Summer Scholars Reading Program 2013

1. Read your book

2. Choose and complete an assignment

3. Return your book and assignment to school in September

9th Grade Summer Reading Options

Choose one of the following options:

Road of Trials: Identify what events in the book helped the character become a better person. What challenges did they confront? How did they handle them? Your response should be approximately one page.

Or:

Word Collage: Write the title of the book in the center of a sheet of paper. Then look through magazines for words, phrases, and sentences that illustrate or tell something about your book. As you look, think in terms of the theme, setting, plot line, as well as characters. Work to get fifty such words, phrases, or sentences so the whole sheet of paper will be covered. The visual impact of the collage should tell a potential reader a lot about the book.

Or:

Dialectical Journal: As you read your text, record interesting or

important lines or parts of your book and record them on the

dialectical journal handout. On the other side of the page, record

your thoughts about the passage.

10th and 11th Grade Summer Reading Options

Name_____________________________________ Date______________________________

Choose one of the following and write a response

Choose one of the following:

Rites of Passage: Write a one page response in which you discuss social, biological, legal or personal rights of passage in this book.

OR:

A New Ending: Write a new ending for the book. Your new ending should be at least one to two pages.

OR:

Mini Research Report- Research and write a 1 page report on the geographical setting of your story. Include an explanation as to why this setting was important to the effect of the story.

OR:

Dialectical Journal: As you read your text, find interesting or

important lines or parts of your book and record them on the

dialectical journal handout. On the other side of the page, record

your thoughts about the passage.

Name_____________________________________ Date

Your book report is due on the first day of school. For full credit, you will need to follow all

directions. Your report may be handwritten or typed.

FOR NARRATIVE NON FICTION AND FICTION BOOKS

(These are books that tell a story and involve a main character.)

MOST BOOKS WILL FALL IN TO THIS CATEGORY!!!

Paragraph 1- should introduce the book. It should tell the title, author, the genre,

and the setting (time and place). You should tell why the setting is important in the

book.

Paragraph 2- should focus on the plot of the book, especially emphasizing the

major conflicts (issues). You should tell the major events of the text and describe

what the main character goes through, and/or what they are trying to achieve.

This paragraph will naturally be longer than your first paragraph, since you are

writing a summary of the main events of the book.

Paragraph 3- will focus on the characters of your book. You should describe the

main characters and the minor characters most important to the plot. You should

also describe one dynamic character (a character who learned something or

changed) and explain how and why that character changed.

Paragraph 4- should tell the point of view of the book and why it is important to

the story. In this paragraph, you should also tell at least one major theme (a

recurring issue), how it is shown in the plot and the characters, and how it could

apply to our own lives.

Paragraph 5- is your conclusion, in which you should review the book that you

read. In this paragraph, you should tell your opinion of the book and why you

would or would not recommend it to your friends to read.

FOR NON-FICTION BOOKS

(These are books that discuss a topic, usually historical or scientific)

Paragraph 1- should introduce the book. It should tell the title, author,

the genre, and the topic. You should also tell why you chose this topic to

read about.

Paragraph 2- should tell about what you have learned from the book. You

should tell the major facts ( 5-7) and why they are interesting or

important. This paragraph will naturally be longer than your first

paragraph, since you are writing a summary of the main facts of the

book.

Paragraph 3- will focus on the structure and organization of the book.

How was the book organized and how did that help you as a reader.

Were there headings and subheadings?

Paragraph 4- this will focus on the language in the text. Choose 5 words

that you learned from the text or by researching the topic that you

thought were interesting. Write the words and the meaning that you

learned in your words.

Paragraph 5- if you met the author of this book, what are TWO

suggestions or compliments you would make about the book? Use

complete sentences to explain.

Name____________________________________________ Date______________________________

Dialectical Journal For ______________________________ by ______________________________

(Title of Text) (Author)

From the Text (Copy a direct quotation or paraphrase

the text you find interesting or important)

Page Number

Respond and Analyze (Why do you find this passage

interesting or important?)

