The 8th 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.
/ She explores her rich history through family pictures, memories, and recollections of childhood friends. She details pivotal moments that affected her life, inspired her writing, and that magically evolved into rich and wonderful stories that one is reluctant to put down. / / Ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen often think of life before the war. It's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching through town. When the Jews of Denmark are "relocated," Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be one of the family. Soon Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission to save Ellen's life./ A description of the boyhood, marriage, and young professional life of Abraham Lincoln includes his presidential years and also reflects on the latest scholarly thoughts about our Civil War president. A Newberry Medal Book. / / CHASING LINCOLN'S KILLER is a fast-paced thriller about the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth: a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia.
/ The only thing you'll find on the summit of Mount Everest is a divine view. The things that really matter lie far below Peak Marcello After fourteen-year-old Peak Marcello is arrested for scaling a New York City skyscraper, he's left with a choice: wither away in juvenile detention or fly to Kathmandu with his long-lost father. Peak quickly learns that his father's renewed interest in him has strings attached. As owner of Peak Expeditions, he wants his son to be the youngest person to reach the Everest summit. The story of Peak's dangerous ascent told in his own words is suspenseful, immediate, and impossible to put down. / / Ice Drift. The year is 1868, and fourteen-year-old Alika and his younger brother, Sulu, are hunting for seals on an ice floe attached to their island in the Arctic. Suddenly the ice starts to shake, and they hear a loud crack--the terrible sound of the floe breaking free from land. The boys watch with horror as the dark expanse of water between the ice and the shore rapidly widens, and they start drifting south--away from their home, their family, and everything they've ever known.
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 Fiction:
Directions: Choose one of the activities below to complete with Ice Drift by Theodore Taylor. 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.
Activity for Non-Fiction:
Directions: For Peak by Roland Smith students are to complete a double-entry journal. The purpose of double-entry journal (DEJ) is to give students an opportunity to express their thoughts and become more involved with the material they encounter. Students will divide their pages into two columns with a vertical line down the center. On the left side, they will copy down short quotes from the original text that they find interesting in some way. In the right column, they will write their personal responses to the quotes on the left.