IF YOU ARE THE PARENT OF A CURRENT 8 TH GRADER ENTERING HIGH SCHOOL IN 2015, THIS IS FOR YOU! LEARN ABOUT THE HIGH SCHOOL HONORS ENGLISH CLASSES AND IF THIS CLASS IS RIGHT FOR YOUR CHILD WHAT’S GOING ON WITH SUMMER READING? WHAT ARE THE BOOKS THEY HAVE TO READ? WHAT ARE THE WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS OVER THE SUMMER? WHEN ARE THEY DUE? DOES THIS CLASS LEAD TO DUAL CREDIT CLASSES? IS ENGLISH I RIGHT FOR MY CHILD OR SHOULD THEY BE IN HONORS ENGLISH? English I Honors

Is English I Honors Right for Me? Do you enjoy reading? Do you read at a high reading level? Do you read and think critically? Do you often read for pleasure? Do you read a wide variety of texts (fiction and non-fiction)? Do you enjoy writing? Do you write critically? Do you write for a variety of audiences? Do you understand and apply the rules of grammar and mechanics to your writing? Do you use an extensive and descriptive vocabulary?

What Makes Honors Different What makes “regular” English classes different from Honors English classes is the intensity and depth of analysis of fiction and non-fiction works, as well as the high degree of rigor and relevance of coursework that the instructor of a Honors English class can provide for your child. Honors takes your child beyond the normal expectations of the regular classroom to much higher goals by using higher-order thinking skills, rigorous training in writing, and relevant and engaging reading assignments. Students will read novels, non-fiction works, poetry, and drama in a theme-based format this year. Students will also complete assignments using technology, and will conduct research using many sources. Grammar and vocabulary study will help sharpen your child’s reading and writing skills as well.

Proposed Reading List English I Honors Reading List Summer Reading The Outsiders S.E. Hinton – NOT PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Mark Twain – NOT PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain - provided Assorted short stories & poetry -provided Edith Hamilton’s Mythology-provided Black Ships Before Troy Rosemary Sutcliff - provided Odyssey Homer - provided The Hobbit JRR Tolkien - provided Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare -provided Shakespeare’s sonnets – provided Animal Farm George Orwell - provided Raisin in the Sun Lorraine Hansberry – provided

Summer Reading Assignment These assignments will be due on the first or second day of school and may be neatly written or typed. Length – 2 handwritten pages or 1 page typed –double spaced, please The length is approximately 250 words. Each assignment should be done on a separate sheet of paper. For those of you with access to a computer and , please feel free to your completed assignments early before school starts. My school is Your assignments should be ed as an attachment. As always, save your completed work to your own flash drive. There is no penalty for students who do not their Describe Ponyboy, Johnny, or Dallas from The Outsiders. Be sure to include both a physical description and the personality traits of each character. How does the character change during the course of the novel? A well-written description should also include what motivates the character and how the character interacts with other characters throughout the novel. Consider any conflicts that the character encounters during the novel and how he faces these conflicts. By the end of the novel, Tom and Huck have shared a life-changing experience and become good friends. But they are quite different in many ways. Examine the text to compare and contrast the two characters’ personalities, citing differences and similarities. Offer evidence from the text to support a one- or two-paragraph comparison. Passages you may want to pay special attention to are the treasure hunting scene in Chapter 26, the scene in which the boys dig for the treasure in the cave in Chapter 33, Widow Douglas’s party in Chapter 34, and the last chapter.

Types of Writing Responding to literature Analytical writing  embedded quotations  Parenthetical citations  MLA style format Journal responses Timed writing Literary writing Poetry Expository writing  Compare/Contrast  Problem/Solution