7th – 9th Grade Suggested Titles and Authors

Gifted hands: The Ben Carson story by Ben Carson

Captures the physician's fight to beat the odds, the secret behind his outstanding accomplishments, and what

drives him to take risks.

Hunger games (any title) by Suzanne Collins

Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen accidentally becomes a contender in the annual Hunger Games, a grave

competition hosted by the Capitol where young boys and girls are pitted against one another in a televised fight to the

death.

The midwife's apprentice by Karen Cushman

In medieval England, a nameless, homeless girl is taken in by a sharp-tempered midwife, and in spite of obstacles

and hardship, eventually gains the three things she most wants: a full belly, a contented heart, and a place in this world.

The pact: Three young men make a promise and fulfill a dream by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, &

Rameck Hunt

Presents the true story of three African-American kids from the inner city of Newark, New Jersey, who made a

pact to support each other as they rose from an environment of poverty, crime, and drugs, and went on to become

successful doctors.

Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Autobiographical account of the life of Frederick Douglass, describing his life, his freedom, and how slavery

effects slaves and slave owners.

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper

Two fifteen-year-old girls--one a slave and the other an indentured servant--escape their Carolina plantation and

try to make their way to Fort Moses, Florida, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves.

Pinned by Sharon G. Flake

Autumn, who struggles with a learning disability and exceeds at wrestling, and Adonis, who is confined to a

wheelchair and loves books, learn how their weaknesses can become assets.

Bronx masquerade by Nikki Grimes

While studying the Harlem Renaissance, students at a Bronx high school read aloud poems they've written,

revealing their innermost thoughts and fears to their formerly clueless classmates.

African princess: The amazing lives of Africa's royal women by Joyce Hansen

Six brief biographies of African princesses from Hatshepsut of Ancient Egypt to the contemporary Elizabeth of

Toro.

Breaking through by Francisco Jiménez

Having come from Mexico to California ten years ago, fourteen-year-old Francisco is still working in the fields

but fighting to improve his life and complete his education.

Inside out & back again by Thanhha Lai

Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her

brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.

Charly's epic fiascos by Kelli London

Struggling to live with an overbearing and selfish mother while holding down a job and helping to pay the

household bills, Charly never stopped dreaming and planning to become an actor. Going to New York will put her closer

to her dreams and ultimate escape from a life that no teen should have to live.

Ambitious by Monica McKayhan

When Marisol Garcia, a new student at a competitive performing arts high school, is chosen to take part in a

dance contest, she becomes obsessed with winning and risks losing her friends, her good grades, and her place at the

school.

Black swan green by David Mitchell

Thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor comes of age in 1982 in what is for him the sleepiest village in Worcestershire,

experiencing first cigarettes, first kisses, and first deaths.

Discovering Wes Moore by Wes Moore

The author, a Rhodes scholar and combat veteran, analyzes factors that influenced him as well as another man of

the name and from the same neighborhood who was drawn into a life of drugs and crime and ended up serving life in

prison, focusing on the influence of relatives, mentors, and social expectations that could have led either of them on

different paths.

Fallen angels by Walter Dean Myers

Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967

and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and

in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.

Sunrise over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers

Robin Perry, from Harlem, is sent to Iraq in 2003 as a member of the Civilian Affairs Battalion, and his time there

profoundly changes him.

A long way from Chicago by Richard Peck

A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their

larger-than-life grandmother.

Stuck in neutral by Terry Trueman

Fourteen-year-old Shawn McDaniel, who suffers from severe cerebral palsy and cannot function, relates his

perceptions of his life, his family, and his condition, especially as he believes his father is planning to kill him.

10th

– 12th

Grade Suggested Titles and Authors

Think big: Unleashing your potential for excellence by Ben Carson

Ben Carson shares the story of how he transformed himself from the dumbest student in his fifth grade class into a

Yale graduate and pediatric neurosurgeon, and tells of some of the people who inspired him to achieve in his studies and

in life.

The madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean

Eighty-two-year-old Marina Buriakov, preparing for her granddaughter's wedding in Seattle, finds it more and

more difficult to hold onto memories in the present, retreating often to the 1940s when, living in the basement of the

Hermitage Museum with other employees during the German siege of Leningrad, she created a memory room in her mind

furnished with the museum's priceless masterpieces.

Tears of a tiger by Sharon Draper

The death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile accident affects the lives of his close

friend Andy, who was driving the car, and many others in the school.

Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

Author Barbara Ehrenreich relates her experiences from 1998 to 2000, during which time joined the ranks of the

working poor as a waitress, hotel housekeeper, cleaning woman, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart clerk to see for herself

how America's "unskilled" workers are able to survive on only $6 or $7 an hour.

The surrender tree: Poems of Cuba's struggle for freedom by Margarita Engle

A collection of poems in which Rosa, a healer, describes her experiences trying to help Cuban peasants who have

been forced to leave their farms and villages in 1896 and given eight days to find their way to "reconcentration camps" or

be killed.

The great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Tells the tragic love story of Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan, a dashing, enigmatic millionaire obsessed with an

elusive, spoiled young woman.

A lesson before dying by Ernest Gaines

The story of two young African American men, one condemned to death for a murder and the other a teacher,

who form a bond in a small Cajun Louisiana community in the late 1940s.

Letters to a young brother (or sister) by Hill Harper

A collection of letters written to young people that address a number of issues from predominately Hispanic and

African-American young men and women that include single parenthood, sexually transmitted diseases, the allure of

materialism, and the power of words and faith while encouraging them to build self-respect and self-confidence.

For whom the bell tolls by Ernest Hemingway

The story of an American, Robert Jordan, who fought during the Civil War in Spain with the anti-fascist guerrillas

in the mountains of Spain.

The secret life of bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Fourteen-year-old Lily and her companion, Rosaleen, an African-American woman who has cared from Lily since

her mother's death ten years earlier, flee their home after Rosaleen is victimized by racist police officers, and find a safe

haven in Tiburon, South Carolina, at the home of three beekeeping sisters, May, June, and August.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Imaginative thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis, misinterpreting a scene between her older sister Cecilia and Robbie

Turner, the housekeeper's son, later accuses Robbie of a crime she has no proof he committed and spends years trying to

atone for her actions.

Discovering Wes Moore by Wes Moore

The author, a Rhodes scholar and combat veteran, analyzes factors that influenced him as well as another man of

the name and from the same neighborhood who was drawn into a life of drugs and crime and ended up serving life in

prison, focusing on the influence of relatives, mentors, and social expectations that could have led either of them on

different paths.

Slam! By Walter Dean Myers

Sixteen-year-old "Slam" Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city

and give him a chance to succeed in life, but his coach sees things differently.

Cambion chronicles (any title) by Jaime Reed

Samara is determined for this to be the best summer ever. What she isn't counting on is romance and paranormal

activity.

Creature by John Saul

The Tanner family discovers that beneath the perfect facade of the town of Silverdale there is a monstrous evil

harbored.

Maus I: A survivor's tale by Art Spiegelman

A memoir about Vladek Spiegleman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and about his son, a cartoonist who

tries to come to terms with his father, his story, and with history itself. Cartoon format portrays Jews as mice and Nazis as

cats.

Marcelo in the real world by Francisco X Marcelo Sandoval, a seventeen-year-old boy on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, faces new

challenges, including romance and injustice, when he goes to work for his father in the mailroom of a corporate law firm.

Burro genius by Victor Villaseñor

Victor Villaseñor recounts his own angry adolescence, describing the humiliation, misunderstanding, and abuse

he faced at home and at school, and discussing how those events shaped his adult life.

If you come softly by Jacqueline Woodson After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are

separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with

peoples' reactions.

RCSD 2013

Summer RocRead

Every student is encouraged to enjoy reading with their families over the summer break. You can

read any title you choose, if you’re looking for inspiration we have a newly expanded list of

suggested titles at:

www.rocread.com

Please visit a branch of the Monroe County or Rochester Public Libraries this summer. There are 11

branches throughout the city offering special programs throughout the summer. Check with your

local branch to see what events and programs are scheduled.

