7^th grade Summer Reading

This year we are continuing our assigned summer reading program, by having all incoming 7th grade students read the same novel. This not only keeps the students engaged in an academic pursuit over the vacation (albeit in a small way), it also allows us to begin the year focused on a novel and ready to jump right into the new year with discussions and activities.

For English, students will read John Steinbeck’s The Pearl. This classic novel follows the lives of two individuals who discover a pearl of great wealth and how their lives dramatically change because of it. We will be discussing the novel in depth during the beginning of the first quarter and considering topics such as happiness, obsession, fear, commitment, and society’s influence over the individual. Over the summer, students simply need to read the novel. Students are not to read Cliff's Notes or watch any movie version of the novel since using such materials can be detrimental to the students' ability to form their own opinions of the material.

We’d also like to encourage you to ask your students about The Pearl as they read – allowing them to “be the teacher.” Not only does this provide a great opportunity for students and parents to converse over issues addressed in the book, but it helps develop the students’ comprehension skills in a venue other than the classroom. All this will assist them in doing well once school begins. Since we want them to develop their own thoughts on the work, we’d ask that you not read the book with them, but rather simply engage them in conversations that will encourage them to share their thoughts independently.

Your students have received a copy of the book. While we expect that the book may travel great distances over the summer, your student will need to use it in class the first several weeks, so please encourage them to take good care of it.

Finally, we would like to encourage a little fun and creativity in the students this summer. We would like you to take photos of them reading The Pearl in the most creative ways they can think of. Some suggestions: distant places (ex. Outer Mongolia), unusual reading locations (ex. the top of the Statue of Liberty), unusual ways (ex. while jumping off a diving board), and in environments that relate to the story itself (ex. a beach). We hope you will encourage and assist your student as s/he participates in this fun activity. All photos will be collected the first week of school and put on display.

Have a great vacation!