Blue Valley North

Honors English Language Arts (HELA) 10

Summer Reading Assignment

Dear incoming Honors English Language Arts sophomores:

Welcome! We would like you to be successful in a rigorous pre-AP class. In the past, we have asked incoming honors sophomores to start with a specific text for the summer reading assignment. This summer is different.

Instead of asking you to read a specific text and annotate it, we are asking you to read as often as possible, but choose what you read.Please talk with your teachers, school librarians, public librarians, parents, siblings — anyone you trust — for reading recommendations. Step outside your comfort zone.

As you read, document in some way (Post-it Notes, notes in an e-reader, Cornell Notes, drawings) the following:

  1. Keep a list of all the textsyou read for pleasure over the summer.
  2. Characterization of at least twocharacterswith each book you read (especially the protagonist): You will need to document evidence of the character at the beginning, the middle and the end of your text. Does this character change? If yes, how so and what initiates the change? If not, why not?
  3. Conflicts: you will need to document the various conflicts in the text. Are these internal or external?

How does the conflict shape the characters you chose in #2? How does the character deal with the conflict? What, if any, is the resolution?

  1. Theme: Identify two to three themes from the text. How does the characterization of the protagonist as well as the various conflicts help to reveal these themes?

This outside assignment will connectto your first several in-class assignments, and you must provide some evidence of your reading.

Good readers read all the time so that their reading skills consistently improve. Reading is like any other skill: the more you practice it, the better you will get. The more books you read, the more you will have to draw upon as resources throughout the year in HELA 10.

We look forward to seeing you in August and hearing about all of the texts you read!

Sincerely,

Your HELA 10 teachers