SUMMER READING LIST Students Entering Grade 8

Transcription

1 SUMMER READING LIST Students Entering Grade 8 Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students, At St. Bartholomew Academy, we support the tradition of summer reading for all of our students as a way to maintain and enhance critical literacy skills. Reading deepens background knowledge, broadens vocabulary, and builds fluency which all lead to greater comprehension. Summer reading is designed to stimulate the imagination and serve as a basis for classroom discussion and activities throughout the year. In an effort to continue proficiency in reading, the students entering Grade 8 will be required to read ONE book over the summer and complete the requested information. The required selection for all students is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Attached please find the book report form by which the students will report their knowledge of this book. The report should be answered in complete sentences with careful attention to detail. Please follow the format for each paragraph as indicated on the outline. After reading the book, students should complete the information requested making sure the report is NEATLY written or typed and grammatically correct. The book report is due on the first day of school and should be handed in to me during Language Arts class. Have a safe and happy summer! God bless you! Sincerely, Mrs. Mary Schoendorf

2 Middle School Book Report Format Paragraph Order: 1. Introduction 2. Setting 3. Characters 4. Plot 5. Plot Resolution 6. Conclusion Paragraph Description: I. The introduction contains the thesis idea. II. III. IV. The setting describes the time period and location. The section on characters mentions minor groups of characters but names and describes the major ones. The plot explains what the major character attempts to do: to discover to overcome to adapt to learn to find to become to mature to solve to conquer V. The plot resolution How are the final problems solved? How does everything work out? What is the final attitude of the main character(s)? VI. The conclusion an evaluation of the book as a literary work. What was the author s purpose? Does the book teach a lesson or a moral? Are the characters role models? Why is it recommended? Introduction: Sentence Order Example 1. Arouse the reader s interest with an How would you feel if a tornado suddenly attention grabbing question. lifted you away to a new land? 2. Name the character(s) in such a Such an adventure happened to Dorothy in the situation. Name the book title and book, The Wizard of Oz, by Frank Baum.\ author. 3. Present the thesis sentence: why the Although there have been other children s book is unique: Although there have adventure stories, this one is unique because been similar books, this book is unique Dorothy helps the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and because who? does what? And where? Lion find the qualities they seek while traveling with her in the land of Oz.

3 Topic Sentence Suggestions: Setting Characters Plot Plot Resolution Conclusion One reason this book is appealing is setting. Another reason this book is different is its characters OR is that its characters are all (brief description). In addition to the setting and characters, the plot adds (or the problems add) to the distinctiveness of the book. The way in which the problem(s) is solved is totally unexpected. For these reasons, this book is appealing OR therefore, for these reasons, this book is recommended.

4 Interested in Reading More this Summer? (FOR INFORMATION ONLY NOT REQUIRED) 2011 Scholastic Challenge Book List2011 Young Adult (By Title, Author and Illustrator) Accomplice, Eireann Corrigan After Ever After, Jordan Sonnenblick Al Capone Does My Shirts, Gennifer Choldenko Bang!, Sharon G. Flake The Bar Code Rebellion, Suzanne Weyn The Big Crunch, Pete Hautman The Book Thief, Markus Zusak The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, John Boyne The Boy Who Dared, Susan Campbell Bartoletti The Brooklyn Nine, Alan Gratz Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, Heather Brewer Clarity, Kim Harrington The Clone Codes, The McKissacks Confessions of the Sullivan Sisters, Natalie Standiford Confetti Girl, Diana Lopez Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, Ally Carter Cut, Patricia, McCormick Dangerous Neighbors, Beth Kephart Dark Life, Kat Falls Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic, Suzanne Weyn Dream of Night, Heather Henson The Dreamer, Pam Muñoz Ryan & Peter Sis Empty, Suzanne Weyn Fallen, Lauren Kate Fire World, Chris d Lacey Flipped, Wendelin Van Draanen Geek Fantasy Novel, E. Archer Ghostopolis, Doug Tennapel Girls Unplugged #1: How To Deal, Cheryl Crouch The Giver, Lois Lowry Half Brother, Ken Oppel Heart of a Samurai, Margi Preus Here Lies Arthur, Philip Reeve

5 House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins I Now Pronounce You Someone Else, Erin McCahan Icemark Chronicles, Stuart Hill Immortal, Lauren Burd Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O Dell The Last Summer of the Death Warriors, Francisco X. Stork Life, After, Sarah Darer Littman Life As We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins Monster, Walter Dean Myers Nothing but the Truth, Avi Once Upon a Prom, Jeanine Le Ny The Outsiders, S. E. Hinton Phantoms in the Snow, Kathleen Benner Duble Picture the Dead, Adele Griffin & Lisa Brown Plain Kate, Erin Bow Poetry Speaks: Who I Am, Elise Paschen Prom, Laurie Halse Anderson Prom & Prejudice, Elizabeth Eulberg The Road to Paris, Nikki Grimes The Roar, Emma Clayton Rose Sees Red, Cecil Castellucci Ruined: A Novel, Paula Morris Secrets, Lies, And Algebra, Wendy Lichtman Sellout, Ebony Wilkins Sequins, Secrets, And Silver Linings, Sophia Bennett Shiver, Maggie Stiefvater Small Steps, Louis Sachar Smile, Raina Telgemeier StarCrossed, Elizabeth C. Bunce Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli Strings Attached, Judy Blundell The Suburb Beyond the Stars, M. T. Anderson Sunrise Over Fallujah, Walter Dean Myers Tangerine, Edward Bloor To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee Tomorrow Girls, Eva Gray Top 8, Katie Finn Trapped, Michael Northrop Uglies, Scott Westerfeld The Watsons Go To Birmingham 1963, Christopher Paul Curtis We Could Be Brothers, Derrick Barnes

6 We Hear the Dead, Dianne Salerni What I Saw And How I Lied, Judy Blundell Will Work for Prom Dress, Aimee Ferris Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me, Kristen Chandler The Writing on the Wall, Wendy Lichtman You Are Not Here, Samantha Schutz