Summer Reading Assignment Grade 7

English 7 Summer Reading
2011
Ms. Bentley Hoke and Mr. Eagen

Hello, seventh graders! We hope you’re all enjoying your summer vacation, and as you do so, we hope that you’re also enjoying some good books.

For your English 7 summer reading, you will choose one of these two books: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead or The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. You might look at each of these books at the library, at a bookstore or online and read the back cover and several pages of each to determine which one suits you.

Whichever you choose, we recommend that you read the book toward the end of the summer so that it will still be fresh in your mind when you arrive at school.

Once you have done the reading, you have two writing options. You may choose either option to go with either book. These will be due the second time your class meets in September (either Wednesday or Thursday of the first week of school).

1) Write a letter to one of the characters in your book. This may be the main character, but it does not have to be. Choose the character that interests you most. Try to refer to specific details and events in the story as you write. Also consider the best approach and tone for writing to this particular character. In your letter you may want to:
• explain to the character what you find so interesting, confusing, upsetting, exciting about him or her,
• ask questions about his or her actions and choices in the story,
• describe connections you feel you share with him or her.
You are not limited to these three lines of discussion, though. Use your experiences, both in reading this book and in your life, as you decide what to write about. Before you hand it in you should proofread carefully and make sure that the letter is created in the following form: word-processed, one page at least, double-spaced, 12 point font with one inch margins.

2) Write a book blog. For this option you will produce a series of “posts” reflecting your reactions to characters, events and descriptions in the novel you have chosen. You should plan to write at least five posts, and each one should be at least three good sentences long. In a blog post, typically the writer aims to express interesting ideas clearly and efficiently. Those who read blog posts tend to know the writer or to have a special interest in the general topic for the blog, so you might imagine your blog fans to be people who have read your book and found it interesting. You will not be publishing these posts to the web initially. Instead we would like you to type them into a document to print and turn in. We will be discussing blogs and other forms of e-communication in class in the fall.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact either of us pbentley@mph.net or jeagen@mph.net.

Enjoy your summer!