Dear Entering 7^th Grade Students, Parents, and Guardians,

In East Ramapo we consider reading the foundation for all other learning. Therefore, our first priority must be for all of our children to become good readers and to instill in them a lifelong love of reading. Each student will receive a recommended list of authors and a Summer Reading Assignment. 

All students are expected to participate in the summer assignment of reading at least two books. Students are to choose one of the following books The Miracle Worker by William Gibson and/or The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain.

For the second book, students are asked to choose a book from the recommended list of titles and authors.  All books from the required lists reflect the NYS Common Core Curriculum; the topic of each required reading reflects units that will be taught during the 7^th grade school year.

During the second week of school, all students will write essays in English class about the books they read over the summer.  Below you will find the assignment and attached you will find the required and suggested lists, along with very helpful active reading strategies.  Your child should complete and bring the following assignment on the first day of school:

Summer Reading Assignment:

Read 1 Book 

The Miracle Worker by William Gibson

or

The Prince and The Pauper by Mark Twain.

and

Read 1 Book from the Suggested Title or Author List.  

Take notes on both books you have read

Create an Outline of the major events for each book, refer to attached outline suggestions

Creating good readers requires a collaborative partnership between families and schools.  We are asking parents to become partners in this effort by providing time for their children to read every day and to make sure that the summer reading is completed.

Have a nice summer, and we look forward to seeing you in the fall.

TITLE  READING LIST 

Harriet Tubman: Secret Agent: How Daring Slaves and Free Blacks Spied for the Union During the Civil War by ThomasAllen.   Harriet Tubman is facing one of the biggest--and most dangerous-- challenges of her life. She has survived her master and the lash, escaped from slavery, and risked her life countless times to lead runaway slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad. Now she has a new role--that of Union spy! The outcome of a secret night raid deep into Confederate territory depends on the accuracy of the intelligence she and other black spies have gathered. Success will mean freedom for hundreds of slaves. Failure will mean death by hanging. You are about to enter the undercover world of African-American spies--enslaved and free--risking everything in the name of freedom.

Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary by Walter Dean Meyers

Myers organizes Malcolm X's life into four stages: his childhood; his adolescence; his period of working under Elijah Mohammad; and his life after breaking with the Nation of Islam. Throughout, his experiences and actions are presented in a broader social context, from the beliefs of Marcus Garvey, who exerted such an influence upon Malcolm's parents, to the culture of adolescent black males in the 1930s and 1940s, to the contrasts between the Nation of Islam's views and those of Martin Luther King, Jr, with all the shadings in between. The author discusses the evolution in Malcolm's character, as his belief in Islam gradually taught him that not all whites were the enemies of African-Americans. He strikes a good balance between his subject's personal life and broader social issues and movements.

Living Up the Street by Gary Soto

In a prose that is so beautiful it is poetry, we see the world of growing up and going somewhere through the dust and heat of Fresno's industrial side and beyond: It is a boy's coming of age in the barrio, parochial school, attending church, public summer school, and trying to fall out of love so he can join in a Little League baseball team. His is a clarity that rings constantly through the warmth and wry reality of these sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic, always human remembrances.

A Child Called It by David Pelzer

This autobiographical account charts the abuse of a young boy as his alcoholic mother first isolates him from the rest of the family; then torments him; and finally nearly kills him through starvation, poisoning, and one dramatic stabbing. Pelzer's portrayal of domestic tyranny and eventual escape is unforgettable, but falls short of providing understanding of extreme abuse or how he made his journey from "Victim to Victor." One of the greater obstacles to healing for males is admitting that they have been victims, especially if their perpetrator is a woman.

Guts  by Gary Paulsen

In Guts, Gary tells the real stories behind the Brian books, the stories of the adventures that inspired him to write Brian Robeson's story: working as an emergency volunteer; the death that inspired the pilot's death in Hatchet; plane crashes he has seen and near-misses of his own. He describes how he made his own bows and arrows, and takes readers on his first hunting trips, showing the wonder and solace of nature along with his hilarious mishaps and mistakes. He shares special memories, such as the night he attracted every mosquito in the county, or how he met the moose with a sense of humor, and the moose who made it personal. There's a handy chapter on "Eating Eyeballs and Guts or Starving: The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition." Recipes included. Readers may wonder how Gary Paulsen survived to write all of his books -- well, it took guts.

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared To Dream by Tanya Lee Stone

What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, and resistance to stress, top physical shape— any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man. Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government. They were blocked by prejudice, jealousy, and the scrawled note of one of the most powerful men in Washington. But even though the Mercury 13 women did not make it into space, they did not lose, for their example empowered young women to take their place in the sky, piloting jets and commanding space capsules. ALMOST ASTRONAUTS is the story of thirteen true pioneers of the space age.

New Kids In Town: Oral Histories Of Immigrant Teens by Janet Bode

Eleven teenage immigrants tell compelling stories of their escapes from war, poverty, and repression to carve out new lives in America.

Sample Fictional Book Outline

Plot

• Explain what the book is about (Brief Summary)
• Major events in the book
• Rise in Action
• Climax
• Fall in Action

Conflicts/Resolutions

• Describe the major and minor conflicts of the book
• Describe some things that happened as the characters tried to solve the problems
• What the final outcome of the book
• Evaluate the ending of the book

Setting

• Describe the setting
• How does the setting impact the characters
• The effect of setting on events

Characters

• Describe the main character
• Who are the Antagonist and protagonist

• Who are some other important people in the book