Academics

The English Department has implemented a required summer reading program for students in all four years. During the summer months, students should refer to the following lists and choose the appropriate number and titles required for his/her level.

Students should keep a hand written journal. The purpose of this assignment is to encourage a more immediate process of reflection and response and to minimize the use of online study guides in meeting summer reading requirements. We hope to foster an enjoyably independent reading experience.

Students should keep their journals with them as they read, taking notes and making ongoing commentary—including questions if there is any confusion on the student’s part. Each student is required to make a minimum of five hand-written entries per novel, three of which must be from the suggested list of prompts below. Each entry should be dated and include a minimum of eight sentences. (Students who write more entries may elect to keep their individual entries shorter in length, but forty sentences per novel should be considered the bare minimum.)

Students must also include at least two significant quotes from the novel and a discussion on their meaning as part of their journal entries. Entries must demonstrate students’ personal reflections on the novel and represent their own thoughts and ideas presented in their own words. Avoid the temptation of copying or paraphrasing from online sources or book reviews (especially websites like Spark Notes and commentary listed on, or in, the book itself.) In addition to these journal entries, students must include a list of at least five vocabulary words from the novel in their journals. For each word, students must include the sentence or phrase in which the word appears in the novel and also the word’s definition(s).

Student journals will be collected on the first full of day of class (not orientation days). These are worth a test grade and penalties can be expected for lateness.

Please find a list of prompts drawn from the following sources: pmms.msdpt.k12.in.us/imc/preddy/writing%20prompts.pdf
http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/readexpert/journals.htm
Each student must respond to at least three of the provided prompts per novel in addition to their own personal free responses. Remember, at least two of these responses must involve discussion of a quoted passage from the text.

For those entering 9 CPA and CPB - Select any two (2) books from this list.

For those entering 9 HONORS - Select any two (2) books from this list and two (2) additional from the list below.

9 HONORS - Choose an additional two (2) books from this list.

For those entering 10 CP-A and 10 CP-B - Select any two (2) books from this list.

10 HONORS- Select any four (4) books from this list.

For those entering 11 CP and American Studies – Select any two (2) books from this list.

11 HONORS – Select two (2) starred books AND two (2) that are not starred from this list.

For those entering 12CP - Select any two (2) books from this list.

12 HONORS and AP Literature - Select two (2) starred books AND two (2) from the following lists.

12 HONORS and AP Literature- Select two (2) from this list also.