8th Grade Summer Reading Assignment Grade Summer...3 Emma 1070 Jane Austen In this sparkling comedy...
Transcript of 8th Grade Summer Reading Assignment Grade Summer...3 Emma 1070 Jane Austen In this sparkling comedy...
1
8th Grade Summer Reading Assignment
For your summer reading assignment, you will be reading a total of two books.
Book 1, Required Reading Book: You must read the required book Blood on the River by Elisa
Carbone. You do not need to complete a project or any assignment on that book over the summer, but it
will be used for in-class discussion or assignments when you get to 8th grade, so you need to have read
the book.
Book 2, Choice Book: The second book you read may be any book of your choosing that will allow
you to complete the annotation assignment below. A suggested reading list has been provided for you on
the next two pages of this packet if you don’t have any ideas of your own. For this book, you will need to
complete the following annotation assignment. It will be due at the end of August, and will be graded
using the rubric on the fourth page of this packet.
Annotation Assignment: Once you have finished reading your second book, choose a passage that
is significant to the book as a whole. A passage could be anywhere from one paragraph to two pages.
Photocopy the significant passage, and then do a close reading annotation on the photocopied page. (If
you don’t have access to a copy machine, use one at your local library, or take a photo of the page and
print it out.) Your annotation should include:
*Highlighting (or underlining, or circling…) significant details
*Meaningful comments that show your thoughts about the passage
*Connections you see between the text and yourself, another text, or the world
*Textual, inferential, and thematic questions you have about the text
*A statement reflecting the author’s bias (or lack thereof)
*Unfamiliar vocabulary words and their definitions
*An IVF Statement that reveals the author’s purpose for writing the passage
*An IVF Statement that reveals the theme of the passage
A sample annotated passage has been provided for you on the fifth page of this packet.
**Please note—the sample was completed using the book Blood on the River, but you SHOULD NOT do your
annotation on a passage from your required reading book! You should do your annotation on a passage from your
choice book.**
Your annotation should be submitted on 8 ½ x 11 paper. If you need more than one piece of paper front and back,
you might want to rethink the passage you have selected, because it may lack focus.
A handout depicting the annotation symbols typically used at EMS is included for your reference on page 6 of this packet.
A reminder about IVF Statements:
1. I = IDENTIFY the main idea of the topic you’d like to discuss.
2. V = Choose an exciting VERB to use in your sentence.
3. F = FINISH the sentence you’ve started!
2
Book 1, Required Reading: All eighth grade students are required to read the following book:
TITLE Lexile AUTHOR OVERVIEW
Blood on the River:
James Town 1607
820
Elisa
Carbone A riveting historical fiction of the compelling events surrounding the
establishing of the first successful colony in the New World.
Book 2, Choice Book: Select one of these suggested titles (or choose a book of your own that is rigorous enough to allow
you to complete the annotation assignment appropriately):
TITLE Lexile AUTHOR OVERVIEW The Deerslayer 1340 James
Fenimore
Cooper
Pioneer Nato Bumppo forsakes his love to come to the aid of
Thomas Hunter, a trapper under the attack of Iroquois Indians.
The Martian
Chronicles 740 Ray Bradbury Haunting, beautiful, and often horrible stories about man’s
attempt to explore and settle Mars. The Prince and the
Pauper
1160
Mark Twain
Era of Henry VIII. Tale of Prince and Pauper, identical in
appearance, who change places as a prank.
Robinson Crusoe *more challenging
selection
690
Daniel Defoe
The classic adventure story of a man marooned on an island for
nearly 30 years.
The Sea Wolf
1020 Jack London
Violent adventure in the wild Alaskan seas on board the “ghost”
with Captain Wolf Larsen.
Story of My Life
1150 Helen Keller
Rendered blind and deaf at 19 months, this autobiography tells of
Keller’s joyous spirit and determination.
The Thirty-Nine
Steps
1000 John Buchan Follows Richard Hannay, an "ordinary fellow," as he is caught up
in a dramatic race against a plot to devastate the British war
effort.
The Three
Musketeers *more challenging
selection
790 Alexandre
Dumas
A young man who arrives in Paris and wishes to enlist with the
King's Musketeers.
Through the
Looking Glass 950 Lewis Carroll
Here Alice steps through an ordinary looking-glass one day, only
to find herself in a world where, if you wish to get anywhere, you
must walk in the opposite direction! The Time Machine
860 H.G. Wells
A revolutionary Victorian scientist who claims to have invented a
machine that allows him to travel through time.
Tortilla Flat
898 John
Steinbeck
In the shabby district called Tortilla Flat above Monterey,
California lives a gang whose exploits compare to those of King
Arthur's knights.
War of the Worlds 1020 H.G. Wells A story about odd atmospheric disturbances taking place on Mars
to the arrival of Martians just outside of London. Wind, Sand, and
Stars 740 Antoine de
Saint-Exupery A recounting of several episodes in Saint-Exupery's life as a pilot,
told to illustrate his view of the world. Age of Innocence *more challenging
selection
1170 Edith Wharton
A brilliant portrayal of New York Society in the 1870s—where
money counted for less than manners and morals.
An American
Tragedy *more challenging
1240 Theodore
Dreiser
Corruption and destruction of one man who forfeits his life in
desperate pursuit of success.
3
Emma 1070 Jane Austen In this sparkling comedy of self-deceit and self-discovery,
Emma's forays into the matchmaking arena bring her up sharply
against the follies of her egotism and selfishness. A Farewell to Arms *more challenging
selection
730 Ernest
Hemingway
The unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver and an
English nurse.
