CREC MEDICAL PROFESSIONS & TEACHER PREPARATION ACADEMY
8th Grade Summer Reading
The importance of summer reading has been demonstrated repeatedly in a variety of research studies.
Over and over again, it has been shown that students who read during the summer do much better in school
when it starts again in the fall. On the other hand, students who do not read during the summer demonstrate
a significant loss over the summer. Eighth grade is a transition going into high school, and it is an important
time to develop great personally driven reading habits. All students at MPTPA have a goal to read twenty-five
independent books throughout the year. Reading twenty or more minutes per night is an expectation for the
year to help meet this goal.
Accelerated Reader
Part of the summer reading assignment is to read toward a goal for our Accelerated Read (AR)
program. AR is an online program used to monitor and track students’ independent reading. Each book has a
corresponding quiz, and each book is worth a certain number of points. Depending on the complexity of the
book, the quiz might be worth a few points or several points. Students will take the AR quizzes for the summer
reading books they read in school at the start of the year.
Assignment
Each eighth-grade student shall read at least three novels over the course of the summer. Two novels
are required: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes and