Summer Learning Experience

 

 

 

N.B.  Grades earned for the multimedia package (Excellent, Satisfactory, or Unsatisfactory) will be indicated on the report card.  Students who receive an unsatisfactory will have a short period of time to redo the assignment for an upgrade.  Students who receive an excellent commendation will have 10 points added to the “5^th” quarter or final assessment cumulative point total in English prior to determining the final average to appear on the report card in June.  Students who receive a satisfactory commendation will have 5 points added to the cumulative point total in English, and students with an unsatisfactory grade will not receive any extra points.

 

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A GOOD READER’S FRAMEWORK

Like writing, reading is a recursive activity.  Students make progress unevenly.  Students may read several paragraphs and/or chapters with insight and understanding and then they come to a tougher section where they might decode words without understanding or without their having any insight about what it is they have read.  Therefore, it is helpful if teachers can help students by giving them a process framework with which they can help students strengthen their reading capacity.

The layout of the Dialogue Journal that follows, which students will use to interact with the assigned summer reading text for the whole school, will provide students with a process for skill building that follow the framework outlined below.

1. Good readers pause occasionally to take stock of (summarize, paraphrase) what it is they have read.
2. Good readers create pictures and images in their heads about what it is they have read.
3. Good readers enter the text by asking question:  Who?  Why?  What? How?  When? Where? Etc.
4. Good readers cite specific details from the text to support their ideas about the text.
5. Good readers (and reflectors) make reasonable predictions and inferences based upon what they have read.
6. Good readers link ideas, themes and characters from one text with ideas, themes and characters from another text or another media form (e.g. art, film, drama, etc).

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The Dialogue Journal

A Dialogue Journal enables you, the reader, to respond to an article, book or other piece of writing in a personal and analytical way.  Furthermore, it forces you to pause and reflect on what the author has communicated, thereby strengthening your reading comprehension ability.  This is what good readers do naturally.

Directions:

1. Draw a real or an imaginary line down the middle of each page in your journal.  Label the left-hand side of the page, What the Book Says, and the right-hand side of the page, What I Say. 
2. Use the left-hand side of the page to record something from the book that interests you or that puzzles you.  Copy the passage exactly as it is written.  You may use ellipses (…) if the passage is very long.  Remember to write the page number in parentheses after each passage.  Using some of the attached questioning and/or interactive reading strategies, use the right-hand side of the page to respond to your selected passage.  This will indicate your feelings about the passage.  Then write a more analytical response to the passage.  To do this, closely examine the text and briefly write about it insightfully.  (See the example of a Dialogue Journal entry below.)  Remember to respond with clear and complete sentences.

 

Below is a sample Dialogue Journal that a student wrote to John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me

 

                                     What the Book Says                                                What I Say

          Brandvik, Mary Lou.  Writing Process Activities Kit.  West Nyack, N.Y:  The Center For Applied Research Education, 1990.

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Suggestions for Journal Entries

1.  Ask yourself questions about the characters and the action.  Begin a journal entry with, 

“I don’t understand why …” or “I was surprised when…” or “I’m confused about…”

2.  Imagine that you are speaking to the writer.  What do you like/dislike about the book?  

For example, were you satisfied by the ending?  Disappointed?  How would you have liked to see the book end?

3.  What is the most memorable scene in the book and why?

4.  What quotation stands out in your mind and why? 

(First note the context of the quotation—when or where it happened, and the speaker.)

5.  How does the book’s structure (how it is put together) contribute to the theme of "service to others"?  

Look especially at the beginning and the ending as well as major divisions. 

6.  Do any unusual techniques help you understand the book? 

Are certain actions, imagery, or phrases repeated? Write down words, phrases, or details that strike you.  

Why did you notice them?  Why do think they are there?

7.  From whose point of view is the story told? How does this influence your knowledge of what happens? 

How does it influence your sympathy for certain characters? 

