World of Inquiry School Summer Reading Assignment 7th grade English

Teachers: Ms. Gabrielle Graves

Email: gabrielle.graves@rcsdk12.org

Ms. Graves Cell: 585-319-1462

Google Classroom code for summer reading is: jp9r6ta

All World of Inquiry 7th grade students are expected to complete ONE book for summer reading. The reading this summer is an independent read, which should be selected from the list provided to you in this packet or from the RCSD ROC Reads selection found at the following link. (http://www.rcsdk12.org/cms/lib04/NY01001156/Centricity/Domain/45/Summer%20Reading%202017_7-8.pdf ). Each student must read either a fiction or non-fiction text this summer. IF THERE IS A BOOK YOU WANT TO READ, BUT IT ISN’T ON EITHER BOOK LIST, PLEASE CALL, TEXT, OR EMAIL ME AND WE CAN DISCUSS YOUR BOOK OPTION FOR APPROVAL.Summer reading novels may be checked out of the library as well as purchased new or used. If asked early enough, I will gladly lend families books. Be prompt in getting a copy of the novel you wish to read, in order to complete your reading and assignments before returning to school in the September.

A. Mandatory: One Fiction Novel or one Non-fiction Book

During Reading: Complete 3 Independent Reading journal entries for the book you

are reading. The example of how to do these journals are attached. You may also submit your work via google classroom as well. Feel free to complete them handwritten if that is easier for you. You must complete 3 total journal entries. Please label each entry you do. You will find these assignments in google classroom; however, the journal entries may also be handwritten.

Take notes and plot important details as you read your selected books.

After Reading: Complete a Book Talk for your book.

Book Talk write up Book Talk visual aid or presentation. Present the first week of classes to classmates.

Please note: A book talk consists of a formal written component of at least 3 paragraphs and includes a visual aid for the presentation. Visuals, may include a poster or may be done in google slides, via Google Classroom. There will be an

example book talk in google classroom if you choose to do it in Google slides.

B. Fiction and Non-fiction Book Choices – Choose books from list that follows and complete three “journal” entries as described below.

INDEPENDENT READINGJOURNAL ENTRY OPTIONS – CHECKLIST

Directions: Select any independent reading book from the list of options provided to you. After completing approximately 30-35 minutes of Independent Reading, please fulfill one of the following tasks. This is designed to actively engage you with your reading. You may only complete each task one time. Each written entry should be at least 8-10 sentences. Please include the date, which entry you are doing and how many pages you read as a heading for your journal entry. You must complete at least 3 entries for each book before returning to school in September. You may also submit your assignments to me electronically via google classroom or via email gabrielle.graves@rcsdk12.org

Dates CompletedOptions: You may write a… Checklist:

Summary

Letter to the author

Letter to a character from the book

Prediction – What will happen next?

Set of at least 7-10 questions… create your own quiz

Close reading analysis – pick 1 paragraph to discuss

Pick 5 literary terms and connect to the novel

Quick write on a topic you choose

Character analysis

KWL – 5 things per column

Choose 8-10 unknown words from the reading and find definitions

Draw and explain a scene from the reading

Compare/Contrast paragraph with another book you have read

Comic Strip

Quote from the book – identify subject & speaker, explain the meaning

Create dialogue between two characters

Diary entry as a chosen character

“Dear Abby” letter – offer advice to a character

Advertisement/commercial for the book

Plot-structure – (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution)

Alternative part – re-write any section of the book

Poem or song lyrics (can be original) that relate to the book

Collage of pictures, photos, or words depicting the book

Re-design the book cover

Mock newspaper or magazine article about the book

Text-to-Self, Text-to-Text, Text-to-World

Any other ideas? Let me know!

*Be creative and insightful!*

Example Journal Entries…My Name: Ms. GravesTitle of Book: A Child Called “IT”Author of Book: David PelzerPages in book: 153

Journal #1:  (Summary)A Child Called “It,” is an autobiography about a very young boy named Dave, who was

severely abused by his emotionally unstable mother. In the beginning, he was always the brother to get caught in mischief and he was disciplined accordingly. It started out as typical abuse, as he was initially required to sit in the corner of his mom’s room. However, once his parents separated, his mother’s alcoholism forced her punishments to become more drastic and out of hand. In this book, it/David, narrates all the struggles he encounters while living with his mother and brothers. David was starved and forced to do unfathomable things for many years. CPS, his father, and the school system served as little help to a young man who was being broken daily. David must find a way out of this story if he can.

