Summer Reading Assignment 2014

For students entering 7th grade in September 2014 @ Holland Jr./Sr. High School

One of the best ways to maintain the academic skills we have been building throughout the school year is by reading over the summer. To help students achieve this goal, we are requiring students to read one book over the summer and complete the assignment described below. I strongly believe that students should be able to choose their own reading material, so I am leaving the reading selection up to the students with some guidelines.

Reading selection guidelines:

  • Read something new. Choose a book that you haven’t read before.
  • Read something age appropriate. Challenge yourself to read something at the 6th or 7th grade level. You can look for reading levels on books (abbreviated RL). These levels can vary, so I suggest looking for a book leveled 5.0 or higher. (Please note, not all books are labeled with levels, so your parents can help you decide if the book is at your reading level if you can’t find a number on the book.)
  • To help make sure that the book is age appropriate, you should choose a work that is at least 100 pages long.
  • Read something that interests you. You may choose a book of any type or genre that you wish as long as it sounds interesting.

I chose a book, now what?

  1. Choose a book that you’ve never read before and is at least 100 pages long.
  2. Read the book.
  3. Choose one of the book report activities described on the second page, and complete that assignment based on the book you’ve read.
  4. Be prepared to turn in your assignment by September 5th. We will be discussing our summer reading and making book recommendations to one another.
  5. While you are only required to read one book, I strongly suggest that you find books that you enjoy all summer long.

If you have questions about this assignment, you can email me at . I will be checking my school email weekly throughout the summer and I will respond to your questions as quickly as possible.

Have a great summer and Happy Reading!!!

-Mrs. Suckow

Summer Reading “Book Report” Options

Choose only ONE of the choices listed below. No matter what you choose, your response should be about 100 words in length. Please either complete this assignment in pen or type it.

  1. Diary Entry

- Pretend you are a character in the book. (You don’t have to be the main character.) Write a diary entry which that character might have written before, during or after an important event in the book. Remember to include the character’s thoughts, feelings and opinions about the events that took place and the people involved. You may choose to do one longer diary entry, or two shorter ones. The format will look like this:

June 12, 2014

Dear Diary,

I love ELA class. I cannot wait to read lots of books this summer. Mrs. Suckow is probably the coolest teacher ever!

  1. Letter to the Author or Main character

- Write a letter to the author in which you share your opinion of the book. (Please stay polite and positive.) You may also ask questions you had while reading. Explain what you liked or disliked about the book with textual details about the book. (**For example, if you thought it was funny, tell about a funny scene.)

OR

-Write a letter to the main character of the book asking questions, protesting a situation and/or making a complaint or suggestion. (Ex. If I were writing to Percy Jackson, I might ask why he didn’t turn Smelly Game into a statue himself. I could give my reasons why my idea was better.)

  1. Poster

- Create a poster with images related to your book. Include information about at least 4 of the following topics: the setting, plot, conflict, characters (and their personality traits), the theme, or background information about the author. ***Please don’t make this huge. I would like to display some of these projects in the classroom, and if they are too large, I won’t have room for them.

  1. Comic

- Create a comic about the conflict of the story. It should be clear who the main characters are, what the problem is, and how it is resolved. You may use an online comic creator, such as bitstrips, or create your own.

  1. Timeline with pictures

- Create a timeline of important events in your story. Include approximately 6-10 important events. Each event should have 1-2 sentences explaining what happened, who was involved, and how it was important to the story. Please include a small picture related to the event. (Pictures can be hand drawn, clip art, or cut from a magazine, or any combination of these.)