Ann Palmer

Coordinator of

Language Arts and Social Studies

52 Third Avenue

Brentwood, NY 11717

Telephone (631) 434-2241

FAX (631) 434-2234

TO: Parents/Guardians of Children Entering Grades 10-12

FROM: Ann Palmer, Coordinator of Language Arts and Social Studies K-12

Stephanie Weeks, High School English Department Head

RE: Summer Reading

DATE: June 2, 2014

I hope this memo finds you in good spirits and in good health! As we approach summer, it is yet again the time to consider the “ways” in which we can motivate our children to read during the months of July and August. One way is to assign consistent grade and course level titles so they can engage in conversation about the text with their friends. We are hoping that access to one grade level novel and regular visits to the Brentwood Public Library will provide summertime enrichment. Our ELA teachers have worked hard this year to support your child’s reading growth. Don’t let that critical progress slip away over the summer! Please encourage your child to read the book(s) listed below, complete the assignment, and return to school with the book AND the assignment on the first day of school for credit towards the first marking quarter grade.

Students entering grades 10-12 are to complete the assignment with which they were provided this month in their current English class. 10th grade students have been provided with a copy of the summer reading assignment book(s). Because we would like to continue the “Books to Home” initiative each summer, we ask that children NOT write in the book. Rather, we encourage children to use post-it notes to actively engage with the assigned text. Students may obtain their copies of the summer reading books through the Brentwood Public Library, our school libraries (limited copies available), through downloadable eBooks, bookstores (Barnes and Noble in Bay Shore is offering a 20% discount with student ID’s), or the high school English department office (limited copies available). In addition, copies of these books will be made available through the Brentwood Administrative building in the office of Language Arts and Social Studies K-12 during summer office hours.

Summer Reading Titles:

10th Grade:

·  Entering Grade 10: We Beat the Street by the Three Doctors and Sharon Draper

·  Entering Grade 10 Honors: The Pact by the Three Doctors and Sharon Draper and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

11th Grade:

·  Entering Grade 11: The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

·  Entering Grade 11 Honors: The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger and Inherit the Wind

·  Entering Grade 11 AP Language and Composition: Hiroshima by John Hersey, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, and Mountains beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (Not the adapted for Young People edition

12th Grade:

·  Entering Grade 12: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

·  Entering Grade 12 Honors: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen

·  Entering Grade 12 AP Literature and Composition: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale-Hurston, and The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad (In addition, Mortimer Adler’s “How to Mark a Book” has been provided as part of the 12 AP assignment.)

Our teachers are planning some extra special activities the first week of school based on the content of the book. Thank you for your encouragement and support in our daily efforts to help all children reach their full potential. By working together, we will help all children read, achieve, and succeed. Have a wonderful summer vacation!

12 H Journal Questions

Directions: Pick four or five questions and apply them to the book, play, or short story we are reading in class. A good answer is three or four sentences long. A good journal is at least a page long. Anything shorter will not be counted.

1. Explain the meaning of the title of the work.

2. Pick out an important word, paragraph, or page and explain how it applies to the work as whole.

3. Do any incidents in this work remind you of your own life?

4. Does anyone in this work remind you of anyone you know?

5. Are you like any characters in this story?

6. What character is your favorite? Why?

7. What character do you hate? Why?

8. Do you like this work? Why or why not?

9. If you were a teacher would you use this work with your students?

10. What was your favorite part? Why?

11. What was the most important thing you learned from this book?

12. What is the main conflict in the story? How was it resolved?

13. Did your feelings about any of the characters change as you read?

14. How is the setting important to the story?

15. Are there any symbols in the story? What do they stand for?

16. What is the theme of the story? How is it shown?

17. Did you see any foreshadowing in the story? What was it?

18. Are there any flashbacks in the story? What were they?

19. What was the climax of the story? Was it exciting, sad, boring?

20. Do any of the events in the story seem fake to you?

21. Characterize the protagonist or antagonist, physically, socially, and psychologically.

22. Do any of the main characters change throughout the story? How?

23. Does this work remind you of any other books, plays, short stories, or movies you have read or seen?

23. Would you say the ending is happy, sad or somewhere in between? Why?

24. What is the purpose of the minor characters?

25. What does the beginning of the story reveal?