8th Grade Summer Reading Packet: - Weebly



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8th Grade

Summer Reading Packet

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Name: ___________________________

MAST 8 Integrated Programs

 

Terms to Know:

Coming of Age Story - a story which encompasses the main character’s physical, emotional, and psychological transition into adulthood

Bildungsroman - novel of education

Conflict - the main problem within the story

Motivation - the reason why a character reacts or behaves in a certain way; the reason(s) why a character makes certain decisions

Motif - a repeating idea in a piece of art or writing

Maturity - demonstrating growth and a more adult quality of judgment

Socio-economics - the study of how social factors (class, race, culture, ethnicity, etc.) and economic factors affect a person’s life.

Book Selections

| |Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane |

|[pic] |Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on |

| |the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. |

| | |

| |Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is |

| |based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by Ellen Forney that reflect the |

| |character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break |

| |away from the life he was destined to live. |

| |A vacant lot, rat-infested and filled with garbage, looked like no place for a garden. Especially to a |

|[pic] |neighborhood of strangers where no one seems to care. Until one day, a young girl clears a small space and |

| |digs into the hard-packed soil to plant her precious bean seeds. Suddenly, the soil holds promise: To |

| |Curtis, who believes he can win back Lateesha's heart with a harvest of tomatoes; to Virgil's dad, who sees |

| |a fortune to be made from growing lettuce; and even to Maricela, sixteen and pregnant, wishing she were |

| |dead. Thirteen very different voices and perspectives—old, young, Haitian, Hispanic, tough, haunted, and |

| |hopeful—tell one amazing story about a garden that transforms a neighborhood. |

| |One moonlit night, thirteen-year-old Miles O'Malley sneaks out of his house and goes exploring on the tidal |

|[pic] |flats of Puget Sound. When he discovers a rare giant squid, he instantly becomes a local phenomenon shadowed|

| |by people curious as to whether this speed-reading, Rachel Carson obsessed teenager is just an observant boy|

| |or an unlikely prophet. But Miles is really just a kid on the verge of growing up, infatuated with the girl |

| |next door, worried that his bickering parents will divorce, and fearful that everything, even the bay he |

| |loves, is shifting away from him. As the sea continues to offer up discoveries from its mysterious depths, |

| |Miles struggles to deal with the difficulties that attend the equally mysterious process of growing up.  |

| |The beloved American classic about a young girl's coming-of-age at the turn of the century, Betty Smith's A |

|[pic] |Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a poignant and moving tale filled with compassion and cruelty, laughter and |

| |heartache, crowded with life and people and incident. The story of young, sensitive, and idealistic Francie |

| |Nolan and her bittersweet formative years in the slums of Williamsburg has enchanted and inspired millions |

| |of readers for more than sixty years. By turns overwhelming, sublime, heartbreaking, and uplifting, the |

| |daily experiences of the unforgettable Nolans are raw with honesty and tenderly threaded with family |

| |connectedness -- in a work of literary art that brilliantly captures a unique time and place as well as |

| |incredibly rich moments of universal experience. |

|[pic] |From the day she arrives at quiet Mica High in a burst of color and sound, hallways hum “Stargirl.” She |

| |captures Leo Borlock’s heart with one smile. She sparks a school-spirit revolution with one cheer. The |

| |students of Mica High are enchanted. Until they are not. Leo urges her to become the very thing that can |

| |destroy her - normal |

| |As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised |

|[pic] |freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the |

| |property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution|

| |and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he |

| |encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at |

| |first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who |

| |can provide her with freedom.  |

| |Buck, a sturdy crossbreed canine (half St. Bernard, half Shepard), is a dog born to luxury and raised in a |

|[pic] |sheltered Californian home. But then he is kidnapped and sold to be a sled dog in the harsh and frozen Yukon|

| |Territory. Passed from master to master, Buck embarks on an extraordinary journey, proving his unbreakable |

| |spirit... |

| | |

| |First published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is regarded as Jack London's masterpiece. Based on London's |

| |experiences as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness and his ideas about nature and the struggle for |

| |existence, The Call of the Wild is a tale about unbreakable spirit and the fight for survival in the frozen |

| |Alaskan Klondike.  |

Required Reading

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

After reading the book, answer the following questions in complete sentences. Use examples and details from the book to support your answers. ***Use a separate sheet of paper to answer these questions and attach that sheet to this packet.

(Some of these questions can be found in the “Discussion Guide” at the back of the book.)