8.  What effect does setting(s) have on the characters? Consider both place and time period.

9.  Did you ever question a character’s motivation for his/her actions? When?  Why?

10.  Which character is the hardest to understand and why?  

11.  How does the title reflect upon character, conflict, and theme? What else might it suggest?

12.  Can you empathize with a particular character?  Why?

13.  Did you personally connect with this book for some reason? What does it make you think about? 

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All School Book (required of all students):  The Soloist- Steve Lopez

 

SECOND TEXT LIST:                                           

• Les Miserables- Victor Hugo

• For One More Day- Mitch Album

• Warriors Don’t Cry- Melba Patillo Beals

• White is a State of Mind:  Freedom is Yours to Choose- Melba Patillo Beals

• Notes from the Midnight Rider – Jordan Sonnenblick

• Flowers From Algernon – Daniel Keyes

• Holyman: Father Damian of Molokai- Gavan Davis

• The Measure of a Man, A Spiritual Autobiography- Sydney Poitier

• But to Serve- Marci Alborghetti; The story of Dr. Jeremy Lowney, an alumnus of Coyle High School

(available only by clicking HERE)

• The Zookeeper’s Wife- Diane Ackerman

• Sunrise Over Fallujah- Walter Dean Myers

• Flight 116 is Down- Caroline Cooney

• The Greatest Generation- Tom Brokaw

• After the Rain- Norma Fox Mazer

• How Starbucks Saved My Life -Michael Gates Gil

• Three Cups of Tea  -Greg Mortenson

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(The following books MUST also be read by students taking AP English)

• Othello-William Shakespeare

• Their Eyes Were Watching God-Zora Neale Hurston

• As I Lay Dying-William Faulkner

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Films for THE Summer lEARNING Experience:

NOTE TO PARENTS: Several of the films listed below have an R rating due to their language, violence, and/or mature subject matter. We do feel that the subject matter of these movies is important enough to warrant their placement on this list. We do, however, want to inform you of the rating and suggest that if your student would like to choose one of these films - please consider watching it with them.

Students should watch one of the following films and answer the questions on the accompanying worksheet.

 

FILMS (Ratings):

 

             

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ARTWORKS FOR THE SUMMER LEARNING EXPERIENCE:

Look over the artworks here and choose one that speaks to you- there are paintings, illustrations, prints, industrial design and sculpture.   Be sure to look at all of them before making your choice.   Notice there are several images for one of the artworks.

After you have chosen the artwork, spend at least one minute really looking at it before you begin to write.  Answer the first two questions that apply to all the artworks, and then answer the specific questions for the artwork you have chosen.

For all artwork please the thumbnail pics to see a full picture:

 

1. Identify the art work- Title, artist, year
2. After you have spent a full minute just looking at the artwork to see all the details, take an inventory and describe EVERYTHING you see in the image in as much detail as you can.

 

Specific Questions by artwork- answer in 1-2 well developed paragraphs.

 