Journal #2:  (Dear Diary)Dear diary, Today I… beat David again, but this time, he was very difficult to deal with. He was kicking, and screaming out for help. That's when I accidentally stabbed him in the chest. It was probably because I was drinking. When I look at him all I can think about is his father. David looks exactly like my ex-husband. It just makes me so mad. I cannot help but hate him. It’s not my fault David makes me do angry. Stabbing him was an accident. David will forgive me as I just fell over on top of him with the knife in my hands. After that, I couldn’t just sit around and watch him bleed out, so I helped clean him up. He should feel so lucky that I finally fed him. It was the one scrap of decency I had left in myself, not to let him die. I kind of felt like I should just let him die. I tried my hardest to patch him up, since I used to be a nurse. David had healed up pretty well after a couple of weeks. After that, I made him go straight back to his chores. Basically, everything is now back to “normal.” whatever our meaning of “Normal” is.

Journal #3: (7-10 Vocabulary Words and Definitions)Pages 1-708-7-178- 10 words I don't know with definitions

1. Verbomania- An excessive use of or attraction to words2. Heifer- A young cow 3. Polyester- A fabric made of such textile fibers4. Snickering- A partly stifled laugh5. Pugilism- The skill, practice, and sport of fighting with the fists6. Irony-  The use of words to express something different from and often opposite to their literal

meaning7. Futsal- a form of association football, played indoors with five players on each side

8. Pronghorn- A ruminant mammal

Possible Independent Reading Book List for incoming 7th Grade

Some former Roc Read Selections How to Beat the Bully Without Really Trying, Scott Starkey Hunger Games (Any title from Series), Suzanne Collins The Limit, Kristen Landon The Midwife’s Apprentice, Karen Cushman The Pirates (Any title from Series), Gideon Defoe Ruby Red, Kerstin Geir The Scorpio Races, Maggie Steifvater

Fantasy Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr by Christopher Paolini Summerland by Michael Chabon The Warrior Heir by Cinda Chima The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen by Garth Nix Airborne, Skybreaker, and Starclimber by Kenneth Oppel The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer Three Wee Men and Nation by Terry Pratchet Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Science Fiction The Ender Series by Orson Scott Card Feed by M.T. Anderson The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick Little Brother Cory Doctorow The Maximum Ride Series by James Patterson Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements

Realistic Fiction 13 Reasons Why, by Jay Asher Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli A Step from Heaven by An Na Skellig by David Almond The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Series by Ann Brashares Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt Woman in the Wall by Patrice Kindl Pinned, by Sharon G. Flake Bronx Masquerade, by Nikky Grimes Ambitious: A premiere High School Novel, by Monica McKayhan Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers Monster, by Walter Dean Myers Sunrise Over Fallujah, by Walter Dean Myers Stuck in Nuetral, by Terry Trueman

Historical Fiction

Copper Sun, by Sharon Draper The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Vol. I & II by M.T. Anderson Black Duck by Janet Lisle The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara Black Swan Green, by David Mitchell A Long Way From Chicago, by Richard Peck

Non-Fiction The Pact, by Drs.Samson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, by Ben Carson Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, by Frederick Douglass African Princess: The Amazing Life of Africa’s Royal Women We Beat the Streets, by Drs.Samson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson Escape from Camp 14, by Blaine Harden A Child Called It, by Dave Pelzer Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson In the Garden of Beasts, by Erik Larson Up from Slavery, by Booker T. Washington Black Boy, by Richard Wright The Autobiography of Malcolm X, by Alex Haley and Malcolm X Why We Can’t Wait, by Martin Luther King Jr. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking, By Susan Cain I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan Unbroken, by Laura Hillebrand Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of Mt. Everest, by Jon Krakauer The Professor and the Madman, by Simon Winchester Krakatoa, by Simon Winchester Skulls: An Exploration of Alan Dudley’s Curious Collection, by Simon Winchester The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II, by

Denise Kiernan We Are All the Same: The Story of a Boy’s Courage and a Mother’s Love, by Jim Wooten The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank The Whole Shebang, by Timothy Ferris Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissinger Breaking Through, by Francisco Jimenez Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhha Lai Discovering Wes Moore, by Wes Moore What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning and Literacy, by James Paul Gee Rookie Year One or Rookie Year Two, by Tavi Gevinson The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, by Malcolm Gladwell Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream, by H.D. Bissinger Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell American Sniper, by Chris Kyle

Book Talk Assignment and Rubric Grade 7 (2018-2019 School Year)

Your Book Talk assignment involves delivering a 3 minute book talk to the class about the novel you have read for independent reading. The object of a book talk is to convince the listener to read the book you are recommending. This book talk is essentially a persuasive speech to convince the listener that they should read a specific book. A book talk is very similar to a trailer for a film, which shows you just enough information to convince you that you should watch the movie

Your presentation must include a visual aid, such as a drawing, collage, map, original book cover, etc to present to the audience. You may use notes to make your presentation. The book talk will cover the some elements of the novel, but you should focus much of your time on the plot and conflict of the novel.

