Skip to main content

Summer Reading!

Welcome to summertime, and you know what that means: summer reading assignments! Don't get stressed about it; take a book to the beach or the backyard and relax. A copy of the reading list was included with your report card, and you can find it here at any time.

Like last year, each honors student will read THREE books this summer; non-honors students will read TWO. Of these, only one is chosen for you. The others are up to you, with some stipulations.
The list for summer 2008:
Students will be asked to write an in-class essay when they return to school, based on topics provided by the teacher, using the book and an outline only.
As noted, the other selections are up to you. For each additional book, you will write a short report (referred to as a "reading guide"). Please observe the following when selecting additional books:

  1. Must NOT be a book the student has studied before

  2. Must be grade-appropriate (and appropriate for school)

  3. Must be at least 150 pages

Please note that parents should assist in the selection process. Due to the mature nature of some contemporary titles, parents are encouraged to preview selections or to choose a classic. For starters, try the following:

Popular posts from this blog

O Brother, A Response Paper

Hello Freshmen... Your assignment for the weekend is to write a 250-word (one page) response paper on O Brother, Where Art Thou . Please type and format according to MLA. You may choose from the two topics below: (1) Respond to the lyrics of one song from the film. Using your lyric sheet (or the internet ), connect the lyrics of one song to the movie's characters/setting/events. In other words, explain how the lyrics are relevant to the film. (2) Choose one of the historically relevant elements of the movie and look up an article on Wikipedia . Print out the article; then, summarize it and connect it to the movie's characters/setting/events. Be careful not to plagiarize the article, which should be stapled to your reponse. Ideas discussed in class include The Great Depression, con artist, chain gang, Populism (George Wallace, Huey P. Long, W. Lee O'Daniel), Ku Klux Klan (William Joseph Simmons), and George "Babyface" Nelson.

ACT Prep

Good luck on the ACT tomorrow, those of you who are taking it. To help you prepare, and for future reference, here are some materials for you to work with at home: ACT Prep - from the official site - including sample tests Test Prep Review - has "self-assessment modules" in several subjects ACT Sparknotes ACT Test Questions

Career Search

A good place to start with your career search is a personality test. There are several online to choose from, and there are many career aptitude tests, as well. Generally speaking, my advice is to look for a career that combines your interests and your aptitudes (both in your personality and your skill set). Look through the following and see if any are helpful: 16 Personalities (based on the Meyers-Briggs ) Skills Profiler (from the U.S. Department of Labor) Princeton Review Career Quiz Free Career Aptitude Tests (a list from The Balance ) Later this week, we will try to match up your aptitudes and interests with a career by looking at College Board's BigFuture site. We will also look at the ACT in detail ( Planning Your Future e-book ). Finally, we will explore the Occupational Outlook Handbook to see more thorough descriptions and projections.