PRinTS
PTHS Summer Reading 2018
Pequannock reads in the summer!
Summer reading is an opportunity to keep your brain engaged and maintain previously learned academic skills. It gives you the freedom to establish a life-long reading habit, a disposition common to successful men and women across all occupations and cultures. It's a way to laugh, cry, and make sense of the world, on your terms from books that you are passionate about reading. It's about finishing one great book after another, all summer long. Summer reading is your opportunity to invest in you.
PRinTS is a district-wide initiative to encourage students to read and invest in themselves throughout the summer. The PTHS English Department is continuing to offer choice books for summer reading. This will offer students opportunity to enrich their reading lives and writing skills. The expectation is that students will choose a book, from the suggestions provided or an appropriate grade-level recommendation. We encourage you to select a text that will be of high interest to you. Even though the requirement is one book, we are encouraging the continuation of reading more than one text throughout the summer and into the upcoming school year.
Requirements
When we get back to school in September, you'll participate in a writing assessment, about ONE of the books you read over the summer. In the assessment, you'll be expected to demonstrate your ability to address theme, supported by quotes and evidence, relevant and critical to the text.
Close Read
Reading “closely” means reading actively, paying attention to language, making thoughtful observations, and tracking your interpretations of the messages the author delivers. You should note your questions and observations, along with supporting evidence. Underlining interesting passages, jotting down questions, marking moments when characters have to make important or difficult decisions, and recording instances of symbolism and foreshadowing will deepen your interpretation and understanding of theme within your book while also building a toolbox of material to draw from when you write your essay.
Annotate/Take Notes
Concepts and themes may not be explicitly stated, so your notes are crucial in identifying and evaluating the book's central theme. Take notes using the optional organizer (make copy) provided or keep track of your information on post-its or on your own Google Doc. Be sure to cite specific evidence from your novel.
Click on BOOK COVERS for brief descriptions, in addition to links to full recommendations and more from the Novelist Database. To log into database, USE Login: peqhs Password: panthers
Immigrant Experience
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Facing Racism
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Haunting
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Dealing with Mental Illness
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Inspiring
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Moving
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Heart Wrenching
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Suspenseful
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Romantic
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Hopeful
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Gritty
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Remorseful
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Issue Oriented
2018 Award Winners and Best Bets
Common College Freshmen Summer Reads
From the NY Public Library Summer Reading List
If your chosen book is FICTION
Find the Central Concept
The central concept of a text is the primary focus, pattern, purpose, or thought process guiding a text or section of text. This is built and revealed by both plot and theme. A book’s central concept is the proposed suggestion, message, moral, lesson, or philosophical stance taken away from a text. This can be on either the reader’s or the author’s part – one can take away things (or miss) the author did not necessarily intend.
Find the Theme
A theme is a philosophical idea found behind the motives, actions, emotions, images, symbols, and language of a text. Themes can be found in either what the reader thinks a text means or what the text itself seems to suggest. A theme may be a universal idea that is a reflection of human experience suggested by the text. A prevailing theme can also be identified by examining the characters' strengths, weaknesses, values, thoughts, and actions, or by the images and events that recur through a text.
If your chosen book is NONFICTION
...such as a memoir or historical account – keep in mind the following aspects, as non-fiction may differ significantly from literary fiction in several important ways:
Structure of the Text
How did the writer organize the text?
• sequence or time order
• similar and/or contrasting ideas
• description of concrete or abstract details
• patterns of cause and effect
• how does the writer use these structures to communicate?
• how do structural elements help make ideas clear?
Author’s Viewpoint
What are the author’s opinion, conclusion, and overall attitude toward the topic?
• Diction: an author’s word choice creates tone, which in turn creates the mood of a text. An author’s attitude toward a topic is revealed in this way.
• Evidence: what types of examples or anecdotes do the author use, and why? Does the author show multiple perspectives? is there a bias evident in the text?
• Fact vs. Opinion: what is presented as fact, and what is opinion, and how do you know?
Book Recommendation Sites
