Bethel School District
2015 Summer Reading Assignment: Grade TWELVE
Dear students and parents,
Summer reading is an important part of the Bethel School District culture. It is a vital experience that keeps kids learning even when the school year is over. In addition to fostering a joy of reading, current research indicates that increased summer reading helps students maintain skills and avoid learning loss. However, summer reading does more than preserve the skills of the previous school year; by exploring a shared text, students have a common experience with their classmates to begin the school year in September. Finally, when students complete an assignment accompanying the text, teachers can provide valuable feedback to students to set them up for success throughout the coming year.
Bethel’s goals for assigning summer reading are:
- To ask students to demonstrate their knowledge of and interaction with an extended text
- To allow students to practice skills that will be reinforced or built upon during the next year of instruction
- To foster the habits of mind demonstrated by successful readers
Students entering 12th grade will have the opportunity to study the concept of perspective. Students will examine the idea that the world is full of different viewpoints, and that a person’s perspective is influenced by a variety of social, personal, political, historical, and economic factors. For summer reading, students must choose a book related to the concept of perspective.
Some titles that address the concept of PERSPECTIVE include:
- Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas J. Stanley
- The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch
- The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
- Mutant Message Down Under, by Marlo Morgan
- Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn
- Hiroshima, by John Hersey
- Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse
- The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman
- Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich
- The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
In order to document your thinking and interaction with the text, please complete the following assignment:
- Part I: Before Reading - Respond to a writing prompt: See page two for the prompt and directions.
- Part II: During Reading - As you read the novel, you must document your thoughts and reactions by keeping a double-entry journal. Effective readers respond to text in a variety of ways; therefore, you are expected to respond using each option given at least once. Please see the attached template for more details and support.
This assignment (parts I and II) is due on September 11th, 2015 (the first Friday of the school year) and will be collected in your English Language Arts class.
If a student fails to complete the assignment by the specified due date, (s)he will
- Miss out on valuable feedback from the teacher
- Be unable to participate in and benefit from collaborative discussion with peers
- Not earn credit for the work
First and last name:
11th grade English teacher:
PART I – BEFORE READING
During your senior year you will have the opportunity to study the concept of perspective. You will examine the idea that the world is full of different viewpoints, and that a person’s perspective is influenced by a variety of social, personal, political, historical, and economic factors. Choose ONE of the following prompts and write a multi-paragraph response to it.
PROMPT: Think of an issue that is important to you. Describe your perspective on the issue, and include details from your experience, observations, or reading to explain the variety of factors that have shaped your perspective. Within your explanation, please identify other perspectives that exist and how those perspectives compare or contrast to yours.
PROMPT: Consider a time when your perspective on an issue caused conflict with someone who had a different perspective. What factors influenced your point of view or feelings about the situation? What factors influenced theirs? Use evidence from your experience, observations, or reading, to support your response.
PART II – DURING READING: DOUBLE-ENTRYJOURNAL
- During your reading you will record your thinking about and interactions with the text using the double-entry journal format. Your double-entry journal must contain at least 15 entries.
- The left column is used to record significant quotations from the text. The quotations you choose do not have to be character dialogue. A quotation can range from a single sentence to a short paragraph, as long as it is important or meaningful to your understanding of the book. Place this text excerpt in quotation marks and include the page number.
- The right column is used for commenting on the quotations; your commenting options are listed below. Effective readers respond to text in a variety of ways; therefore, YOU MUST USE EACH OF THE OPTIONS BELOW AT LEAST ONCE.
Your comments on the right must include:
- Comments about the writer’s use of literary devices (metaphor, symbolism, personification, etc.)
- Analysis of the quote’s connection to plot, character development, conflict, or theme
- Your reactions to the author’s word choice (diction) or sentence structure (syntax)
- Questions about what was read (meaning, purpose, character motivations, etc.)
- Connections / Associations (to similar themes or topics in other books, authors, historical events)
- Predictions or inferences
Template:
Quotations from Text / My notes (reactions/questions/analysis)EXAMPLE:
“Her face was white and sharp and slightly gleaming in the candlelight, like bone. No hint of pink. And the hair. So fine, so pale, so much, crimped by its plaiting into springy zigzag tresses, clouding neck and shoulders, shining metallic in the candlelight” (42). / Literary Devices
When the author uses the words “white,” “sharp,” “gleaming,” and “candle light,” he forms a ghostly, almost creepy image of the woman. The simile comparing her face to “bone” emphasizes this ghostly image even more, and the description of the “springy” hair “clouding” around her upper body creates a wild, almost zombie like picture of the woman. Strong use of imagery and detail helps create a picture in the reader’s mind.
“Quotation from the text” (page #). / Connections
- To the plot
- To a character
- To a conflict
- To a theme
“Quotation from the text” (page #). / Diction/Syntax
- The character’s use of complex words makes him sound…
- This author uses short, choppy sentences in dialogue, which makes the characters seem angry with each other…
“Quotation from the text” (page #). / Questions
- Why did the author/character do…?
- I wonder why…?
“Quotation from the text” (page #). / Connections/Associations
- This relates to the book...when….
- This must have taken place during….because….
“Quotation from the text” (page #). / Predictions/Inferences
- Based on what happened here, I can infer…
- Last time this happened, the character…so I can predict…
In order to earn FULL CREDIT for your double-entry journal, you must fulfill the following criteria:
- 15 or more entries for the book
- Quotations from text must is one or more sentence in length
- Entries span the entire book (beginning, middle, end) and are indicated by page numbers
- Work is proofread and contains no spelling errors
- Student responses contain two or more complete sentences and demonstrate fully developed reactions to or analysis of the text.
Your response will earn PARTIAL OR NO CREDIT if:
- There are fewer than 15 quotations and responses to the text
- Quotations or analysis contain many misspelled words
- Quotations from text indicate the entire book may not have been read (as indicated by page numbers)
- Student responses demonstrate incomplete thoughts or connections and seem hastily written. Entries lack elaboration
Common Core Connections - by completing this work, students will practice the following skills:
W.11-12.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content
W.11-12.4:Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience
W.11-12.10: Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames (a single sitting) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences
R.11-12.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain
R.11-12.2: Determine themes or central ideas in a text and analyze their development over the course of a text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account
R.11-12.3: Analyze the impact of the author’s choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama
R.11-12.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful
Grade Twelve Summer Reading 2015: Bethel School District (DUE 9/11/15)