WMPCS­ Middle School Summer Reading Requirements 2016­2017 Every student entering middle school is required to complete the summer reading and corresponding assignments, which are due on the first day of school. You may use Schoology to submit your responses using ​
Access Code:​
23KVR­9Q35M ●
Note: Scholastic.com provided summary of book All students are required to read​
: ​
Wonder​
,​
by R.J. Palacio. August Pullman was born with a facial deformity that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting middle school at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid­but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. ​
Wonder ​
begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion,and acceptance. Students may select from one of the following choice books: Freedom Walkers​
: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott By: Russell Freedman (NonFiction) Lexile: 1110 When Rosa Parks quietly refused to give up her bus seat to a white man, the Montgomery bus boycott was sparked. That yearlong struggle eventually ended bus segregation and contributed to the civil rights movement. Key personalities and events are related in a compelling way in this very informative book. One Crazy Summer By: Rita Williams­ Garcia (Historical Fiction) Lexile: 750 Eleven­year­old Delphine has only a few fragmented memories of her mother, Cecile, a poet who abandoned the family in Brooklyn. In the summer of 1968, Delphine’s father decides that seeing Cecile is “something whose time had come,” and Delphine boards a plane with her sisters to Cecile’s home in Oakland. What they find there is far from their California dreams of Disneyland and movie stars. Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of WWII By: Joseph Bruchac (Historical Fiction)Lexile: 910 Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. They braved some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and with their code, they saved countless American lives. Yet their story remained classified for more than twenty years. Seeing Red By: Kathryn Erskine (Historical Fiction) Lexile: 750 Red Porter is a kid growing up around black car grease, white fence paint, and the backward attitudes of the folks who live in his hometown Red's daddy has just died, leaving Red and Mama with some hard decisions and a whole lot of doubt. With Daddy gone, everything's different. Through his friendship with Thomas, Beau, and Miss Georgia, Red starts to see there's a lot more than car motors and rusty fenders that need fixing in his world.When Red discovers the injustices that have been happening in Rocky Gap since before he was born, he's faced with unsettling questions about his family's legacy. I am Malala: How one girl stood up for Education and Changed the World By: Malala Yousafzai (NonFiction) Lexile : 830 Malala Yousafzai was only ten years old when the Taliban took control of her region.They said music was a crime and also said that girls could not attend school. Malala’s powerful story will open your eyes to another world and make you believe­ it can inspire change in a community and beyond. Outcasts United: the story of a refugee soccer team By: Warren St. John (NonFiction) Lexile: 980 The extraordinary tale of a refugee youth soccer team and the transformation of a small American town. Clarkston, GA was a typical Southern town until it was designated a refugee settlement center in the 1990’s, becoming the first American home for scores of families in flight from the world’s war zones. The town became home to Luma Mufleh, an American­educated Jordanian woman who founded a youth soccer team to unify Clarkston’s refugee children and keep them off the streets. The Witch of Blackbird Pond By: Elizabeth George Speare (Historical Fiction) Lexile: 850 Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at the cold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home will never be like the shimmering Caribbean island she left behind. In her relatives' stern Puritan community, she feels like a tropical bird that has flown to the wrong part of the world, a bird that is now caged and lonely. The only place where Kit feels completely free is in the meadows, where she enjoys the company of the old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, and on occasion, her young sailor friend Nat. But when Kit's friendship with the "witch" is discovered, Kit is faced with suspicion, fear, and anger. She herself is accused of witchcraft! Nation By: Terry Prachett Lexile: 790 (Fantasy) When a giant wave destroys his village, Mau is the only one left. Daphne—a traveler from the other side of the globe—is the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Separated by language and customs, the two are united by catastrophe. Slowly, they are joined by other refugees. And as they struggle to protect the small band, Mau and Daphne defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long­hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down. WMPCS Middle School Summer Reading Assignments After reading the book, ​
Wonder​
, by R.J. Palacio, please answer the following questions. You may use a separate sheet of paper, or you may type your responses. Please use complete sentences and use clear thoughts. 1. Don’t judge a boy by his face. A.​
What do you think of the line “Don’t judge a boy by his face” which appears on the back cover of the book? B​
.Did this affect how much you wanted to read the story? C.​
How much did this line give away about the story you were about to read? 2.