(click the image)	Margaret Bourke White Louisville Flood Victims- There’s No Way Like the American Way, 1937 Margaret Bourke White was a pioneer in the art of photojournalism, covering news stories in the United States and abroad.  This photo was taken as part of a series called Louisville Flood Victims, and depicts people standing in line for food after a natural disaster.    In one paragraph, describe the picture in detail.  Then, in a second paragraph, explain what comment you believe she is making about American life in 1937.  In what ways might her commentary still hold true?  How does this image contain a call to service?
(click the image)	Norman Rockwell The Runaway, 1958 Norman Rockwell’s illustrations appeared on the cover of many major magazines, most notably the Saturday Evening Post.  The paintings he did frequently tell a story.  Just last year, the two people depicted in this painting, the state police officer and the boy, were honored in a ceremony by the Massachusetts State Police in Framingham, MA , on the 50th anniversary of the painting.   In one paragraph, describe everything you see in the painting in detail. Then, in a second paragraph, write the story of what you believe is happening in this scene.  Serving others frequently involves going above and beyond what is required.  How do you think service is exemplified in this painting?
(click the images)	Auguste Rodin The Burghers of Calais 1889   Rodin’s sculpture portrays an historical event that took place in 1347.  The city of Calais, in France, was held siege by the British army for months, with no food allowed to be brought within the city’s walls.  Finally, the British agreed to lift the siege if six burghers (sort of like the town council members) surrendered themselves- presumably to be executed.  Six men agreed to sacrifice themselves to save their town, but the courage they displayed brought mercy from the opposing army, and they were spared.   In one paragraph, describe everything you see in the painting in detail. Then, in a second paragraph, compare and contrast two of the figures in the sculpture.  Rodin portrayed the six men all differently- different ages and different reactions to their situations.  Although they all went willingly, their fears, anger, desperation, sadness, make each one’s sacrifice unique.  How is their service to the people of their community portrayed? Rodin designed this sculpture without a pedestal- the figures are life sized and seen at eye level.  How does this statue communicate the idea of service more effectively this way?
(click the image)	Edvard Munch The Sick Child, 1907 Edvard Munch was inspired to create this painting based on his experience in losing his sister to tuberculosis when he was young.   In one paragraph, describe everything you see in the painting in detail. Then, in a second paragraph, tell the story that you think Munch is relating in this painting.  Who do you think the two people are connected to each other? How might each figure be offering service to the other in this painting?
(click the image)	Vincent Van Gogh The Potato Eaters, 1885 This was one of Van Gogh’s earliest paintings, done well before his more familiar brightly colored paintings of sunflowers and starry nights.  In this painting, he depicts the poor farmers of the Netherlands eating a simple meal.  At this time in his life, Van Gogh was still intent on becoming a missionary, preaching the gospel to the poor.   In one paragraph, describe everything you see in the painting in detail. Then, in a second paragraph, describe how you believe Van Gogh the Christian missionary saw the people at the table.  How does he feel about them?  How does he portray their relationships to each other?  Is his attitude toward them one of someone who looks down upon them?  Explain.

 

 

WORKSHEETS FOR THE Summer Learning Experience – Service to Others:  The worksheets for the second book; the film and your music selection are below.  If you'd like to type your answers, simply copy/paste the information into a Word Document.

 

 

 Report Form to be used with 2^nd book chosen from the list

 

{This form may be completed on the computer or printed out and filled in by hand. Please bring it to school on the first full day for all classes.} 

 

 

Your Name_______________________________________

 

I read the book__________________________________   by_____________________________________

 

1.         Identify and Describe two of the main characters in this story:

 

 

 

 

2.       What do you see as the central conflict in the story and how is it resolved?

 

 

 

 

3.    Describe the element of service to others that you see in the book and talk about an important effect it had on one of the characters.  (If you don’t think there was an element of service to others in the text, tell why not…)

 

 

 

 

 

 4.       One thing I really liked about this book was … (e.g. imagery, dialogue, style, characters, etc.)

 

 

 

 

 

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Report form to be use with Film chosen from choice list

 

 

Your Name: _____________________________________________________

 

I watched the film ________________________ director___________________________

 

 

1.    Identify and describe two of the main characters in the film …

 

 

 

 

 

2.  What is the central conflict in the film and how is it resolved?

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Describe an element of service to others in the film and talk about an important effect it had on one of the characters  (If you don’t think there was an element of service to others in the film, tell why not…).

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. The best part of this film was when...

 

 

 

 

 

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Music Worksheet

 

Report form to be use with Music chosen:

 

 

Your Name_______________________________________

 

I listened to the song:  ________________________________By: _____________________________

 

1. The style of music is considered (ex: rock, country, pop…)

 

 

 

2. My favorite line or image from the song was… and it struck me because…

 

 

 

 

3. In this song I see a connection to the idea of “service to others” because…