Introduction: Find an interesting, exciting, or mysterious quote to start off your presentation. This quote will get the reader’s attention. Don’t just pick any old quote… choose carefully and deliberately to try to capture the attention of the audience Also explain why you chose the quote.. Clearly introduce your book by giving the name and author of the book.

Middle: The middle of the presentation will cover the setting, characters, and plot of the book without giving too much away of the story. Tell a little where the book is set, what kind of action or conflict is involved in the book, and what it is about in general. See if you can mention the theme of the novel. Under no circumstances should you give away the ending of the novel. Do not just list the characters and the setting and don’t give a drawn out summary of the book. .

Resolution: Without giving away the ending, convince the reader that you loved this book and that this is the book they want to read next. Make some predictions which student in the class would enjoy the book.

An example of a short book talks on The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

1. “There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.” 

So begins the story of Nobody Owens, known as Bod.  On the night his parents are brutally murdered, 2 year old Bod calmly climbs out of his crib and toddles out of the house and into a nearby cemetery.  There he is adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Owens (childless and dead for 250 years!)  who gladly care for the child and protect him from harm.

With loving ghostly parents, teachers, friends, and protectors, Bod grows from age two to fifteen in the graveyard.  He learns to read and do numbers, and he also learns some ghostly skills.  But not all the residents of the graveyard are friendly.  There are witches, ghouls and creatures and let’s not forget Jack – the evil fiend who is out to finish the job he started.

Filled with great illustrations, this is a funny, exciting and suspenseful story.  How will Bod survive?  Or will he?  Can his loving family and friends really protect him from the evil Jack?  This delightfully gruesome and very English tale will certainly appeal to both boys and girls who like adventure stories, suspense and some action. The Graveyard Book won the Newbery Award in 2009, and the awards said that the book is a “delicious mix of murder,

fantasy, humour and human longing,” according to Diane Ferbrache, Hazen High School Librarian for The Washington Evergreen Young Adult Book Award, 2011.

Example Book Talk Visual on Google Slides for presentation

Name:______________________________ College:_________________Rubric for Book Talk

Criteria Excellent 20 - 16

Above Average 15 - 10

Average 10 - 7

Below Average0 - 6

Introduction attracts audience

Exceptional creative beginning with an excellent quote

Creative beginning with a good quote

Not a very creative or interesting beginning with a quote

Not a very good beginning with no quote

Maintains eye contact

Always maintains eye contact and engages audience

Almost always maintains eye contact

Sometimes maintains eye contact

Never maintains eye contact

Discusses the plot, setting, and characters

Thorough and interesting summary of these elements.

Somewhat thorough and interesting summary of these elements

Average summary of the elements

Does not summarize these elements or is missing a component.

Discusses the theme

Correctly discusses theme and makes an educated argument for the theme of the novel

Correctly discusses theme but fails to elaborate on the importance

Discusses theme but is incorrect or not very thorough in their elaboration of theme

Does not discuss theme or makes a very general statement about the theme.

Conclusion makes us want to read the book (or not read the book)

Very enticing conclusion – draws the listener to read the book

Somewhat interesting conclusion- listener might want to read the book

Concluded but did not draw the listener to read the book

Very boring conclusion or no conclusion at all.

Demonstrates enthusiasm for the book

Very enthusiastic and knowledgeable

Somewhat enthusiastic and knowledgeable

Shows average enthusiasm and understanding

Not enthusiastic at all

Audible Voice is clear, words are pronounced correctly and tempo is good.

Voice is mostly clear and audible, Pronunciation is mostly correct.

Sometimes hard to understand or hear the student. Mispronounces common words.

Spoken word is too soft, mumble, speaking much too fast or slow.

Visual aid Visual aid is well done, colorful, and very helpful to the presentation

Visual aid is colorful, and helpful to the presentation

Visual aid is completed and might be helpful to the presentation

Visual aid is not done or very poorly done

Stays within time limit

Within time limit 3 minutes

Too short or too long

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