LJH Summer Reading Project Requirements

and Choices for 2017-2018 School Year
Students must create a project on one of the novels you read from the summer reading list for your grade. This project will be due within a week of the 1st day of school, and the student will receive a 100 point grade for it in English and reading.

Project Details:

  • Books must be selected from the listed provided by the ELA teachers, not just any book you select.
  • If the you have already taken an AR test on the book, then you cannot use that book for your summer reading project.
  • You must choose one choice from the list of project ideas listed below to show what you learned from your summer reading selection.
  • You will be graded using the attached rubric.
  • Each project must include the information listed below, and then either within the project or separately, the student must include these story elements…
  • Title and author
  • Main character information - A brief description of character such as looks and character traits/personality
  • Setting
  • Plot/Resolution (What was the main problem/plan/story line/scheme of the story and how it was resolved?)

GIFTED AND HONORS – ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

  • GIFTED and HONORS must provide a personal reviewof the book.
  • Include likes and dislikes with reasons for both
  • What you learned from the book
  • How you connected to the characters (s)
  • Would you recommend this book (why or why not)?) This should be a minimum of 3 paragraphs with at least 5 to 7 QUALITY sentences per paragraph.
  • MAKE SURE YOU USE TEXT EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE REVIEW.
  • This is NOT a summary of the book. We expect more than “I like this because…” or “I disliked this because…” over and over and over!

WRITE THE STORY FROM A DIFFERENT POINT OF VIEW
Take the entire story (or part of it) and write a version, as someone else would tell it. This must be at least 2 ½ pages if it is not typed, and if it is typed, it needs to be a 1 ½ pages in 12 point Times New Roman font.
WRITE THE DIARY A MAIN CHARACTER MIGHT HAVE WRITTEN. Imagine you are the person in your book. Write a two week diary as if you were the main character of the book. In your daily entries include at least one illustration as well as your feelings about what is happening to you (as the main character). You may use the cover of your diary for an illustration, or you may decorate it as if it were a real diary. Your diary can have pictures you draw or images from the internet that you add to the diary. You should have a page for each diary entry, and each entry should be at least 5 sentences long.
PUT TOGETHER A CAST FOR THE FILM VERSION OF THE BOOK. Decide which current actors and actresses would best play the roles. Include brief descriptions of the stars and tell why each is “perfect” for the part. You need to have at least 5 sentences for each character explain why they are a good fit for the role based on things other than APPEARANCE. As yourself, what other roles have they played that would help prepare them for this role? Life experiences they might have?
CORRESPOND WITH ANOTHER CHARACTER. Pretend that you are 1 character from the book. Write a letter to another character in the book. Write a letter (minimum of 1 ½ pages typed or 2 ½ pages handwritten) to another character to express your appreciation, respect or disappointment in the other character.
GRADE YOUR CHARACTER. Evaluate your character’s skills at reflection, risk taking and communicating. Assign him/her a letter grade for each of those categories, and then create at least two additional categories to grade them on as well. Use specific text examples to justify why you assigned the character an A, B, C, D or F in each category. There should be a minimum of 5 categories, and you should have 5-6 sentences explaining why you assigned them that letter grade.
A BRUSH WITH HOLLYWOOD: Design an interesting movie poster that includes at least 5 facts (Hint: The five elements of fiction) you have learned from the book. Include information about the setting, characters, and problems faced in the book. Be sure to list the title, author, and any actors/actresses that you would cast in the major roles; add colorful illustrations and pictures to help you get your point across. If your book has already been made into a movie, do your best to be creative and see if you can do a better job than Hollywood!
SCRAPBOOK: Create a unique scrapbook that represents events or characters that are in your book. Use pictures that would represent ten occurrences in your book. For each occurrence, be sure to add a brief description, but don’t give the story away. You should have at least ten scrapbook pages, and you can draw the pictures or use images for the internet to complete your scrapbook.
3-D MODEL: Create a 3-dimensional model of major scenes in your novel (at least 4) be sure to include an explanation of each scene and some quotes from that scene. Your explanations should be at least five sentences in length for each one. You may also choose to create a 3-D model of a major setting. / CREATE A COMIC BOOK. Create a comic book based on your book. Each page should be set up in a comic book format with illustrations and captions. Your comic book should retell the main ideas of the story including all required information. Your comic book should be at least 10 pages long. You can use plain white paper folded in half for your book and each half can count as a page.
CREATE A VIDEO WHERE YOU ARE A TELEVISION REPORTER. You will be reporting the main story elements as if they were appearing on the local news as a real event. You must report on all the required story elements. You must create a script with the story elements to follow. Dress up to look like a reporter. Your video should be at least three minutes long.
TURN YOUR CHAPTER BOOK INTO AN ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN’S BOOK. Create a book for 1st-3rd graders. You must have a cover and illustrated pages with sentences to retell the main idea of the story. You may use the inside cover or back cover to include any other required story elements. Your book must be at least 12 pages long.
TREASURE CHEST: Create a treasure chest with items that were mentioned in the book. Pick items that were important or significant for some reason. Your treasure chest should include at least 10 items, and a written description of each item. You need to have at least 5 quality sentences for each item along with text evidence to support why it was important or significant.
PRETEND YOU ARE A REPORTER FOR A NEWSPAPER. You will create a one page, 4-5 story newspaper. All the stories in your newspaper will be directly related to your outside reading book. Decide what articles to include in the newspaper. Ideas for articles include: Crime: Write about a plot complication as if was a crime or news event. Include interviews with eyewitnesses, police reports, and so on. Personal Interest: Interview a character in the story about his or her life, hopes, dreams, concerns, and so on. Sports/Weather/International Events: Write about other newsworthy people and/or events in the story. The title of the newspaper should be something appropriate to the book. Your newspaper must be at least 2 pages in length. You can use your personal review as an editorial in your paper. In the rest of the paper, include your required story elements along with events from the book. The design should look like a newspaper.
NOTE: ALL PROJECTS MUST HAVE THE REQUIREMENTS SET BY THE PROJECT CHOICE ALONG WITH THE INFORMATION LISTED ON THE TOP PAGE OF THIS DOCUMENT.
If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Nguyen at , and she will clarify any confusion or answer any questions you might have.

