Summer 2017 Assignments

TCS Middle School Summer Reading 2017

Incoming grade 6

• Read the required novel Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. (Do not do any of the following projects on Stargirl, however; just be ready for discussion and deep thinking when you get back to school!)

• Read an Intermediate or Teen Nutmeg book from the list of 2018 nominees.
• Read a biography of a current or historical leader (remember, “leader” is a broad term).
• Write two letter-essays (one will respond to your Nutmeg and the other to your biography choice) based on the following prompts:
• How does the main character change throughout the novel? Give examples of growth throughout the book.
• Why do you think the author chose this title? What connections do you see with the title throughout the work?
• Each entry must be AT LEAST ONE PAGE in length, typed, double spaced.
• Remember that a letter-essay combines solid analysis of your reading with personal reflection in a casual, conversational tone.
• You can choose one prompt per essay or try to tackle both prompts in separate paragraphs in responding to each book - your choice.
• Complete the book poster assignment (listed below) for either of your CHOICE books (not Stargirl).
• All work is due on the first day of school.

Incoming grade 7

• Read the required novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. (Do not do any of the following projects on The Outsiders, however; just be ready for discussion and deep thinking when you get back to school!)
• Read a Teen 2018 Nutmeg Nominee.
• Read a Newbery Winner (any year).
• Write two letter-essays (one will respond to your Nutmeg and the other to your Newbery) based on the following prompts:
• How does the main character change throughout the novel? Give examples of growth throughout the book.
• Why do you think the author chose this title? What connections do you see with the title throughout the work?
• Each entry must be AT LEAST ONE PAGE in length, typed, double spaced.
• Remember that a letter-essay combines solid analysis of your reading with personal reflection in a casual, conversational tone.
• You can choose one prompt per essay or try to tackle both prompts in separate paragraphs in responding to each book - your choice.
• Complete the book poster assignment (listed below) for either of your CHOICE books (not The Outsiders).
• All work is due on the first day of school.

  

Incoming grade 8

• Read the required short story collection, Flying Lessons and Other Stories. (READ ALL OF THE STORIES! Do not do any of the following projects on Flying Lessons and Other Stories, however; just be ready for discussion and deep thinking when you get back to school!)
• Read a Teen 2018 Nutmeg Nominee.
• Read March, Book One by John Lewis.
• Write two letter-essays (one will respond to your Nutmeg and the other to March) based on the following prompts:
• How does the main character change throughout the novel? Give examples of growth throughout the book.
• Why do you think the author chose this title for the novel? What connections do you see with the title throughout the work?
• Each entry must be AT LEAST ONE PAGE in length, typed, double spaced.
• Remember that a letter-essay combines solid analysis of your reading with personal reflection in a casual, conversational tone.
• You can choose one prompt per essay or try to tackle both prompts in separate paragraphs in responding to each book - your choice.
• Complete the book poster assignment (listed below) for either of your CHOICE books (not Flying Lessons and Other Stories).
• All work is due on the first day of school.

Book Poster

Sales are down in the young adult literature section of your local bookstore.  You have been hired to help boost revenue by promoting the best book you read this summer.  The manager of the bookstore has even promised to display your persuasive poster in the front window!

Be sure to do the following when creating your poster:

• “Hook” your audience with a quote or two from the novel.
• Make your poster eye-catching and colorful - earn that spot in the window!
• Use vivid language to sell the story.
• Prominently include the title, author, and genre.
• Target your audience - who would want to read the book and why?  

Be creative but remember that the substance of your poster is the novel itself.  Don’t get so caught up in your artistry that you forget the purpose of the assignment - to help boost sales at the bookstore!

Rubric

_____/20 “Hook” your audience with a quote or two from the novel.

_____/30 Make your poster eye-catching and colorful - earn that spot in the window!

_____/20 Use vivid language to sell the story.

_____/10 Prominently include the title, author, and genre (and of course, your name)

_____/20 Target your audience - who would want to read the book and why?  

_____/100 TOTAL

Newbery Medal Winners, 1950 - Present

2016: Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña (G.P. Putnam's Sons/Penguin)

2015: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

2014: Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press)

2013: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (HarperCollins Children's Books)

2012: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (Farrar Straus Giroux)

2011: Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children's Books)

2010: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children's Books)

2009: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, illus. by Dave McKean (HarperCollins)

2008: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick)

2007: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, illus. by Matt Phelan (Simon & Schuster/Richard Jackson)

2006: Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins (Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins)

2005: Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster)

2004: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick Press)

2003: Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (Hyperion Books for Children)

2002: A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park(Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin)

2001: A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck (Dial)

2000: Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Delacorte)

1999: Holes by Louis Sachar (Frances Foster)

1998: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse (Scholastic)

1997: The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg (Jean Karl/Atheneum)

1996: The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman (Clarion)

1995: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech (HarperCollins)

1994: The Giver by Lois Lowry(Houghton)

1993: Missing May by Cynthia Rylant (Jackson/Orchard)

1992: Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (Atheneum)

1991: Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli (Little, Brown)

1990: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (Houghton)

1989: Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman (Harper)

1988: Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman (Clarion)

1987: The Whipping Boy by Sid Fleischman (Greenwillow)

1986: Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan (Harper)

