www.merchantvilleschoolsummerreading.blogspot.com

This packet contains:

· Merchantville Summer Reading List

· Summer Reading “What-Ifs”

· 3 Project Choices

ATTENTION:

The grade you receive on your summer reading project

counts as 2 Quiz Grades

Going

Into…

Humor Sports Fantasy Mystery Sci Fi Hist Fict Nonfict

Grade

6

Timmy

Failure:

Mistakes

Were Made 420L

Warriors:

Into the Wild 790L

Hoot 760L

Once 640L

Grade

7

Middle

School: The

Worst Years

of My Life 700L

Skate Freak 510L

100 Year

Old Secret 650L

Life As We

Knew It 770L

Grade

8

Rivalry 800L

Breadcrumbs 720L

Divergent HL700L

Between

Shades of

Gray HL490L

Steve Jobs:

The Man

Who

Thought

Different 1110L

Please see www.merchantvilleschoolsummerreading.blogspot.com for descriptions and video clips of each book.

What If… Then…

What if I am absent and the

teacher does not give me the

summer reading book at the end

of the school year?

It is your responsibility to obtain the summer reading book when you

return. In the main office you will find extra copies of all the books and

the directions for the projects that are due.

What if I know I am moving to a

different school?

Take the summer reading book and directions just in case. Call the school

you are going to be attending to find out what their summer reading

requirements are. Every school has them! Please return our book to the

main office.

What if I decide I don’t like my

book?

Come to the main office and switch your book, or download/buy/borrow

your own copy of the new book. You are still responsible to return the

original book.

What if I lose my book? You can come to the school’s main office and get a new book if you lost it

before reading it. But if you lose a book you will be fined for the cover

price of the book or you can buy your own replacement of the same title.

What will happen if I don’t do

my summer reading?

You will miss out on a great opportunity to increase your reading

ability. You will also receive a 0 for your first two language arts quiz

grades, which could negatively affect your grade for the first marking

period.

Your task is to construct a six-panel brochure OR a 8 page digital presentation (PowerPoint) that

breaks down the major ideas and elements of the book you read.

1. Fold a piece of 8 1/2 " x 11" (or larger) paper into three equal sections.

2. Designate specific sections of the brochure to DESCRIBING the following book elements. You may split them up as you wish, but make sure you have included the following:

● Main Character (Who is he/she? What is he/she like?)

● 2 Secondary Characters (Who are they? What are they like? What do they want?)

o Include a drawing/illustration/picture of the characters

Setting (Where and when does the story take place and what how do these two elements affect

the character, their problems, or their decisions?)

o Include a drawing/illustration/picture

Conflict (What is the main character’s problem(s)?

o Include a drawing/illustration/picture

Climax (What was the most exciting moment or turning point in the story?)

o Include a drawing/illustration/picture

Resolution (How did the main character solve his/her problem?)

o Include a drawing/illustration/picture.

Theme (What did the author want to teach you about life through the struggles of the main

character? Which 2 events most led you to learn this lesson?)

o Include a drawing/illustration/picture

● Review (Did you like the book? What was your favorite part?)

3. If you choose to display your knowledge using PowerPoint (or another presentation tool such as Animoto, Slideshark, etc), include a title slide (the book title and your name) and the six

bullets above on individual slides.

Each of the 8 sections of brochure/PowerPoint will be scored as followed:

0 points: Section is missing.

5 points: Minimal details make it extremely difficult to tell if student read the book.

8 points: Detailed writing, but hard to tell if student fully comprehended the novel

11 points: Detailed writing that clearly shows student fully comprehended the novel

Remaining 12 points will be rewarded for neat, grammatically correct writing.

Save and print a copy of your presentation/chart. You can also email it to your teacher on the

first day of school.

Sample of “Project 1: Break It Down”

Main

Character

Setting

Conflict

Description

Illustration

Description

Illustration

Illustration

Description

Secondary

Characters

Description

My

Review

Author

Description

Description

Climax

Theme

Description

Description

Illustration

Illustration

Title of Book

Your name

Resolution

Description

Your task is to use a notebook, composition book, folder, or Microsoft Word to record your

thoughts about and understanding of your summer reading book.

1. Divide several pages of your notebook into two sections by drawing a vertical line down the

center.