1. What makes this book a coming of age story? How do Junior, Rowdy and some of the other characters in the book mature? What were they like at the beginning and how do they change throughout the story? Consider character, conflict, circumstances, and motivation when answering this question.

2. By drawing cartoons, Junior feels safe. He draws “because I want to talk to the world. And I want the world to pay attention to me.” How do Junior’s cartoons (for example, “Who my parents would have been if somebody had paid attention to their dreams” and “white, white, white, white, white, white, white” and “white/Indian”) show his understanding of the ways that racism has deeply impacted his and his family’s lives?

3. When Junior is in Reardan (the little white town), he is “half Indian”, and when he is in Wellpinit (his home reservation), he is “half white.” “It was like being Indian was my job,” he says, “but it was only a part-time job. And it didn’t pay well at all.” At Reardan High, why does Junior pretend to have more money than he does, even though, he knows that “lies have short shelf lives?”

4. Junior refers to his home reservation as “the rez,” a familiar name for the place in which he was born, the place in which his friends and relatives for many generations back were born and are buried, and the land to which he is tied that, no matter how bad things get, will now and forever be called “home.” What would Junior think of a cultural outsider, such as Ian Frazier, who visits a reservation to gather material for a book and then calls his book On the Rez?

5. Cultural markers can be defined as the behaviors, speech patterns, ways of seeing the world, ethics, and principles that identify a person as belonging to a particular culture. When Rowdy and Junior play one-on-one at the end of the book---and they don’t keep score---how is their friendship solidified by their deep knowing of who they are and what they come from?

Choice Book

Circle your choice book:

Chains Highest Tide A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Stargirl Seedfolks The Call of the Wild

Enduring Understanding: Reading fiction encourages us to think about what it means to be human. As we read fiction, we learn not only about characters but also about ourselves, others, and how we might relate to one another.

Keep this enduring understanding in mind and reflect on your selected “choice book” by creating 3-5 reflective passages (5-8 sentences each) that each begin with a different sentence starter listed below. These responses should demonstrate in-depth understanding or analysis of your chosen novel as well as reflection of your enduring understanding. This is were you insert your own “voice”, and do it with confidence!!

I noticed...

I wonder…

I was reminded of…

I think…

I’m surprised that…

I’d like to know…

I realize…

If I were…

The central issue(s) is/are…

One consequence of __________could be…

If__________, then…

I’m not sure…

Although it seems…

***Complete your work on a separate sheet of paper and attach it to this packet.

Themes Chart

Directions: In the chart below, give a specific example of each theme from within The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and the other book you chose to read.

| |Required Reading: |Student’s Choice Reading: |

| |The Absolutely True Diary…. |Title: _________________________________ |

| | | |

|Family | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Friendship | | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Love | | |

| | | |

|Romantic or familial | | |

| | | |

|Choice | | |

|How decisions of | | |

|characters influence the| | |

|plot | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Maturity | | |

| | | |

| | | |

|Education | | |

| | | |

|How education or a lack | | |

|thereof impacts plot and| | |

|character behavior | | |

| | | |

|Socio-economics | | |

| | | |

|Defined in | | |

|“Terms to Know”. | | |

Venn Diagram

Directions: Choose one character from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian and one character from your chosen book. Label the Venn Diagram with their names and books. Then, use the Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the Coming of Age experiences each character faces, along with how he or she copes with these experiences. Make sure you use specific, meaningful examples from both books.

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Reading Assignment:

1) You must read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.

2) Your second book is a choice from the following:

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Highest Tide by Jim Lynch

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Call of the Wild by Jack London

3) All summer selections have some mature content so make sure that you pick your second book carefully. Two of these books, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Highest Tide, are approved by OSD for 9th grade, but we feel both of these selections will provide valuable learning opportunities and will motivate rich conversation, discussion and dialog for our classroom community. Other reasons for our inclusion of these titles include that they both will extend previous learning, are written by local authors and are set in WA State, one right here in Olympia, and will align appropriately with our intended curriculum for this year, most particularly for Social Studies and Science. To assist you in your choice, a short description of each book is detailed on the following page.

If in the event that you decide that our required selection, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, is inappropriate for your student, please have them pick two books from the list to read instead and complete the packet activities using those two titles.

4) It is strongly recommended you keep a reading journal for the summer reading books as we will be reviewing, discussing, reflecting, and completing projects based on them when we return to school. Your reading journal would be a personal reflection of your day’s reading – how you felt about the chapters you read, what important changes occurred with the characters, and, what you think it all means!!

*Parents: Please preview whichever book your child selects, as some books contain mature content.

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