William R. Satz School Summer Reading Program 2009

Rationale:

1. Students will reinforce reading comprehension skills.

2.  Students will develop a love of reading and experience developmentally appropriate literature (interest, reading level, content).

3.  Differentiation in texts and responses to text allows students to develop reading skills on an individualized basis.

Requirements:

All students must:

• Select and read two books on the approved grade level list. Students may read three or more books, and parents play an important role in encouraging students to read widely. Students who wish to read additional books may select from the approved list or from their own reading interests.  
• Complete an in-class written and oral summer reading assessment, which will be given during the first week of school.  Common grade level in-class assessments on summer reading will count for 5 % of the first marking period grade.

Guiding philosophy:

The Satz School Summer Reading Program strives to reinforce effective reading comprehension strategies, foster an appreciation for reading, and expose students to diverse readings designed to appeal to the wide range of interests and skill levels of our population. 

As such, there will be no specific required selection for summer reading.  Instead, students may choose from the appropriate grade level list approved by the Holmdel Board of Education. The summer reading guide will help students self-assess the degree to which they are following recommended reading practices.  The guide will provide excellent preparation for the open-ended in-class assessments all students will take during the first week of school.

All assessments will be open-ended. There will be no assessments that require students to create a book report or plot summary, or recall trivial details about the book. 
 

Voluntary Preparation Questions for In-Class Assessment:

Assessment need not be a mysterious process.  Consequently, we have provided below a list of questions and tasks similar to those that you will encounter during your in-class assessment (predictions, reactions, post-reading evaluation). These questions and tasks are designed to help you monitor your reading process and to help improve your reading skills.  All assigned written work will be collected by your Language Arts/Reading teacher.

Remember, these questions and tasks are only suggestions for your own self-monitoring as a reader.  Feel free to invent your own!  If you can invent better questions, do so! 

Predictions (Pre-reading skills)

You may choose one of the following ways to document pre-reading activities with reference to a specific chapter or section of your book.

1. List a prediction that you made about this chapter/section.  Explain what led you to this conclusion.
2. What specific pre-reading strategies did you follow for this chapter, and what were the results of these strategies?

Reactions:

Choose one of the following:

1. Choose one event or character’s action in this chapter that surprised you.  What was the event or action and why did it surprise you?
2. What aspect or part of a specific chapter did you like or dislike?  Please provide three reasons and three pieces of evidence that support your answer.
3. If you could re-write this chapter, how would you do so?

Post-reading evaluation:

Choose any two of the following:

Compare and contrast the two books you read.

1. Which book did you prefer reading and why?
2. How are the two books similar and different?
3. If you had to recommend one of the two books to your teacher, which would it be and why? Which book would you recommend to a classmate?

As you practice, so you will perform!

Happy Reading and Have a Great Summer!

Sincerely,

Arthur Howard

W.R. Satz School Principal