Auggie’s appearance. A.​
Throughout Wonder, Auggie describes the way that many people react to seeing his face for the first time: by immediately looking away. Have you ever been in a situation where you have responded like this to seeing someone different? Having now read ​
Wonder​
, how do you feel about this now? B​
.Auggie’s face is not fully described until quite far on in the story, in Via’s chapter ‘August’: Through the Peephole;. How close was this description to your own mental picture of Auggie? Did you have a picture of his face in your mind while reading the book? Did this description alter that picture? How or how not? 3.
Auggie’s personality. A.​
How would you describe Auggie as a person in the first few chapters of the book? B.​
What about the final few chapters? C.​
Has he changed significantly? D.​
Are there any experiences or episodes during the story that you think had a particular effect on him? If so, how? 4.
The astronaut helmet. In the chapter ‘Costumes’ Auggie describes the astronaut helmet that he wore constantly as a younger child. We later learn that Miranda was the one to give Auggie the helmet, and is proud of the gift, but that it was Auggie’s father who threw it away. A. ​
What do you think the helmet signifies to each of these characters and why do you think they all view it so differently? 5.
Star Wars A. ​
Star Wars is one of Auggie’s passions. Why do you think this is? B. ​
Do you see any reasons for Auggie to identify with these characters, or to aspire to be like them? 6.
The use of humor in ​
Wonder Auggie’s parents bring Auggie around to the idea of attending school by joking with him about Mr. Tushman’s name, and telling him about their old college professor, Bobbie Butt. A. ​
To what extent is humor used as a tool throughout Wonder to diffuse difficult or tense situations, or to convey a part of the story that would otherwise be depressing or sad? Look at the chapter, ‘ How I Came to Life’. 7.
Via A.​
What do you think of Via as a character? Did you empathize with her? B.​
Why do you think Via was so angry to learn that Auggie cut off his Padawan braid? C.​
Do you think Via’s own attitude towards her brother changes throughout the story? 8.
Mrs. Albans Look at the emails between Mr. Tushman, Julian’s parents and Jack’s parents in the chapter ,’ Letters, Emails, Facebook, Texts’. Up to this point in the story we have seen how the children at Auggie’s school have reacted to him. A.​
Is Mrs. Albans’ attitude towards Auggie different? B.​
What do you make of her statement that Auggie is handicapped? C.​
Do you think she is correct in saying that asking ‘ordinary’ children, such as Julian, to befriend Auggie places a burden on them? 9.
At the ice cream parlor. The author has explained that she was inspired to write ​
Wonder​
after an experience at a local ice cream parlour, very similar to the scene described in the chapter ‘ Carvel’, where Jack sees Auggie for the first time. In this scene, Jack’s babysitter Veronica chooses to get up and quickly walk Jack and his little brother Jamie away from Auggie, rather than risk Jamie saying something rude or hurtful. A. ​
What do you think you would have done, if put in that situation? 10. The precepts (rules to live by) Choose one of the precepts and explain what you think it means and why you selected it. Select one of your own precepts and explain why you picked it . (Make sure to include the artist, author, person who quoted it.) READING ASSIGNMENT #2­ Using the Critique Model (Story Map) After you complete your second selection, use the Critique Model to share what your book was about and your recommendation. Each paragraph should have 4­6 fact­filled, compound/complex sentences and should begin with a topic sentence. I.
Introduction­ Type of book, book title, author (biographical and historical information). II.
Characters/Setting­include place, time, and mood III.
Conflict/Plot­ Problems that must be solved; the story’s plan and movement IV.
Climax/Theme­ Turning point of the story; message about life V.
Conclusion/Resolution­ Ending of your story including your thoughts about the book.