2. Label the double entry journal pages as shown in the example on the back of this page.

3. You must have 15 total entries in your double entry journal.

4. Count the number of chapters in your book. Decide how many entries you will need to write

for each chapter or groups of chapters. For example:

If your book has 10 chapters, you will need at least one journal entry for every chapter,

plus an extra five from anywhere in the book. If your book has 27 chapters, you only have to write a journal entry for every other

chapter.

5. Make sure your 15 journal entries are evenly spaced throughout the book. Your teacher will

be looking to see whether you finished the book and were able to reflect on the ending.

6. Always show the page number on the left side of the page for each entry.

7. On the left side, copy down a short quote from the text that you find interesting in some

way.

8. On the right side, write your personal responses…why you found that sentence(s) or

quote(s) interesting or confusing. Each personal response should be at least 3 sentences to make sure you have explained your thinking to your teacher.

Each of the 15 entries will be scored as followed:

0 points: Did not complete an entry

3 points: Minimal details make it extremely difficult to tell if student read the book.

6 points: Detailed writing that shows student clearly thought about and understood the book

Remaining 10 points will be rewarded for neat, grammatically correct writing.

Save and print a copy of your presentation/chart. You can also email it to your teacher on the first day of school.

Sample of Project #2: Double Entry Journal

Sentence or Quote From Text

1. “Some will ask the animal's advice, then pause to let the dog respond.” P. 5

2. “Sandi instinctively felt that the challenge of helping the animal would give her son something other than his own pain to focus on.” P. 22.

3. “Jason Burns was just 3 1/2 when his parents divorced and his father left. Ever since, . . . handling responsibility well.” P. 37.

4. “The two of them blossomed.” P. 65.

My Thoughts

1. That's very interesting. I often ask my dog for advice, too. Sometimes, if I met something hard to say to my parents, I often say to my dog, and ask my dog for help. My dog is very clever. They might know when I was happy and when I was upset. I could get some comfort from my dog. If he know I was upset, he will sway his tail, his movements are very funny.

2. I’m not sure what the word instinctively means. It’s probably means strongly. When authors talk about how people feel things, they usually feel them strongly or not at all.

3. How sad Jason is. Some sad things happened in his family when he was just a little child. And then, he still lived very happy. If this were me, I guess I would have gotten over this situation. I have an example here about my cousin. When he was 8 years old, his parents divorced and he lived with his mother. Then, he couldn't fix it, and so he became a very weak person. Until now, he was still very shy and stayed at home all the time.

4. I have looked up the word, blossom, in the dictionary. It means flower or flourished. I guess the reason why the author wanted to use this word here maybe he wanted to say what good friends Jason and Misty are.

Your task is to imagine your book is being made into a movie, and you are creating a soundtrack of 8 real songs that connect to events or characters in your book.

1. Find 8 different, school-appropriate songs that reflect some or all of the following…

The main character’s overall personality or characteristics Another character’s personality or characteristics. The conflict, capturing the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the novel.

The resolution The setting of the story

An “aha” moment in the story. The setting of the novel at one particular point or in general.

(Two different songs can be used to address one particular bullet) 2. Use paper, poster board, or a presentation tool (PowerPoint, etc.) to display your

connections. Here is an example of a full 11-point song connection (*Remember, you will need 8 of these!).

Book Title: Maniac Magee

Song/Artist Song Lyrics Novel Details

Song #1:

“Carry On”

Fun.

“If you're lost and alone

Or you're sinking like a stone

Carry on

May your past be the sound

Of your feet upon the ground

Carry on”

This reminds me of Jeffrey Magee

because he had no home, no parents,

no family. But this inspired him to

run away and keep running until his

past was behind him and he could

start over with a new family.

Each of the 8 entries will be scored as followed:

0 points: Missing

5 points: Song lyrics and novel details are there, but details of the novel are inaccurate.

8 points: Song lyrics and novel details are there and accurate, but not a strong connection made

between lyrics and novel.

11 points: Song lyrics and novel details are there and accurate, and a strong connection is made between the two.

Remaining 12 points will be rewarded for neat, grammatically correct writing.

Save and print a copy of your presentation/chart. You can also email it to your teacher on the

first day of school.