Ms. Flath9th Grade Summer Reading2016/2017
9th Grade Summer Reading Assignment
Welcome to the 2016/2017 school year!
I know it seems a little strange to be welcoming you to the new school year when you have barely finished the last school year – but there it is – you have a summer reading assignment to do and I am the teacher to assign it. Did you know that the people who study health, happiness, and longevity tell us that one of the keys to a long and happy life is brain health? One of the keys to brain health is – you guessed it – keeping the brain active and engaged and that means learning as a life-long, day to day activity. So, the adults in your world have decided you need a summer reading assignment – it is for your own good!
This summer reading assignment seeks to accomplish five things:
1) Introduce you to – or have you review a story by a fellow named Alexander Dumas. He is the Frenchman who wrote The Three Musketeers. This story will give us a common starting place for unit one of the 2016/2017 school year
2) Keep you practicing reading and thinking skills during the summer
3) Give you a chance to demonstrate how well you read and follow instructions
4) Give you a chance to demonstrate how much you have learned so far and how creatively you can present that knowledge
5) Give you something to do on those long and boring summer days
See? It is a win-win situation.
The 2016/2017 Summer Reading Assignment
Please read: The Count of Monte Cristo – by Alexander Dumas
This classic piece of literature can be found for free or very cheap on line in at least two places:
Amazon Kindle
If you don’t have a Kindle – there is an app – ‘Kindle for PC’ – you can find it on the Amazon web site.
And
Project Gutenberg
Here is the url -
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1184/1184-h/1184-h.htm
It can also be found in book stores and probably even at Half Price Books – your parents might have a copy of it in the home library. It is certainly available from the public library. There is no ISBN number needed - any edition will do. This is a long book. You might choose to read the whole thing (it is an excellent book,) or you might choose to get an abridged version. I recommend the one from Bantam Classics translated and abridged by Lowell Bair. You might even choose to supplement your reading with the movie or the Cliffs Notes.
Just don’t make the mistake of thinking the notes or the movie take the place of actually reading the book
The Task You Are to Accomplish
Read: The Count of Monte Cristo – by Alexander Dumas
Create a book cover (see the example – the numbers in the squares on the example refer to the seven things your book cover includes)
The book cover includes:
1) A statement of something new or unexpected you found in the book
2) Five important characters from the book
3) Cover art can be original (drawn or an original digital creation) or copied (don’t forget to give credit where credit is due)
4) The title of the book and the name of the author
5) A couple of paragraphs about the part of the book you liked the best – why you liked it
6) A short statement about yourself
7) 30 words (10 from the beginning – 10 from the middle – 10 from the end) that you learned or found interesting while reading the book.
Due the first day of class – Check out the next two pages for an example – the 30 words can fit on the back of the book cover.
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Ms. Flath9th Grade Summer Reading2016/2017
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