Your Student Has Requested the Seventh Grade Pre-AP Course for the Upcoming School Year

1

May 2014

Dear Parents:

Your student has requested the Seventh Grade Pre-AP course for the upcoming school year. The purpose of this course is to offer promising students challenging work that will prepare them for Advanced Placement courses.

In the Alvin Independent School District, Advanced Placement English courses are offered to eleventh and twelfth grade students. Upon successful completion of course work, students may take AP examinations administered each year in May, and if successful, they will be awarded college English credit accepted by most universities. The Pre-AP courses offered in grades 6-10 develop reading, writing, and thinking skills necessary for success in AP courses. Reading selections for these courses represent concepts and/or reading selections frequently cited on Advanced Placement examinations.

Alvin ISD assigns summer reading to begin the year with a common dialogue, to expose students to high-quality authors and texts, to inspire critical thinking, and to maintain the standard of an advanced curriculum.

Please encourage your child to complete this reading assignment in order to be prepared for an assessment at the beginning of the school year.

Thank you for your cooperation and continuing interest in your student’s education.

Sincerely,

Kevon WellsKristi Piper

Executive Director of Secondary EducationEnglish Lead Teacher

Please sign and return to your student’s current English teacher.

My child and I have received notice of the summer assignment for Seventh Grade Pre-AP and will comply. We understand that the completion datefor this assignment is September 3, 2014, one week after the first day of school.

In the fall of 2014, my child will attend:

______Alvin Jr. HighHarby Jr. High Nolan Ryan Jr. High

Fairview Jr. High______Manvel Jr. High at Rodeo Palms

Parent Printed Name ______

Parent Signature ______

Student Printed Name ______

Student Signature ______

Date ______

Current English Teacher’s Name ______

Current Campus ______

*** NOTE: If you do not wish to have your child enrolled in Pre-AP or AP English Language Arts, please contact the guidance counselor at your child’s school.

7th Grade English Language Arts Pre-AP

Summer Reading Challenge

Purpose

Through this assignment, you will demonstrate your understanding of characterization, both direct and indirect, and the importance of characterization in plot development.

Assignment

After you have read the novel, you will choose a character that you feel plays an integral part in the plot. Your character does not have to be the main character, but he or she should be important enough that the author has fully developed this character through both direct and indirect characterization.

You will choose ONE of the following options:

Option 1-Facebook Page

For this assignment, you will create a Facebook page for your chosen character. Remember, as you create your page to include information that your character would want the world to know about him or her. Your Facebook page must include the following:

• Picture of your character-You may use actual pictures of your character or you may find pictures online that fit his or her description based on evidence from the text.
• Wallpaper- This must represent something important from the novel. You may use setting, symbols, or quotes that represent your character.
• About- You must complete the about section with facts about your character.
• Friends-Include characters who you think would be on your character’s friends list. Remember, sometimes you may not actually know the friends on your list personally.
• Follows-Who would your character choose to follow? What organizations, people, or events?
• Timeline-You must include 10 posts from your character. The posts must represent any major events or emotional situations your character experienced. You must also include at least 5 pictures that represent your posts. Please remember to tag any other characters that were important to the post.

For the next part of the assignment, you must represent parts of your character that other people see. You must choose other characters from your novel to comment on the posts from your chosen character’s timeline posts. The comments must adhere to the following guidelines:

• You must represent other characters from the novel who have different opinions of your character.
• Each post should have 3-5 comments. Your character’s response may be included.
• While it is necessary to show opinions of others who may disagree with your character’s actions, please keep the comments appropriate and text based.

You may use the following website to complete this assignment:

Each of these sections will be graded according the thoughtfulness and depth of your thoughts about the text.

Picture of Your Character / 5 pts.
Wallpaper / 5 pts.
About / 10 pts.
Friends / 5 pts.
Follows / 10 pts.
Timeline / 35 pts.
Comments / 30 pts.
Total Points Possible / 100 pts.

Option 2-College Entrance Portfolio

Create a college entrance portfolio for your character. Your portfolio must contain the following parts:

• Letter of Interest- Write a letter from your character’s perspective to a trade school or university that you feel would interest him or her. Your letter should highlight your character’s strengths. Make sure to only include the information your character would like a possible admissions counselor to see.
• Your letter must include the following:
• Date
• Appropriate Salutation
• Minimum of three paragraphs
• Introduction-Introduce yourself (your character) and why you are interested in attending that particular school.
• Body-Tell the reader why you are a good choice for the school.
• Conclusion-Convince your reader to accept your application for admittance.
• Appropriate Closing
• References- You must choose 3 different characters in your book and write a reference for your character from each. A reference explains to the reader, in this case the admission counselor, if and why an applicant would or would not make a good candidate for their program.
• Each reference should be at least one paragraph in length.
• Be sure to make both positive and negative references based on what the character writing the reference thinks about your character.
• Interests/ Hobbies/ Extracurricular Activities
• Create a list of activities in which your character participates.
• Volunteer Work
• Create a list of volunteer activities in which your character has participated.

Each of these sections will be graded according the thoughtfulness and depth of your thoughts about the text.

Letter of Interest / 40 pts.
References / 20 pts.
List of Interests/ Hobbies/ Extracurricular Activities / 20 pts.
List of Volunteer Work / 20 pts.
Total Possible Points / 100 Pts.

Assignment Due:

September 3, 2014