The 7th grade reading list contains a choice of pairs. The student is required to choose a pair of books to read and complete the following assignments.
/ The Call of the Wild was not only a book by Jack London. It may very well have been his own personal credo, as Daniel Dyer makes clear in this gripping biography of the famed author and adventurer. While researching Jack London, biographer Daniel Dryer uncovered an amazing truth - that London's real life was just as rich and exciting as the stories and characters he created. / / Kidnapped from his safe California home. Thrown into a life-and-death struggle on the frozen Arctic wilderness. Half St. Bernard, half shepard, Buck learns many hard lessons as a sled dog: the lesson of the leash, of the cold, of near-starvation and cruelty. And the greatest lesson he learns from his last owner, John Thornton: the power of love and loyalty./ Virginia Hamilton (1936-2002) changed children's literature for generations of readers, bringing a Faulknerian style of sophisticated and cutting-edge writing to the world of books for young readers. Readers will be enlightened by Hamilton's engaging, powerful, and witty perspective on African American literature as well as her own experiences as a writer and an American. / / Mayo Cornelius Higgins sits on his gleaming, forty-foot steel pole, towering over his home on Sarah's Mountain. Behind him lie the wounds of strip mining, including a mountain of rubble that may one day fall and bury his home. M.C. dreams of escape for himself and his family. And, one day, atop his pole, he thinks he sees it -- two strangers are making their way toward Sarah's Mountain. One has the ability to make M.C.'s mother famous. And the other has the kind of freedom that M.C. has never even considered.
/ Meet fantasy author Ray Bradbury, best known for books such as The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man, and Fahrenheit 451. / / The tranquility of Mars is disrupted by the earthmen who have come to conquer space, colonize the planet, and escape a doomed Earth.
Important instructions: Projects should not be on poster board. Please limit the size to no larger than 81/2 x 11 paper. Also, do not bring your book activities to class the first day of school. You will be given a date to bring them.
Activity for Autobiography:
Directions: Choose one of the activities below to complete with the autobiography book you read. Be prepared to share your activity with the class during the first week of school.
A. Write a poem about yourself and another about the author of the books you read, so your readers see how you and the author are alike or different. Be sure to include the most important traits in each poem.
B. Make a pair of collages that compare you and the author of your books. Your comparisons should include physical and personality traits. Label your collages generously, so viewers understand your thinking.
Activity for Fiction:
Directions: Choose one of the activities below to complete with the second book you read. Be prepared to share your activity with the class during the first week of school.
A. Create a six to eight-panel comic strip for your story. You should depict the most important events in the panels accompanied with a short essay of why you chose those events.
B. Create a persuasive newsletter to a movie production group. The objective is to write a summary of the book so the movie production company will want to make a blockbuster movie out of the book. Make sure you include the major events of the plot, setting, and characters.