Honors Grammar and Composition 9 – Mr. Spencer
Statement of Purpose
“Why do we require summer reading?”
This question is often asked. The answers are multiple but begin with the nature of our school—a
college preparatory high school. One of our academic goals is to prepare students to succeed in the
college and university environment. Colleges and universities expect students to come having already
read a significant amount and variety of literary works. That goal cannot be achieved exclusively during
the school year.
Additionally, we believe that a summer reading program will:
1.
Maintain and improve reading proficiency. Educational studies have shown that student reading
skills deteriorate when they do not read over the summer months.
2.
Increase fluency and vocabulary skills as students are introduced to new themes and vocabulary
in their selected books.
3.
Develop a wider range of reading interests as students are exposed to subjects and authors
outside of their usual choices.
Strategies for Planning Your Summer Reading
The first and most important tip is:
DON’T LEAVE IT ALL UNTIL THE WEEK BEFORE SCHOOL!
1. Buy the books early.
2. Once you have your books, the following system seems to work:
a. Add the pages that need to be read.
b. Add the days of summer vacation.
c. Subtract days you will need for writing assignments and days that it will not be possible for
you to read.
d. The number of days you have left are “reading days.”
e. Divide the total reading days by the total number of pages. That is how much you need to read
each day to stay on track. Find a system that works for you.
All work is due Wednesday, 17 August 2016
If you do not complete everything, you will move to regular
grammar and composition.
Honors Grammar and Composition Summer Reading Assignment
1. Read and annotate the novels To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee AND The House on
Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
a. Marking and highlighting a text is like having a conversation with a book – it allows you
to ask questions, comment on meaning, and mark events and passages you want to
revisit. Annotating is a permanent record of your intellectual conversation with the text.
(Laying the foundation: A Resource and Planning Guide for Pre-AP English)
b. Use a highlighter to highlight words, phrases, lines, or passages in the book that you are
going to annotate. Next to the highlight, in one of the margins, write your annotation in
pencil.
c. Annotations can include:
i. *A summary of important ideas in your own words.
ii. *Adding examples from real life, other books, TV, movies, and so forth.
iii. *Defining words that are new to you.
iv. *Writing questions that you might have for later discussion in class.
v. *Commenting on the actions or development of characters.
vi. *Commenting on things that intrigue, impress, surprise, disturb, etc.
vii. *Feel free to draw picture when a visual connection is appropriate
viii. *Explain the historical context or traditions/social customs used in the passage.
d. For To Kill a Mockingbird you must have 10 annotations per chapter.
e. For House on Mango Street you must have 5 annotations per section.
2. Reader Response Essay for To Kill a Mockingbird: After carefully reading and contemplating
the novel, choose 1 of the main characters to write a character analysis on. Your essay must be
typed and be 2-3 paragraphs long. Each paragraph should be approximately 5-8 sentences long.
a. Your first paragraph should be a description of the character: who are they, how old or
about how old are they, what do they do, not like, like to do or not like to do, etc.
b. Your remaining paragraph(s) should tell us what that character represents in the story,
how that author uses that character, and how that character has changed throughout the
story.
i. For example: Atticus is the model for equality and social justice. Atticus also
shows parenting through example, not through strict rules. In the beginning of the
story Atticus is seen as a stiff and rigid character, but later in the book his
emotions start to show.
3. Reader Response Essay for The House on Mango Street: After carefully reading and
contemplating the novel, choose 2 of the short stories in the novel and compare your life
experiences to those stories. Your essay must be typed and be 2-3 paragraphs long. Each
paragraph should be approximately 5-8 sentences long.
a. For example: In the story, “Marin” the author describes her friend Marin who is older and
only cares about boys. Marin even says, “What matters…is for the boys to see us and for
us to see them.” There have been many people in my life that are older than me that I
have looked up to, and some of them have been like Marin…
Pledge Statements
Summer 2016
Your Name:
(Print)
1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Pledge: I have read the entire unabridged version of this book, and I have not read Cliff’s Notes, internet
materials or any other information about the novel.
Check the statement that applies to you:
_____ I had previously read To Kill a Mockingbird and reread it this summer.
_____ I had never read To Kill a Mockingbird before this summer.
Your Signature:
Date: __________
2. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Pledge: I have read the entire unabridged version of this book, and I have not read Cliff’s Notes, internet
materials or any other information about this novel.
Check the statement that applies to you:
_____ I had previously read The House on Mango Street and reread it this summer.
_____ I had never read The House on Mango Street before this summer.
Your Signature:
Date: ______________