1. Setting Personally Challenging Goals for Summer Reading

2. Reflect on yourself as a student.  Ask yourself: When I have earned an “A” on something I did for school, what did I do to make that work meaningful? What does an “A” mean?

3. Reflect on yourself as a reader.  Ask yourself: What do I like to read? How do I best demonstrate that I have understood and responded to a text?

4. Are you the kind of student who…  Aces multiple-choice tests?  Likes to blog about a topic online?  Reads the newspaper or online news, following stories as they unfold?  Discusses reading with others who have read a text?  Needs to see the film version of every book read?  Spends hours preparing for Advanced Placement classes?

5. Readers who excel at tests may choose from the following titles: Hoops, by Walter Dean Myers The Prometheus Deception, by Robert Ludlum When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini

6. Test Takers  May use handwritten notes or post-its when testing.  Will need to take the test on the date determined by their English teacher in September.  Need to achieve 80% on the test in order to meet their goal.

7. Readers who enjoy blogging can choose from the following titles: Go Ask Alice, AnonymousBlink, Malcolm Gladwell Define Normal, Julie Anne Peters Survivor, Chuck Palahniuk The Glass Castle, Jeanette Walls

8. Bloggers  Will work on a secure, monitored site: www.paramus.k12.nj.us www.paramus.k12.nj.us Paramus High Teacher Notes Chrystena Hahn  Nothing bloggers write will go “live” until it is checked.  Will need to answer a question from the book to enter the site.

9. Bloggers  Must use only their initials when blogging.  May NOT mention the place from which they are writing.  Need to print out and turn in three 200-word responses—one to the first half of the book, one to the second half, and one to another blogger—to meet their goal.

10. Readers who follow the news may choose from the following:  The Record  The New York Times  The Wall Street Journal  Time magazine  Newsweek magazine  CNN.com

11. Readers who follow the news  Choose a current event (political story, general issue in science or the arts) on which their current English teacher will sign off.  Clip an article weekly for six weeks and write a brief summary of each.  At the end of the six weeks, write a reflection about how their thinking has grown over the time they have followed the story.  Turn in the articles, summaries, and reflection (approximately 600 words total) to meet their goal.

12. Do you enjoy talking about what you read? Scheduled Book Discussions to choose from:  Mr. Kevin Glaser, Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury  Dr. Michael Pilacik, Stiff, by Mary Roach  Mr. John Ziemba, Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman, by James Gleick

13. Book Discussion Participants  Are responsible for coming to the discussion with two thought-provoking questions about the book, which they must turn in to the leader before talk begins.  Students who commit to this activity must be prepared to attend on the Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday in September that the leader chooses, a date that will be announced via the P.A. Students whose plans to attend are disrupted—regardless of the reason—will not have achieved this goal.

14. Book-to-Film Buffs May Choose From: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (first book in series) by Ann Brashares. Film directed by Ken Kwapis rated PG. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (unabridged version). Film directed by Gillian Armstrong rated PG. I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Film directed by Francis Lawrence rated PG- 13. The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them by the Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell. Film titled Freedom Writers directed by RichardLaGravenes rated PG-13. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. Film directed by Nick Cassavetes rated PG- 13. The Pursuit of Happyness by Chris Gardner and Quincy Troupe. Film directed by Gabriele Muccino rated PG- 13.

15. Book-to-Film Buffs  Read a book from the list and view the movie created by the director listed (or view the film then read the book).  Write a 500-600 word essay discussing two scenes from the book that the director chose to leave out of the film, speculating as to why these scenes were cut.  Turn this in to show that you have met your goal!

16. Don’t want to see the film alone? The Public Library is screening these films…and providing popcorn!  June 30—I Am Legend  July 14—The Notebook  July 21—Little Women  July 28—The Freedom Writers Diary  August 11—The Pursuit of Happyness  August 18—The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

17. Other types of reading that count by themselves as a goal for summer reading  Reading that is provided by the teachers of AP courses across disciplines. The AP teacher would acknowledge successful completion of the assignment in an e-mail to the student’s English teacher.

18. Other types of reading that do not count by themselves  Reading that is provided by teachers of English honors courses. English honors students are required to complete at least one assignment in addition to the honors assignment in order to meet their summer reading goal.

19. How to Proceed: Step 1  Using your reflection on yourself as a student and your reflection on yourself as a reader, consider your goals for reading this summer. Think not only in terms of quantity but in terms of quality, as well, and consider other commitments (travel, work) that will affect your ability to meet those goals.

20. How to Proceed: Step 2  Discuss your potential goals with your parents. If they agree with your thinking, have them sign off on your goals. If not, discuss the goals until they are agreeable to both you and your parents.

21. How to Proceed: Step 3  Share your goals with your English teacher. If s/he questions you about your choices, be prepared to engage in conversation about how and why you chose what you did.

22. Over the summer, work toward your goals!

23. Summer Reading Goals A SAMPLE—June Name Christina Smith GOAL: 1. To read Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult and take the test on it. 2. To follow stories on the environment weekly in the Science Times section of the NY Times and to complete the 6-week assignment. Teacher Signature Mrs. Rodriguez Parent Signature Stephen Smith SELF-ASSESSMENT: Parent Signature THIS FORM IS KEPT IN YOUR WRITING PORTFOLIO

24. Summer Reading Goals A SAMPLE—September Name Christina Smith GOAL: 1. To read Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult and take the test on it. 2. To follow stories on the environment weekly in the Science Times section of the NY Times and to complete the 6-week assignment. Teacher Signature Mrs. Rodriguez Parent Signature Stephen Smith SELF-ASSESSMENT: It only took me a week to read the Picoult novel, but the NY Times articles were challenging to read and understand. My father has looked over my work and will sign my reading check test. Parent Signature Stephen Smith THIS FORM AND YOUR WORK ARE KEPT IN YOUR WRITING PORTFOLIO