NAME: ______CLASS PERIOD: ______DATE: ______BOOK TITLE:

BOOK REPORT RUBRIC / 10 points / 8 to 9 points / 6 to 7 points / 5 points or less
Project Elements
Top of Form
ConContent
Bottom of Form / Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor / Points
The book project includes all information relevant to the menu task in an organized fashion.
*book review for gifted and honors / Project did not meet 1 or 2 requirements or is not well organized. / Project is missing 3 or 4 of requirements and/or lacks organization / The book project is lacking information. There are many gaps in information presented.
Work quality/effort / Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor / Points
The work exceeds all expectations and shows that the learner is proud of his/her work. The effort put into this task is the best it can be by this learner. / The work shows a good amount of effort the learner is capable of. It is evident that time was put into the presentation. / Work is done with fair effort, but the quality is still not displaying the learner’s best capability. It is evident that the work was rushed. / The quality is not what the learner is capable of. It is evident that the work was rushed and little time was spent on the final product. Work is incomplete.
Deadline / Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor / Points
The student turned the project in before or on the day it was due. / The student turned the project in one day after it was due. / The student turned the project in two to three days after it was due. / * The student turned the project in more than four days after it was due.
AR Quiz / Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor / Points
The student received a 100% on the AR book quiz when taken 1st 9 weeks. / The student scored a 95-85% on the AR quiz when taken 1st 9 weeks. / The student scored an 80-70% on the AR quiz when taken the 1st 9 weeks. / The student scored below a 70% on the AR quiz when taken 1st 9 weeks.
Conventions / Excellent / Good / Fair / Poor / PointsBottom of Form
The book project contains NO grammatical and/or spelling errors. / The book project contains just a few grammatical and/or spelling errors. / The book project contains several grammatical and/or spelling errors. / The book project contains many grammatical and/or spelling errors.
TOTAL POINTS
X 2

This grade will count for English and reading, and some teachers may use the AR test as a major test grade in reading as well. YOU CANNOT READ A BOOK THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY READ AND TESTED ON IN AR AT ANY POINT DURING YOUR SCHOOL CAREER TO BE ABLE TO RECEIVE CREDIT FOR THIS PROJECT!

* Any project turned in more than ten school days after the set deadline will result in a zero for both class grades.

