7th Grade Summer Reading Project

1.) You will be reading the assigned novel, Scat by Carl Hiaasen, and completing a response

journal with online entries. Your responses will be entered biweekly on Edmodo.com. All entries

and comments are completely secure and private between you, your classmates, and me. Every

two weeks I will post two questions, comments, quotations, or connections to the novel and you

must respond in 5 to 7 sentences to each. I will post 5 times. You are required to respond to all

of them. You are responsible for obtaining a copy of the novel either by purchasing a copy,

downloading a copy, or borrowing from a local library.

2.) Your second summer project will be a writing assignment. You will be composing a How-To

Article about an art or craft, summer game, non-cook recipe, song/poem writing, science project,

music lesson, or hair style. (You may choose a different topic as long as it is appropriate for an

in-school presentation.) This is a four to five paragraph report that must teach your classmates

how to perform a specific skill or task. This includes an introductory paragraph focusing on the

purpose of your paper, body paragraphs of instructions that give your reader step-by-step

procedures, and a concluding paragraph that wraps up your essay. Your topic must be presentable

with minimal supplies for classroom demonstrations. Your essay is due the first week you return

to school for the 2017-2018 school year. It must be typed in Times New Roman 12 font and

double spaced. Presentations will begin the second week of school. A rubric for this writing

assignment can be found on the back of this page.

3.) Your final summer project is to read a novel or series of novels (i.e. Eragon) from the

recommended reading list. Your task over the summer is to read this book completely and be

prepared to use the book in your first writing assignment of the first quarter: a book review.

Choose a novel/series you will enjoy and find fascinating.

SUGGESTED titles:

Adams, Richard. Watership Down

Chronicles the adventures of a group of rabbits searching for a safe place to establish a new warren where they can live in peace.

Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women

Little Women is the heartwarming story of the March family that has thrilled generations of readers. It is the story of four sisters--Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth--and of the courage, humor and ingenuity they display to survive poverty and the absence of their father during the Civil War.

Alexie, Sherman. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Contains a collection of twenty-four short stories by the National Book Award-winning author that chronicle the daily life on a Native American Indian Reservation in Spokane, Washington.

Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

In this first of five volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disap-pointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Marvelously told, with Angelou's

"gift for language and observation," this "remarkable autobiography by an equally remarkable black woman from Arkansas captures, indelibly, a world of which most Americans are shamefully ignorant."

Babbit, Natalie. Tuck Everlasting

The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a ten-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing any older.

Bacigalupi, Paolo. Ship Breaker

In a futuristic world, teenaged Nailer scavenges copper wiring from grounded oil tankers for a living, but when he finds a beached clipper ship with a girl in the wreckage, he has to decide if he should strip the ship for its wealth or rescue the girl.

Blume, Judy. Tiger Eyes

Resettled in the "Bomb City" with her mother and brother, Davey Wexler recovers from the shock of her father's death during a holdup of his 7-Eleven store in Atlantic City.

Bradbury, Ray. The Illustrated Man

This is one of the classics from the golden age of sci-fi--sixteen tales of horror and terror in the tattoos on an "illustrated" man's body. Even though most were written in the 1940s and 1950s, these 18 classic stories will be just as chillingly effective 50 years from now.

Burnett, Frances H. The Secret Garden

Ten-year-old Mary comes to live in a lonely house on the Yorkshire moors and discovers an invalid cousin and the mysteries of a locked garden in this classic story of loss, friendship and redemption.

Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game

Young Ender Wiggin may prove to be the military genius Earth needs to fight a desperate battle against a deadly alien race that will determine the future of the human race.

How-To Article Grading Rubric

Ideas:

Shows a clear focus

Addresses the intended audience

Introduction:

Grabs the reader’s attention

Clearly states the topic

Body Paragraphs (at least two):

Presents all steps in chronological order

Includes all critical details

Uses transition words to guide reader from step to step

Conclusion:

Restates the topic

Connects back to introduction

Summarizes what was “taught”

Sentence Fluency:

Writing is not choppy

Logical order of steps

Conventions:

Spelling

Grammar and usage

Punctuation

Evidence of planning and drafting

For a total of 64 points (Presentations will be considered a separate grade.)