head, ears, etc. you should make a metaphorical body part that would represent a part of the character’s identity. For example, the eyes could be closed shutters if they are not able to see and appreciate their friends or family. This is a characterization activity. On the back, or on a separate paper, explain how and why you chose each body part to represent the character you chose.

3) It Says, I Say, And So Inference: This is a process for making inferences about what you read based on your own questions. You go through the following process. The total word count should be 400-500 words:

• 1) Question: Ask a deep, open-ended question about the text I am reading?

• 2) It Says: What details and information from the text will help me answer this question?

• 3) I Say: What do I have to say about the topic of this question that comes from my own knowledge and experience from the world?

• 4) And So: By combining the references to the text with my own knowledge and experience, what is my inference, my answer to my question?

• 5) So What?: What is the broader connection of my inference to humanity or society in general?

4) Create a High Quality Book Trailer that will be shown the first week of school. This should include information about setting, characters, and the initial conflict. Be sure not to give away the ending! Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWrNyVhSJUU

Here are choices of novels that you can choose from. If you would like to read another book, just email your English teacher from last year.

SLA Beeber 9th Grade Summer Reading 2016-2017

Dear Incoming Ninth Grader,

Welcome to SLA! Before coming to school in September we'd like you to read one of the following books: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie), Everyday (David Levithan), or The House of the Scorpion (Nancy Farmer).

While you may get the book from the library, we strongly suggest that you purchase your

choice text, as we will be referring to it in English classes in September. We are selling all

three titles at discounted prices on New Family Night to make obtaining summer reading easy

and effortless. Of course, feel free to read them all! They are all so great!

Below are some questions to help you navigate your novel and help you prepare to discuss it

with your classmates and teachers. As you may already know, SLA utilizes guiding questions

that help focus our studies and make learning more meaningful for us all. As you read your

book, think about the following larger questions as they apply to the characters, action,

conflicts, and resolutions in your choice text and also as they apply to your life. Part of active

reading includes some writing. Prepare to hand in a journal consisting of at least eight entries,

each one longer than a half page. Before you write, consider the following questions to explore

in your journal. Each entry could be a response to a question as it relates to the book. Include

your own personal responses to these questions, and how these questions might apply to your

choice text. This will be collected in September.

• What is family?

• What is the power of friendship?

• What does it mean to be a caregiver/mother/father?

• What is education and where can it exist?

• What is love?

• How does a person become evil?

•In what ways can the line between good and evil be blurred?

• How do you justify the idea that a person can be both good and evil at the same time?

• Who is a survivor? Why?

• What does it mean to be human?