Christina School District High School Summer Reading

Christina School District High School Summer Reading Summer Reading is required of all high school students in the Christina School District. This summer, marks the third year in which Christina School District high schools will participate in the One District, One Book Summer Reading Program. We want our students and staff to get excited about reading. When we return to school in the fall, the CSD community of readers will share their reading experiences, thoughts and projects in a series of activities that will take place across all three high schools and all grade levels. Our goals are to encourage students to become life-long readers who read critically, insightfully, and enjoyably; to unify our students around a common connection to literature, and to give our faculty and staff an opportunity to model the behavior of lifelong readers. Our selections were chosen by a committee comprised of high school students, teachers and parents. All Students will read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs and complete the required assignment on the attached “Summer Reading Assignment Options” page. Assignments are due September 6th and 7th, 2012, depending upon when the English class meets. This assignment sheet and the scoring rubrics for the assignments will be available on the district website and building websites to reference over the summer. What are we reading? Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs A mysterious island, an abandoned orphanage, and a strange collection of very curious photographs make up this spine-tingling fantasy which will delight anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows. It all waits to be discovered in "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children," an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here—one of whom was his own grandfather--were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will keep you on the edge of your seat. (YALSA 2012 Teens’ Top Ten Nominee) Required Reading ALL STUDENTS: ALL HONORS STUDENTS:

AP ENGLISH STUDENTS:

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children AND one (1) of the following titles:  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak  The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein  The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. In addition, AP Students will receive specific assignments from their course instructors. These assignments will also be available on the Christina School District website and all three high school websites.

Summer Reading Assignment Options Key Learning: Great literature explores enduring themes and reveals current aspects of the human condition. Essential Question(s): How does understanding the universal themes in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children help us to better understand the responsibility individuals have to society and the responsibility society has to the individual? College Prep Students - All Grade Levels will read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs and complete one (1) of the following assignments. The assignments will be submitted on September 6th or 7th Honors Students -

All Grade Levels will read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children AND one (1) of the additional novel listed below. Honors students will complete ONE of the assignments for Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The assignment will be submitted on September 6th or 7th (dependent upon when your English block meets). IN ADDITION, Honors students will be TESTED on the additional novel during the first week of school. Additional Novels:  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak  The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein  The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

AP English Students - Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. In addition, AP Students will receive specific assignments from their course instructors. These assignments will also be available on the Christina School District website and all three high school website. *Please note that assignments will be scored using the attached rubrics. Though students at different grade levels will have the same assignment, it is expected that the finished product be representative of the student’s grade level abilities. A senior project will be more in depth than a freshman assignment. Every student is expected to work to the best of his or her ability.  Extra! Extra! (CCSS 9-12 W.2; 9-12 W.4) – Create either a front page news article or a leading news report based on one of the major events in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. You can focus on any important event you would like. Create the entire front page of the paper in which your article would be included or the entire news broadcast (approximately 10 minutes submitted on CD/DVD, attach your printed lead story to the disc for submission). Your final submission must include the following: Newspaper Front Page News Broadcast o A banner headline o A station name o At least one picture with a caption o Sets that are appropriate for the segments o The lead story (at least 350 o The lead story (at least 350 words typed or words) neatly hand written) o 2 related stories o Related story blurbs o Title of newspaper o A show title o At least one advertisement o At least one commercial break o

The project must be typed or neatly hand written in columns

Most importantly, BE CREATIVE. What other related stories would make the front page or the daily evening news? Who might the reporters be? Put yourself in the shoes of a paper editor or television news producer from the time of the text and decide what is most important for the news on the day you have selected. What items might be advertised in the time period of the text? Also, remember what has happened already in the text. Your article or lead news report should not simply summarize the text!  Artistic License (CCSS 9-12 W.3) – Take your own “peculiar” photograph and use it to create a new character for the novel. Write a one page(at least 400 words) backstory for your new character. Be sure to describe your character’s peculiarity and how he/she ties into the rest of the novel. The photograph must be submitted with your assignment. (Your assignment must be typed or neatly handwritten). Essay Options (CCSS 9-12 W.2, W.3, W.4, W.7 ) – Write a well-developed essay on one of the following topics. Your essay should be at least 500 words in length and must be either neatly handwritten or typed. At least one quote from the novel should be included in each of the three body paragraphs of your essay. The quotes should be followed by the page number in parenthesis. Here is an example: Jacob opens the novel by saying, “I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen” (8).  Essay Option #1 (Characterization): Write a well-developed essay (at least 500 words) in which you discuss the house in Wales. When Jacob first lays eyes on it, he observes that it "was no refuge from monsters, but a monster itself." Would you say the house serves as a setting to the story...or is its role something else—a character, perhaps? Support your ideas with evidence from the text.  Essay Option #2 (Making Connections): In some ways this book can be seen as a classic hero’s quest story—a young hero who undertakes a difficult journey and is transformed in the process. Is Jacob a hero? How is he transformed during the course of the story? Support your ideas with evidence from the text. This must be a well-developed essay (at least 500 words).  Essay Option #3 (Informative Social Commentary): Read the linked excerpt from Elie Weisel’s novel Night, providing a first person account of the horrors of the holocaust. Using this excerpt and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, discuss why Jacob’s grandfather may have felt compelled to leave the safety of Miss Peregrine’s home to join the army. http://www.pbs.org/auschwitz/learning/guides/reading6.1.pdf  Essay Option #4 (Exploring Language in Literature): Some readers have noticed the inconsistency of Jacob’s narrative voice and felt that it was perhaps too sophisticated for a young boy, even an adolescent? Do you agree, or disagree? Does the narrative voice change during the course of the novel? How so? What effect does this have on the story and on the reader? Support your ideas with evidence from the text. This must be a well-developed essay (at least 500 words).

For students interested in reading additional texts throughout the summer, we have provided a list of suggested readings which may be read at any grade level. 9th Grade The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry The Maze Runner series by James Dashner 10th Grade Across the Pacific by Raft by Thor Heyerdahl The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison The Help by Kathryn Stockett

11th Grade The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving Emma by Jane Austin 12th Grade Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford Nectar in the Sieve by Kamala Markanda

This year’s summer reading texts were selected through a district-wide Summer Reading Committee consisting of students, parents, and faculty members. We would like to thank and recognize the members of the committee for their time, effort, and support in the selection process. Students Johvenny Cordero - NHS Casey Fallon – GHS Kiara Gasby – NHS Ashley Gibson – GHS Gabrielle Holcomb- CHS Danielle Jacoby- GHS Christina Jones – GHS Erik Leon – GHS Angelica Mayne – CHS

Sarah McCall – CHS Selby Seador – NHS Taleah Watson –CHS Teyler Wilson – GHS Parents Mr. and Mrs McCall Ms. Maureen Jones Ms. Tammy Jacoby Ms. Kathy Armstrong Ms. Dawn Tackett

Teachers Tabitha Bendel - NHS David Davis – NHS Paul E. Kough – GHS Sarah Quartarone - NHS Jill Henebry - CHS Kelly Mahanna - CHS Karen Raub - CHS Chis Vella - GHS Crystal Tuminaro - CHS