Bethel School District
2015 Summer Reading Assignment: Grade EIGHT
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:
1. To ask students to demonstrate their knowledge of and interaction with an extended text
2. To allow students to practice skills that will be reinforced or built upon during the next year of instruction
3. To foster the habits of mind demonstrated by successful readers
Students entering eighth grade will have the opportunity to study the concept of challenge. Students will examine characters and people who have faced challenges in their lives and who have grown and changed as a result of these challenges. For summer reading, students must select a book related to the concept of challenge.
Some titles that address the concept of CHALLENGE include:
· Wonder, by R.J. Palacio
· The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate
· Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
· Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys
· Bomb: The Race to Build-and Steal-the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon, by Steve Sheinkin
In order to document your thinking and interaction with the text, please complete the following assignment:
· Part I: Before Reading - Respond to an anticipation guide: See page two for the guide and directions.
· Part II: During Reading - As you read the novel, you must document your thoughts and reactions.
For each chapter chunk, you will (1) write a meaningful, descriptive title that captures the main idea(s) of the chunk of text; (2) summarize the chapter; (3) write a personal response to the chapter. Effective readers respond to text in a variety of ways; therefore, you are expected to summarize and respond using each option given at least once. Please see the attached template for more details and support.
This assignment 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
7th Grade Humanities Teacher
8th Grade Summer Reading Packet – DUE September 11th, 2015
Challenge Anticipation Guide
PART I – BEFORE READING: This anticipation guide will give you the opportunity to explore YOUR thinking about choices, one of the major ideas in your summer reading book. For each of the following quotations, circle the number that matches your opinion about each quote:
1 = Strongly Agree 2 = Agree 3 = Disagree 4 = Strongly Disagree
Before Reading1 2 3 4 / “Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.”
-Seneca
1 2 3 4 / “You will face your greatest opposition when you are closest to your biggest miracle.”
-Shannon L. Alder
1 2 3 4 / “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
-Moliere
1 2 3 4 / “Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.”
-Roger Crawford
1 2 3 4 / “Don't give up! It's not over. The universe is balanced. Every set-back bears with it the seeds of a come-back.”
-Steve Mariboli
1 2 3 4 / “Achieving success is a challenge but so is struggling so you may as well choose success. ”
-Rob Liano
1 2 3 4 / “Often what feels like the end of the world is really a challenging pathway to a far better place.”
-Karen Salmansohn
1 2 3 4 / “Challenges in life can either enrich you or poison you. You are the one who decides.”
-Steve Mariboli
Which statement do you feel the most strongly about? In complete sentences, explain your answer. Be VERY specific and use examples from your life to support your response. If you need more space, answer on a separate sheet of paper.
PART II – DURING READING: DOUBLE-ENTRY JOURNAL
1. While you read 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 10 entries.
2. 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.
3. 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:
· Analysis of the quote’s connection to plot, character development, conflict, or theme
· Connections / Associations (to similar themes or topics in other books, authors, historical events)
· Questions about the book (meaning, character motivations, plot, etc.)
· Analysis of diction or syntax
· Predictions or inferences
Template:
Quotations from Text / My notes (reactions/questions/analysis)“Quotation from the text” (page #). / Connections
· To the plot
· To a character
· To a conflict
· To a theme
“Quotation from the text” (page #). / Questions
· Why did the author/character do…?
· I wonder why…
“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…
“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.
EXAMPLE:
“It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends” (142). / EXAMPLE RESPONSE (prediction):
In this quote, Dumbledore has noticed Neville's bravery. Neville is brave, just as brave as anyone else in Gryffindor. Dumbledore reminds us that "all kinds of courage" exist in the world and Neville's been participating in an important one: standing up to his friends. He's faced enemies, too, but sometimes it's just as difficult to face down your companions. Sometimes small acts of bravery are the most important, and I predict that later in the book, one of the main characters will have to stand up to his or her friends in a difficult situation that might even destroy a friendship.
In order to earn FULL CREDIT for your double-entry journal, you must fulfill the following criteria:
· 10 or more entries for the book
· Quotations from text must be 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 thinking about the text.
Your response will earn PARTIAL OR NO CREDIT if:
· There are fewer than 10 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:
R.8.1: Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
R.8.2: Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of a text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
W.8.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.
W.8.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W.8.9: Draw evidence from literary texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
Grade Eight Summer Reading 2015: Bethel School District (DUE 9/11/2015)