Summer reading is given to students every year. It is an assignment handed out which is to be completed by the time school starts next year. It is compiled of a list of books in which one must be chosen and read. The assignment also includes a project, usually one that requires time and effort that must be completed as well.
Schools are out for the summer. There are no more teachers and no more books. Students are ready for two months of summer fun. Going to the beach and hanging out with friends is what summer is all about. Nowhere in that itinerary does it include reading a book and completing a project. With all the activities going on there is no time to read, let alone finish a project. I find myself procrastinating until the last possible second. By the time I even pick up the book summer is over and the project is due. Incentive is nearly impossible.
For some students summer reading gives them something to do. For many, myself included, this assignment is not interesting. It is a complete waste of time. I have no drive to read a story and complete a project in which I express no enthusiasm in. I consider this assignment to be busy work English teachers give to students over the summer.
The summer reading project is not only a waste of time for students, but a waste of time for teachers as well. Any student is able to receive information about the book from friends; even the internet contains information about the book. Not once having to open the book and actually read a student can complete the given assignment. A teacher already knows what the story is about. There is no desire to grade a project that someone has put forth half the effort due to the fact they took the easy way out.
Any student can get an easy “A” on this project but that is not the point.
Gary Soto wrote a memoir called, “A Summer Life.” In a memoir, being yourself, and telling your own story are all important. They are important because you don’t want to lie and say you like something if you don’t. Speaking freely is telling how you really feel and not caring what other people think about it. And telling your own story is very important because the story is suppose to be about you not anyone else.
Over the course of this summer I read four books. The books I read were Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling, The Giver by Lois Lowry, Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry again. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling was the first book I read this summer and I really liked it. I decided to read the 5th Harry Potter book because I had it and I never really got a chance to read it. The book begins were it had left you of in the 4th book when Harry is just about to enter his 5th year at Hogwarts. He still lives with his aunt and uncle whom he hates because they are mean and evil to him. The letters from his friends are very dull and they have nothing to say, which confuses him and makes him furious. He is also mad because he’s still stuck with the Dursleys all summer long. The story goes with his adventures and challenges throughout his 5th year. The genre is fantasy complete with magic. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes the Harry Potter books. I would also recommend that if you have never read any of the previous books you start from the beginning. I can’t wait ‘till the next book comes out!
On page 4, we read “Deep-sea Treasure Hunters” by Ramona Rivera. Students once again participated in reading, except one = student (Kristina) who claimed she did not like to read aloud. However, she did answer a few questions. I had students underline what they thought the central idea and supporting details of the story were. Afterwards, they shared their answers and explained why they choose certain sentences/phrases to underline as each. We also filled out the chart on the page
Summer reading should not be assigned because it does not do what it was intended to do. All summer reading does is bore children, make them worry about the grade more than learning the material itself, which takes away time from other activities. Both articles agree that in order for a student to succeed, they need breaks, not more work. But as of now, parents want their child to get the hundred on a test or quiz and beat everyone else. If this continues,
High school students in many American schools first read this book in an English class, which has been a staple for many schools. A required reading assignment exposes many more people to the book. Even though the book is considered to be a children’s book by many, it is still enjoyed by people of all ages.
The novels The Loved One, and Endurance can both easily be related to my life, and the world that I live in today. Each of these stories has a meaning that is timeless, and contains morals that can never be dated. Each story has something to offer the reader on many levels. It may teach a lesson, reveal a truth or just simply entertain. Out of these stories I will make a connection to one or more of my personal experiences, a text-to-text connection, and a connection between these novels and the world today. While reading these novels, one gets a feeling or a sense of frustration. It becomes difficult at times to understand the emotions that are running through the characters minds. Ultimately though, significant similarities can be linked to my own life experiences. Waugh and Lansing’s novels are classics in which many people can relate to. Everyone has hurdles and hardships in their lives that must be overcome in order to succeed.
A book that provides entertainment as well as life lessons is hard to come by in this day in age. The kind of books that should be on the summer reading list must have a large population appeal and deep character development that makes you feel like you are in the story. Veronica Roth’s book Divergent, which provides you with all the factors that make up good literature, should stay on the summer reading list. This book offers all these and more throughout its twists and turns. Divergent should stay on the summer reading list because of the life lessons taught in the story, the large population appeal and deep character development.
Back in 1990, a man named Gary Soto decided to write an autobiography about himself, titled A Summer Life. One of the more interesting portions of the book was when Mr. Soto described a summer day back when he was six years old. On that day, young Gary found out what it felt like to be a true sinner, as he stole an apple pie from the local bakery. Some readers found this as one of the more interesting parts, not because of the plot, but because of the literary devices used, such as detail, imagery, and pacing. The three aforementioned literary devices are almost a backbone to the story, because without those three, the story would be shortened and fairly bland. The following three paragraphs will each describe a literary devices used by Mr. Soto to enhance the quality of his story.
Ideally, extending the school schedule into the summer equals more learning. Because students are not dedicated to their studies, often they do not retain the information they learned over the school year during summer vacation. According to the article “Will Longer School Year Help or Hurt US Students” Smyth notes that, “Proponents argue that too much knowledge is lost while American kids wile away the summer months apart from their lessons” (Smyth). Smyth argues that students clearly do not retain their lessons over the period of their summer break. However, opponents of the extension of the school schedule say, “summer breaks are needed to provide an academic respite for students’ overwrought minds, and to provide time with family and the flexibility to travel and study favorite subjects in more depth” (Smyth). Smyth’s observation not only protests taking summer away from families but also describes summer as a time needed to rest student’s minds.
To add some variety to traditional teaching and learning strategies, a teacher might design an independent project where students work in teams and focus collaboratively on a single novel from the twentieth century. Each team would read a selected book and work together to create artifacts that would be shared with the other teams. Through collaborative work and sharing, students would be able to grasp the concepts and connections of several works of literature. The project outlined in section 5 will target twentieth century literature.
When talking about the role of women in society for centuries they have been discriminated. In various countries women have been displayed as a object of sex, a nurturing roll, and in other cases a defenseless victim. Women are more often discriminated than glorified and in the stories "Death Constant Beyond Love", "Of Clay we are Created", and "In Camera" the roles that the women play are connected by the topic of discrimination and all share the same theme of having a emotional disconnection with men.
Saunders, M. (2004, September 7). Try year-round school: The lazy days of summer may hurt children who struggle in school the rest of the time. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, pp. 14A, Retrieved November 6, 2004, from Lexus-Nexus.
...t of the project even helps those who did not read the book to try and connect with a character (and hopeful peak enough interest to make them read).
Furthermore, informational texts found in Reading A-Z talk about different water sources like the Mississippi River where the learner could relate too since the river crosses Minnesota. Part of the assessments done the learner indicated the dislike of reading, but through selective texts of her interest or texts that she could relate and use her background knowledge to engage on the reading would create on her motivation to read. Just as Fisher & Frey (2012) states that few readers read the introduction to know if it the text meets their needs. In order to create engagement on readers, looking at the complexity of a text as a teacher is it vital to maintain the reader joy
Summer vacation is legendary. An integral part of American culture, it is loved by students and loathed by parents. Its influence stretches as far as the economy and media of the country. Nevertheless, such a famed part of American educational customs is unnecessary and even detrimental to students. Its institution hinders learning and it can have a damaging effect on the families and students involved.