Summer Reading for Ms. Peralta’s Language Arts Class
You are encouraged to read one of the books we will read as a class this fall. The assignments below are optional and will not be due when school begins, but doing these exercises will deepen your understanding of the story and will strengthen your independent reading abilities. These books can also be used to earn Accelerated Reader points as long as you take your AR test before we read the book as a class. In order to take an AR test on the book, you are required to either complete a reading analysis log or the assignment associated with the book for your grade.
7th Grade:
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
AS YOU READ, try to find as many examples of figurative language as you can. If you have your own
copy (paper or electronic), highlight these examples. If you cannot obtain your own copy, write down
these examples on lined paper and use it as a bookmark (at least twenty examples total).
Figurative Language Terms:
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Simile – A comparison between dissimilar objects using “like” or “as.”
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Example: The house is like a jail. The ballerina was as agile as bird.
Metaphor – A comparison of dissimilar things.
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Example: The house is like a jail. The ballerina is an agile bird.
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Personification – Giving human characteristics to nonhuman objects or animals.
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Idiom – An everyday expression that carries meaning not offered by a dictionary.
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Example: The printer was a stubborn elderly man who did as he liked.
Example: Don’t let the cat out of the bag. This homework is a piece of cake.
8th Grade:
The Wave by Todd Strasser
AS YOU READ, think about lessons the characters learn from their experience and try to list at least five.
What do they learn about history? About people and human nature? About themselves? About life?
Think about the lessons from this story that you want to remember as you prepare to enter high school.
ASSIGNMENT: Use the above writing prompt to write the following:
a) Keep a journal of your thoughts and questions as you read the story. (At least 5 one-page entries)
b) Write an essay. Try to find supportive evidence from within the text. See if you are able to
include all the required parts of an essay. Show me what you already know how to do well!
c) Write an essay which connects this to another book or different media – is there another novel,
movie, or television show where you have seen similar conflicts?
If you need a copy of the book before the school year ends, see me. After June 5, please contact Ms. Bevans at (408) 353-­‐1101.