Dear future 8th grader, Congratulations on completing 7th grade! The following materials have been gathered for you to work on during the summer and to help you prepare for 8th grade. There are 4 activities to complete by the end of the summer. 1.
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Complete one of the writing prompts. Read The Green Killer and answer questions. Read Charles and answer questions. Keep a list of every book you read over the summer. Please be sure to take this work seriously, as it will help us assess your abilities as a reader and writer and will help to show us what you have remembered from all of your hard work in 6th and 7th grade. Remember to read for at least 20 minutes every day! We are looking forward to meeting you in September. It’s going to be a fantastic year! Sincerely, 8th Grade IRLA Teachers Reading Log: Keep a list of each book you read this summer. Write a short summary of each, and write whether or not you would recommend this book to a friend. Use as many copies of this sheet as needed. Book Title: ______________________________________ Short Summary: ______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________ Would you recommend this to a friend? ________________________ ****************************************************************************** Book Title: ______________________________________ Short Summary: ______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________ Would you recommend this to a friend? ________________________ 8th Grade IRLA Summer Writing You only need to respond to ONE of the prompts below: 1. Every story has at least two sides, and many authors like to write stories from many different points of view. Some writers even tell their stories from the point of view of an object, an animal, or another non‐human character. They do this to show even more sides to a story that might not otherwise be shown. Choose a non‐human narrator and tell a story from its perspective. Use your imagination and experience to explain what the story is about or to narrate what is happening. OR 2. Your class is going on a really exciting field trip. Write a story about the trip, where you go, what you see, what happens throughout the day, and so on. Make sure you include specific details and use vivid language to make your story interesting to read. Read The Green Killer by M.E. Kerr and answer the questions below. 1. How would you describe Alan’s feelings about Blaze? 2. What is the main difference between Alan’s family and Blaze’s family? 3. What event changed the lives of the two families forever? 4. What was Blaze’s nickname for Alan? How did he get that nickname? 5. How did inheriting Blaze’s things change Alan? 6. Alan learns something interesting about Blaze. What does he learn? Why do you think he doesn’t tell anyone about this new found characteristic? 7. What is the overall theme of this short story? 8. The very last sentence of the story says, “So Blaze was Blaze – even dead he’d managed to take something from me once again” (Kerr 73). What does Alan mean by this? Read Charles by Shirley Jackson and answer the questions below. 1. How does Laurie’s behavior change once he enters kindergarten? 2. How do Laurie’s parents respond to his stories about Charles? 3. Give three examples of Charles’ bad behavior at school. 4. Give three examples of Laurie’s bad behavior at home. 5. What does Laurie’s mother discover about her son at the PTA meeting? 6. Why do you think Laurie invented Charles?