1985: The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (Greenwillow)

1984: Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary (Morrow)

1983: Dicey's Song by Cynthia Voigt (Atheneum)

1982: A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers by Nancy Willard (Harcourt)

1981: Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson (Crowell)

1980: A Gathering of Days: A New England Girl's Journal, 1830-1832 by Joan W. Blos (Scribner)

1979: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (Dutton)

1978: Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Crowell)

1977: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (Dial)

1976: The Grey King by Susan Cooper (McElderry/Atheneum)

1975: M. C. Higgins, the Great by Virginia Hamilton (Macmillan)

1974: The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox (Bradbury)

1973: Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George (Harper)

1972: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien (Atheneum)

1971: Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars (Viking)

1970: Sounder by William H. Armstrong (Harper)

1969: The High King by Lloyd Alexander (Holt)

1968: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (Atheneum)

1967: Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt (Follett)

1966: I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino (Farrar)

1965: Shadow of a Bull by Maia Wojciechowska (Atheneum)

1964: It's Like This, Cat by Emily Neville (Harper)

1963: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Farrar)

1962: The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare (Houghton)

1961: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell (Houghton)

1960: Onion John by Joseph Krumgold (Crowell)

1959: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare (Houghton)

1958: Rifles for Watie by Harold Keith (Crowell)

1957: Miracles on Maple Hill by Virginia Sorensen (Harcourt)

1956: Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham (Houghton)

1955: The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong (Harper)

1954: ...And Now Miguel by Joseph Krumgold (Crowell)

1953: Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark (Viking)

1952: Ginger Pye by Eleanor Estes (Harcourt)

1951: Amos Fortune, Free Man by Elizabeth Yates (Dutton)

1950: The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (Doubleday)

Julius Caesar: Man of the Year or Most Wanted?

Julius Caesar: Man of the Year or Most Wanted?

After all of your reading about Julius Caesar in both English in history classes, we know you have formed your opinion of this historical figure.  Do you consider him a Man of the Year?  Or should his picture be splashed on a Most Wanted poster? Support what you write with proof from your history reading, the reading of “Who Was Julius Caesar,” or online. Cite your sources. Write a one-page essay supporting your thesis.

INTRO

_____ Hook

_____ Background Info about Julius Caesar

_____ Your Thesis - Man of the Year or Most Wanted

_____ Reason List

BODY PARAGRAPHS

_____ Include at least one quote.

_____ Details and specifics from the text.

CONCLUSION

_____ Wrap it up - return to your thesis - what do you believe and how could anyone believe otherwise? Make your point clear and persuasive.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (throughout your essay)

_____ Use hyperbole as you describe Caesar

_____ Include figurative language - choose at least one: metaphor, simile, personification

Macbeth-Themed Party

_____ You need to create an invitation that reflects one of the themes of the play. On the invitation should be the date, time, location, dress code. Check out websites like https://www.paperlesspost.com/cards/section/invitations for inspiration.

_____ On the reverse of your invitation should be your menu - five courses. Appetizer, soup, salad, entree, and dessert. Don’t forget beverages.

_____ Accompanying your invitation is your annotated playlist. You should include one song per act. (That means five songs.) Be prepared to play selections from your playlist.

_____ On a separate doc, thoughtfully and completely answer the following questions:

1. What food will you serve and why?
2. Where and when will it take place and why?
3. Your table seats six guests. Beside yourself, which five guests will you invite and why?
4. What is the dress code? Casual, semiformal, black tie? Explain.
5. What music will you play? Make sure the five songs you select reflect the themes of the tragedy.

Macbeth Preview

In case Roman Polanski's version of Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth and my running commentary aren't enough to help you understand the plot, take a moment to watch this.

That versus Which

Which vs. That

By: Brian A. Klems | August 7, 2012

Q: I’ve been writing for a long time and always assumed which and that were interchangeable, but I’ve recently been told that isn’t the case. How do I make sure I’m using the right word? —Anonymous

The battle over whether to use which or that is one many people struggle to get right. It’s a popular grammar question and most folks want a quick rule of thumb so they can get it right.

Here it is:

If the sentence doesn’t need the clause that the word in question is connecting, use which. If it does, use that. (Pretty easy to remember, isn’t it?) Let me explain with a couple of examples.

Our office, which has two lunchrooms, is located in Cincinnati.
Our office that has two lunchrooms is located in Cincinnati.

These sentences are not the same. The first sentence tells us that you have just one office, and it’s located in Cincinnati. The clause which has two lunchrooms gives us additional information, but it doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence. Remove the clause and the location of our one office would still be clear: Our office is located in Cincinnati.

The second sentence suggests that we have multiple offices, but the office with two lunchrooms is located in Cincinnati. The phrase that has two lunchrooms is known as a restrictive clause because another part of the sentence (our office) depends on it. You can’t remove that clause without changing the meaning of the sentence.

The Grammar Vigilante - Get this guy a superhero cape!

I shared this with my students today. 

You decide... Is he committing a crime, or is the real crime the misplaced apostrophe?

NoRedInk Engages our 8th Grade Grammarians

Today we launched NoRedInk.com, a new grammar program that engages students based on their interests. As you can see, our 8th Graders were totally enthralled!