June 6, 2016

Dear Parents/Guardians of 2016-2017 Prospective English Language Arts 7 Honors Students,

I am excited to announce the summer reading requirements for students entering the English Language Arts 7 Honors program at Monte Vista Middle Schoolfor the 2016-2017 school year. As you know, the ability to readand analyzecomplex textsarecritical thinking skills crucial for academic and career success.

This summer, students will read the following novels:

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, and;

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

By asking honor students to complete summer reading, the goals are to provide enrichment and enjoyment for students while minimizing the summer “learning loss” that often affects students at the beginning of a school year following a prolonged lapse in academic activities.Also, it is important for honors students entering the seventh grade to prepare themselvesfor the increased expectations as they transition from being considered elementary education students to secondary education students. One of my goals as the seventh grade English language arts honors teacher is to lay the foundation for honors-level students to succeed in honors and advanced placement courses in high school and beyond. Summer reading is a common practice in high school honors and advanced placement course and has been proven to support student achievement at all grade levels.

Students are not required to purchase the book. They may check them out from the local public library. However, it is a good practice for students to have their own copies of the books so they can annotate important passages and record their personal response.Since I will teach annotation skills early in the school year, annotating the summer reading is not required. However, if students do purchase the books, I request that they attempt to annotate the texts as I would like to see their initial attempts at textual interpretation. Annotation is critical interaction with the text, as students highlight important thematic, character, and other literary elements as well as writing their comments, questions, predictions, and personal connections while reading.

Each student will take a test on the books and must be prepared to participate in a discussionand conduct a thematic research assignment when we come back next year. In particular, when we begin the school year we will be researching and discussing the concepts of utopian and dystopian societies, and how they are portrayed in literature and film.

While both novels are on the recommended reading list for middle school students, some parents may have concerns over some of the content of the novels. Should you have any such concerns, please contact me over the summer at the email address listed below and we will discuss and, hopefully, resolve any issues you may have with either book. If after discussing your concerns you still do not wish to have your child read either selection,please contact me immediately so that we can discuss an alternate assignment that will still enable your child to participate in the discussions and research assignment at the beginning of the next school year.

Thank you in advance for your support. Should you have any other questions about the summer reading requirements, or how your students should be interacting with the texts, please feel free to email me at .

I am greatly looking forward to working with you and your student next year.

Sincerely,

Daryl Myers, English Language Arts 7 Honors Teacher, Monte Vista Middle School