2016-17 8th Grade Summer Reading Assignment

Select one of the following books to read over the summer before school begins:

I Am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick (Young Readers Edition)

The Graveyard, by Neil Gaiman

Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about the following instructions.

Clare

Reading Focus:

What can I learn about life from this book?

What message about life is the author sending me?

How does the story teach me how to live a Good life, or how to make life better?

Part 1: Reading Notes and Analysis

Read and annotate your book as you read, with the Reading Focus questions in mind. (Rubric and examples included below.)
Then, use your annotations to fill out the Themes Chart included below. You may type or hand-write.

Your annotations and chart will be your first Reading grade of the semester. They are due in class when you return to school on August 11th-12th.

Part 2: Writing about the Text

Write a letter to the main character of your book telling him/her what you learned from his/her story. Include: What character traits of theirs you admire, one thing they did that will inspire you to grow or change positively, and something they said that helped you understand life in a good way.

Write at least one paragraph (5-8 sentences). This can be typed or written and attached to this page.

Your letter will be your first Writing grade of the semester. It is due in class when you return to school on August 11th-12th. (Writing Rubric included below)

Themes Chart
What Happened to the Main Character / Page #’s / What I Can Learn from This
Describe in your own words at least 3 situations, conversations, or events that were important in the book.
Include a quote from each part.
If people changed because of this event, be sure to explain how/why. / Explain what you can learn from each part.
(What does it help you understand?
What did it make you realize? What new point of view does it show you? How might it help you make good decisions in the future? How does it relate to your everyday life?)
1.
2.
3.
Overall message from the book about how to live a Good life:
1-2 complete sentences

Summer Reading Annotation Rubric

4 – Excellent:

  • Text has been thoroughly annotated with questions, observations, and connections to the text.
  • Challenging words and concepts are marked; interesting and surprising parts are noted.
  • Comments show thoughtfulness and a thorough understanding of the text.
  • Frequent and consistent markings throughout text (not bunched in one section).

3 – Proficient:

  • Text has been reasonably well annotated with questions, observations, and connections to the text.
  • Some challenging words and concepts are marked; interesting and surprising parts are noted.
  • Comments show an understanding of the text.
  • Margin notes are inconsistent throughout the text; may be well done in some chapters, but not in others.

2 – Basic:

  • Text has been somewhat annotated with a variety of comments.
  • Few words and concepts are marked; few interesting and surprising parts are noted.
  • Few and inconsistent markings throughout the text.
  • Text may be highlighted, but lack written notes in the margin.

1 – Not Satisfactory:

  • Student made little to no effort to annotate the text.
  • There is no understanding of the text demonstrated by the student markings.

Below are some examples of annotations from other books. Most pages should have notes, underlining, etc., but you don’t have to write on every single page. Some pages may have fewer notes than others, and that is okay. Just be consistent and thorough.

Writing Rubric

4 – Excellent / 3 – Proficient / 2 – Basic / 1 – Not Satisfactory
Mechanics / Correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation; complete sentences; correct use of capitalization. Uses a variety of sentence structures. / Few spelling and grammar errors that do not distract from the meaning; mostly correct punctuation; complete sentences. / Several spelling and grammar errors; most sentences have punctuation and arecomplete. / Many spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors; sentence fragments. Difficult to understand or errors distract from meaning.
Ideas and Content / Interesting, well-stated
main idea or topic
sentence; uses logical plan with an effective
beginning, middle, and
end; good flow of ideas
from topic sentence to
details in sequence. / Good main idea or topic sentence; main idea is broad; has good beginning, middle, and end sections; main idea and details are mostly in a logical order. / Main idea or topic is present; may lack clarity or organization. Attempts beginning, middle, and end sections. / No clear topic or does not answer prompt. Ideas are difficult to follow.