You can turn in this form at the Red Wings game on August 22nd. If you turn it in at the game, you

will get two (2) free tickets to the game and a book. Older students are encouraged to read a book

with younger students and turn in this form.

We would love to see pictures of you and your family reading! You can email your picture (include

your first and last name, and which school you attend) to:

rocread@rcsdk12.org

Student First and Last Name: ______________________________

Home School #:_________________________________________

Grade in September:_____________________________________

Teacher’s Name: ________________________________________

What book did you read?

Title: ______________________________________________

Author: ____________________________________________

What are the names of the family members you read with?

Names: ____________________________________________

__________________________________________________

Tell me about your favorite part of the book and what made it special to you.

William & Mildred

Levine Foundation

As we all know, the summer months will go by so fast. Research has shown that children who

don’t read over the summer can lose up to three months of reading progress and that loss has

cumulative, long term effects. We want to encourage your children to keep reading over the

summer. Please take a few moments to review the material below and share this information with

your child. Have a wonderful summer, remember to visit your local library and keep reading!!! Visit

your local public library or the American Library Association site at http://www.ala.org to get names of

award winning books.

Check out the kids place at the Monroe Public Library! Rochester Public Library

and suburban branches will be hosting free Kids & Teen programs all summer long. Check

at each branch for their schedule of events.

http://www.libraryweb.org/

Find events from all over the city and

county at

Kids Out and About:

http://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com

Check out Writers & Books for the SummerWrite Program for students ages 6 - 18. See the program catalog online

http://www.wab.org/area-of-class-workshop/youth-classes/

. A quick look through the brochure will show you the wide range of classes that offer something for all reading and writing levels.

The program runs throughout the summer, and sessions can be half-day or full-day. For more information, contact Sally Bittner-

Bonn at 473-2590, ext 109, or e-mail at "sallyb@wab.org." Ask about scholarship funds

Visit the Read-Write-Think

website for some fun activities: http://readwritethink.org/beyondt

heclassroom/summer/

Visit Sylvan Learning’s Book

Adventure for book suggestions

and quizzes by grade level at

http://www.bookadventure.org/

**********

The Department of Instructional Technology is

sponsoring a contest for students using Compass

Odyssey Learning. Check it out at

https://compass.rcsdk12.org.

* * * * *

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Earn a free book from

Barnes & Noble – 1)

read any eight books, record them in

a journal (print your journal at

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreadi

ng/index.asp )

2) take the journal to a local B&N

store

3, Choose a Free Book from a

selection on the Reading Journal List

at the store

For Grades 1 - 6

Math games, Mad

Libs, Read Diary of a Wimpy Kid online at:

http://www.funbrain.

com/

Join the Applebee's Bookworm

Reading Club this summer!

The Rochester area is overflowing with ideas to

encourage children to read. How about some free food

and fun? Once again, children can join the Applebee's

Bookworm Reading Club this summer, and win a

tasty prize! Download the reading card from

(http://www.tlcneighborhood.com./documents/1_page

doc_Bookworm%20Club%20Card%20back.pdf)

Keep track of all of the books read. Parents also supply

some basic personal information (name, address, phone

number).

When the card is completed, a total of 10 books listed

with author, the child can detach the bookmark portion

as a keepsake and turn the completed card into

Applebee's to be redeemed for a free meal. The free

meal only applies when purchased with an adult entree.

One card per child, and one card per adult entree.

Valid only in Upstate NY and in Connecticut

Scholastic

Summer Reading

Challenge

Log your reading minutes for a chance to earn prizes

Visit http://www.scholastic.com/ups/campaigns/src-

2013?eml=BNL/e/20130522////MayNL///LIB///&ym_

MID=1480400&ym_rid=18740979 for more

information and reading log.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking for more –

Check out other local restaurants and special locations for more summer reading programs:

Horizon Skate Wendy’s Friendly’s Taco Bell