7th Grade Summer Reading List

REGULAR – Read ONE of the books from the list below, and then you have to complete a project from the list above. Make sure you read all the directions before you start.
  1. Hothead - Cal Ripken, Jr.
  2. Chasing Lincoln’s Killer - Swanson
  3. Million Dollar Throw - Lupica
  4. Warriors Don’t Cry- Beals
  5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Double Down - Jeff Kinney
  6. Tales from a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter - Rachel Renee’ Russell
  7. The Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot
  8. My Life in Dog Years - Gary Paulsen
  9. Loser - Jerry Spinnelli
  10. The Loser List- H.N Kowitt
  11. Heat- Mike Lupica
  12. Middle School series by James Patterson
  13. Notes from a Totally Lame Vampire-
    Tim Collins
  14. Utterly Lame Vampire -Tim Collins
  15. No More Dead Dogs- Gordon Korman
  16. Master of Disaster - Gary Paulsen
  17. NERDS: National Espionage Rescue- Michael Buckley
  18. The Rig -Joe Ducie
  19. Ungifted -Gordon Korman
  20. Marley -John Grogan
  21. Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love - Larry Levin
  22. The Geography of You and Me-Jennifer E. Smith
  23. Ten - Gretchen McNeil
  24. I Funny (any in the series) -James Patterson
  25. 39 Clues (any in the series) - Rick Riordan
  26. A Long Walk to Water - Park
  27. Darnell Rock Reporting -Walter Dean Myers
  28. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl -Linda Brent/Harriet Jacobs
  29. Diary of Latoya Hunter – Latoya Hunter
  30. Boy: Tales of Childhood – Roald Dahl
/ HONORS– Read and complete a project on one of the books from this list. Make sure you also complete the additional requirements listed on the first page!
  1. Cezanne Pinton: A Memoir- Mary Stolz
  2. We Should Hang Out Sometime: Embarrassingly, a true story - Josh Sundquist
  3. Legend - Marie Lu
  4. The Maze Runner (any in the series) - Dashner
  5. Fever Crumb - Reeve
  6. Finding Fish- Fisher
  7. After the Train -Whelan
  8. The Outsiders -Hinton
  9. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier-Beah
  10. The Land -Taylor
  11. We Beat the Streets -Sampson, Davis
  12. The Corn Raid: A Story of the Jamestown Settlement-James Collier
  13. Jamestown: The Perilous Adventure -Olga Hall-Quest
  14. True North: A Novel of the Underground Railroad -Kathryn Lasky
  15. Copper Sun-Sharon Draper
  16. The Selection (any book in the series)-Kierra Cass
  17. Chains - Laurie Anderson
  18. Find Me- Romily Bernard
  19. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (young readers edition) - William Kamkwamba
  20. Ruined – Amy Tintera
GIFTED – You must complete a project and the other requirements on the first book. You must read both books and take an AR test on them. Make sure you complete the additional requirements listed on the first page along with the project!
1. The Darkest Minds – Alexandra Bracken
2. Ugly – Robert Hoge

8th Grade Summer Reading List

REGULAR – Read ONE of the books from the list below, and then you have to complete a project from the list above. Make sure you read all the directions before you start.
  1. Jacob’s Ladder- Brian Keaney
  2. Brian’s Winter - Gary Paulson
  3. Guts - Gary Paulson
  4. Somewhere in the Darkness- Walter Dean Myers
  5. Star Girl - Jerry Spinelli
  6. Sorta Like a Rock Star -Matthew Quick
  7. The Face on the Milk Carton - Caroline Cooney
  8. Million Dollar Throw - Mike Lupica
  9. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson
  10. Lincoln’s Grave Robbers -Steve Sheinkin
  11. Song of Fire and Ice - George R.R. Martin
  12. Fire & Flood - Victoria Scott
  13. Insatiable - Meg Cabot
  14. All American Girl - Meg Cabot
  15. The Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot
  16. Ransom - Lois Duncan
  17. They Never Came Home -Lois Duncan
  18. Gallows Hill - Lois Duncan
  19. Hoops - Walter Dean Myers
  20. Surviving the Applewhites -Stephanie Tolan
  21. The Greatest: Muhammad Ali - Walter Meyers
  22. A Long Walk to Water - Linda Sue Park
  23. Number the Stars – Lois Lowery
  24. Hoot - Carl Hiassen
  25. Woodsong – Gary Paulsen
  26. The River - Gary Paulson
  27. The Boys Who Challenged Hilter: Knud Redersen and the Churchhill Club – Phillip Hoose
  28. Atonement – Ian McEwan
  29. Fatal Fever: Tracking Down Typhoid – Gail Jarrow
  30. Ship Breaker – Paolo Bacigalupi
  31. Dream On, Amber – Emma Shevah
  32. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Mildred D. Taylor
  33. A Raisin in the Sun – Lorraine Hansberry
  34. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
  35. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
/ HONORS– Read and complete a project on one of the books from this list. Make sure you also complete the additional requirements listed on the first page along with the project!
  1. A Long Way Home - Nancy Price Graff
  2. Of Mice and Men -John Steinbeck
  3. Panic - Lauren Oliver
  4. Unwind - Neal Shusterman
  5. Copper Sun- Sharon Draper
  6. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
  7. The Ancient One - T.A. Brown
  8. White Fang- Jack London
  9. I Have Lived A Thousand Years: Growing Up in the Holocaust - Livia Bitton-Jackson
  10. A Walk Across America - Peter Jenkins
  11. The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom
  12. The Girl Who Survived: A True Story of the Holocaust - Bronia Brandman
  13. Parrell Journeys – Eleanor H. Ayer
  14. The Safest Lifes – Megan Miranda
  15. Hope’s War – Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
  16. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
  17. The Other Half of Life – Kim Ablon
  18. Young Elites (any book in the series) – Marie Lu
  19. The Girl in the Green Sweater – Krystyna Chiger
  20. The Pact – Sampson Davis
GIFTED – You must complete a project and the other requirements on the first book. You must read both books and take an AR test on them. Make sure you complete the additional requirements listed on the first page along with the project!
1. White Fang – Jack London
2. The Boy on the Wooden Box – Leon Leyson