Great Expectations *more challenging
selection
880 Charles
Dickens
An absorbing mystery as well as a morality tale, the story of Pip,
a poor village lad, and his expectations of wealth.
Sense and
Sensibility
1180 Jane Austen Two sisters with opposing temperaments who share the pangs of
tragic love.
Pygmalion
n/a
George
Bernard Shaw
A professor of phonetics takes on the challenge of turning a
London flower girl into a lady.
Tender is the Night
990 F. Scott
Fitzgerald
Dick and Nicole Diver are a glamorous couple who take a villa in
the South of France and surround themselves with a circle of
friends.
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
1050 Harriet
Beecher Stowe A novel around the Pre-Civil War South.
Kidnapped
990 Robert Louis
Stevenson
After being kidnapped by his villainous uncle, sixteen-year-old
David Balfour escapes and becomes involved in the struggle of
the Scottish highlanders against English rule.
When you Reach Me
(Yearling Newbery)
750 Rebecca Stead
Shortly after sixth-grader Miranda and her best friend Sal part
ways, she begins receiving mysterious notes which accurately
predict the future.
Leviathan 790 Scott
Westerfeld
A global conflict is between the Clankers, who put their faith in
machines, and the Darwinists, whose technology is based on the
development of new species.
The Heroes of
Olympus, Book One:
The Lost Hero
660 Rick Riordan
Searching for Percy, who is missing, Annabeth arrives and takes
Jason, Piper, and Leo to Camp Half-Blood, where they learn that
they are demigods.
The Diary of a
Young Girl 1080 Anne Frank
Discovered in the attic in which she spent her last years of her
life, Anne Frank's diary is a powerful reminder of the horrors of
war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. Warriors Don’t Cry
1000 Melba Beals
The landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of
Education, brought the promise of integration to Little Rock, AR,
but it was hard-won for the nine black students chosen. Balzac and the Little
Chinese Seamstress:
A Novel
n/a Dai Sijie
Sijie's unnamed 17-year-old protagonist and his best friend, Luo,
are doctors' sons, and so condemned to serve four years in a
remote mountain village, carrying pails of excrement daily up a
hill. How the Garcia
Girls Lost their
Accents
950 Julia Alvarez The García sisters—Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía—and their
family must flee their home in the Dominican Republic after their
father’s role in an attempt to overthrow a tyrannical dictator is
discovered.
The Boy on the
Wooden Box
1000 Leon Leyson A remarkable memoir from Leon Leyson, one of the youngest
children to survive the Holocaust on Oskar Schindler's list. Leon
Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis
invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the
Krakow ghetto.
4
Name: ____________________________________________ Teacher: __________________________________________ Period:____________________________________________ Date:_____________________________________________ Annotations will be assessed using the following rubric.
4 – Advanced 3 -- Proficient 2 – Partially
Proficient 1 – Unsatisfactory
Highlighting Details (Note that only
significant details may
be highlighted.)
_____/4
More than three
significant details are
highlighted.
Three significant
details are highlighted. Only two significant
details are highlighted. Only one significant
detail is highlighted.
Comments/ Reflections
_____/4
At least three
meaningful and
relevant comments
reveal understanding of
the text.
At least two
meaningful and
relevant comments
reveal understanding of
the text.
Only one meaningful
and relevant comment
reveals understanding
of the text.
Only vague or
irrelevant comments
are present.
Connections
_____/4
At least three insightful
connections allow the
student to connect this
text to self, other texts
or world.
At least two insightful
connections allow the
student to connect this
text to self, other texts
or world.
Only one insightful
connection allows the
student to connect this
text to self, other
literature or world.
Student makes unclear
connections.
Questioning *meaningful here
means more than
“What/why is this”
_____/4
Student poses at least
three meaningful
questions.
Student poses at least
two meaningful
questions
Student poses one
meaningful question Student poses only
clarifying questions.
Bias/Patterns
_____/4
Student identifies
patterns or bias in the
text and draws
meaningful
conclusions.
Student identifies
patterns or bias in the
text and draws
conclusions.
Student identifies
patterns or bias in the
text.
Student fails to identify
patterns or bias in the
text.
Vocabulary
_____/4
Identifies and defines
at least three
challenging/ significant
words.
Identifies and defines
at least two
challenging/ significant
words.
Identifies and defines
only one challenging/
significant word.
Student identifies
vocabulary but does
not define identified
words
Purpose statement
_____/4
Author’s purpose is
correctly stated in a
clear, focused IVF
statement.
Author’s purpose is
correctly stated in an
IVF statement.
Author’s purpose is
correctly stated in a
simple statement.
Student fails to identify
the author’s purpose
correctly.
Theme statement
_____/4
The theme of the
passage is correctly
stated in a clear,
focused IVF statement.
The theme of the
passage is correctly
stated in an IVF
statement.
The theme of the
passage is correctly
stated in a simple
statement.
Student fails to identify
a theme in the passage.
Score:____________/4 Comments:
5
6
Annotation Symbols
Symbol Meaning
? Questions
(textual, inferential, thematic)
! Surprise or an important idea
->TT Text-to-Text Connection
->TS Text-to-Self Connection
->TW Text-to-World Connection
1,2,3, etc. Listing main ideas/arguments
Ex. Examples: quotes, reasons,
details, facts
Unfamiliar vocabulary—be sure
to define it!
Teacher given focus ( Set =
setting, T= theme, etc.)
Prediction
V