Middle School West

As a prospective 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th-grade student, you will be required to select a book for a summer reading requirement from a short, carefully chosen list of interesting and high-quality novels.  The purpose of summer reading is to continue the development of your reading strategies and support vocabulary enrichment as well as spark your interest in some great books. 

Although it is not necessary, we encourage you to buy the book that you select so you can make notes in it and highlight interesting parts.  It is important that you have a solid understanding of the characters, setting, and plot in the book you choose since there will be a graded activity when you return to school.  (So, if you were wondering, “Does this count?”  It does!)

As you read your book, some key ideas you may want to remember:

• Highlight parts that you want to discuss or share when you return to school;
• Make note of any interesting or unknown vocabulary words;
• Question the author; write your questions in the margin as a strategy to help you better understand the plot;
• Make predictions as you read and revise your predictions as you learn more;
• Make use of your inferring skills as you read since most authors have messages that are not easily recognized as part of the plot…what is the theme of your novel?

When you return to school in the fall, remember to bring your book with you. We look forward to kicking off the year with great discussions about your summer reading!