ASSIGNMENT 1: READ-READ-READ

Beginning June 8^th, you will need to reach 2500 Lexile points of reading before the first day of school, August 31^st. To find a book’s Lexile score:

1. Visit “Lexile.com.”
2. In the top-right corner, there is a search-box. Input the title of your book or its ISBN and click “search.”
3. Scroll down until you find your book. If your book is not there, Google the title with the word “lexile.” If that doesn’t work, choose another book!

You may choose any book with a Lexile Score above 800L. For example, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn has a Lexile score of 800, while Moby Dick has a score of 1230L. Most Nicholas Sparks books are in the 800-900 range, same as most of the Harry Potter and The Hunger Games series. Challenge yourself, and try to read at least one novel written above 1000L!

Additionally, as a class, we will read the novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Published in 2005, the novel is written from the perspective of Oskar Schell as he embarks on a an urgent, secret mission that will take him through all five boroughs of New York. Note: This book does NOT count towards your summer reading total of 2500L, but must be read BEFORE the first day of school!

Purchasing books is ideal, as you’ll be able to highlight your favorite lines and write your own little thoughts in the margins, but using your library card is great, too! Check out our local bookstore in Xenia, Blue Jacket Books, or Half-Price Books in Beavercreek, for great deals and unique copies of books.

YOU WILL NEED A COPY OF EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE FOR THE FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL, BE IT YOUR OWN PERSONAL COPY OR ONE FROM THE LIBRARY. PLAN AHEAD!

ASSIGNMENT 2: READING JOURNAL

Purchase a journal—it could be your basic black and white composition book or you can get fancy with a Moleskin—just make sure it has a cover and sturdy pages for lots of writing. Your goal is to develop the discipline of writing your thoughts on a page. Don’t worry too much about spelling errors and grammar. That’ll come with practice. Write until it’s alright!

Reserve the first ten pages of your journal and dedicate it towards the summer reading project. Record all of the titles that your read from your summer reading project, following this format:

• At the top of the page, put the date (month, day, year) that you finished reading the book.
• Next, write out the MLA compliant bibliographic reference for the book.
• Write a journal entry of no less than 154 words about what you liked or did not like about the book. Some of your entries may be personal (“While reading Huckleberry Finn, I was personally challenged in how I view and talk about people who are different from me”) while other times it may be more academic. That’s alright
• Finally, keep an updated, typed chart taped to the cover of your reading journal. Follow the format below (revise and reprint every time you add a book):

For the rest of the journal, develop the habit of writing about your life in your journal—you thoughts, feelings, prayers, drafts of letters, rants and raves. Record life at the rate of three pages a week—and write to the bottom of each page. If an entry doesn’t fill the page, skip a line, put the date of the next entry and keep going to the bottom. By the time school beings, please complete twenty-five full pages. (A page must have 154+ words on it to count as a page!)

Note: I will not be reading these. This exercise of self-reflection is entirely up to you. I will only count the pages. 

Questions? Concerns? Feel free to e-mail me (Daniel.Kloosterman@greeneview.org) or message me on Twitter. Good luck, and enjoy your summer of reading!