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Summer Reading

SUMMER READING

Dear Parents and Students,

The objectives of the Rockvale High School Summer Reading Program are:

  • To encourage a love and appreciation of reading literature by providing selections that not only have literary merit but are engaging and relatable as well.
  • To recognize reading as a critical skill necessary for success in all areas of life.
  • To foster the critical thinking and writing skills students need to be successful.

All students enrolled at Rockvale High School will be required to complete a summer reading assignment as outlined below.

Standard and Honors: Students will be required to read selections as determined in advance by the English department and school. The students will be assessed on their understanding of the novel through both a writing task and text-based questioning when we return in the fall. All students will complete the same assessment as designed by those grade-level instructors, which will count as a 100-point assessment score (or the equivalent depending on the teacher’s grading policy) averaged into their 1st quarter grade.

Advanced Honors / Advanced Placement: Students will be required to read selections as determined in advance by the English department and school. The students will be assessed on their understanding of the novel(s) through writing tasks and text-based questioning. All students will complete the same assessment, which will count as a 100-point assessments (or the equivalent depending on the teacher’s grading policy)  for each novel averaged into their 1st quarter grade.

Class level selections are listed below in the collapsible menus. If you have any questions, please contact the English Department chair, Mrs. Freeman (freemanc@rcschools.net) or Ms. West (westm@rcschools.net) 

Sincerely yours,

The Rockvale High School English Department

 

 

Summer Reading Acknowledgement form (students, please complete BEFORE May 20).

Find the level of the class that you have registered for. Then, pick one of the book options listed for that level. After you have finished reading the book, you will write an informational essay about the novel when we return in August.

 

Standard (choose one):

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I Am Still Alive by Kate Marshall

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

 

Honors (choose one):

Call of the Wild by Jack London

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Septys

 

Advanced Honors (choose one):

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

For summer reading, every 10th grade student will read “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe plus another reading selection listed below in his/her class level.

 

After reading, every student will complete a narrative writing task when we return in August. Also, be ready for an assessment over the reading selections by Labor Day.

 

Reading Selections by Level

 

Standard (Read BOTH):

“The Masque of the Red Death”  by Edgar Allan Poe

“The Haunted Palace”  by Edgar Allan Poe

 

 Honors (Read BOTH):

“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

 

Advanced Honors:

“The Masque of the Red Death”  by Edgar Allan Poe

AND one novel below:

The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde   OR   The Metamorphosis  by Franz Kafka

For summer reading, every 11th grade student will read the Smithsonian magazine piece titled, “The Coal Mining Massacre America Forgot” plus an additional reading selection listed below in his/her class level.

 

After reading, every student will complete a level-specific writing task when we return in August.  Also, be ready for an assessment over the reading selections by Labor Day.

 

Reading Selections by Level

Standard (Read BOTH):

“The Coal Mining Massacre America Forgot” by Lorraine Boissoneault

“How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?” ballad by Blind Alfred Reed

 

Honors (Read BOTH):

“The Coal Mining Massacre America Forgot” by Lorraine Boissoneault

The Devil is Here in These Hills by James Green

***Also, scan the ballad “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?” by Blind Alfred Reed to get a sense of mood about the topic of coal mining in America during this time period.

 All levels choose ONE from the list below

I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai 

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Into the Wild by John Krakauer

MTSU Summer Read (The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore)

Required Reading: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

AND Choose 1 of the following:

  • Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  • Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  • Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  • Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr

 

*Please note: Although these texts contain mature themes, they are recognized as works of academic and literary merit and have been used by the College Board on previous AP Literature syllabi and exams.

 

While You Read: (REQUIRED)

You will be annotating in the required reading book, so you will need a hard copy of The Handmaid’s Tale. If, for some reason, you are unable to secure a hard copy of your book, please contact one of the teachers, from the email addresses listed at the bottom of this page, before school ends this year. This assignment requires you to complete two steps:

Step one: As you read, underline/highlight evidence of character development, theme, and use of figurative language within the text. Consider why the author has made those choices.

Step two: Using 3x3 or larger color-coded post-it notes (character development = pink, theme = blue, figurative language = yellow), write an annotated response as to why you underlined those elements. You must complete 10 post-it notes for each of the three elements listed above (for a total of 30 annotations).

 

**This assignment will be due within the first few weeks of school. A specific due date will be announced the first full day of classes. There will be assignments to assess your reading of both the required and chosen reads when we return.

 

Mrs. Freeman: freemanc@rcschools.net

English IV AP and Standard Courses

Ms. West: westm@rcschools.net

Assistant Principal of English Department

 

 

Purchase your own copies in order to annotate as you read. Annotate as you see necessary, whether that is following a previously prescribed annotation format or simply for comprehension, big ideas, questions, etc.
 
These titles will be discussed and used in class, as well as an assessment conducted, the first few weeks of school.
 
Outliers  Malcolm Gladwell
The Stranger  Albert Camus
TBA
See Word Document below.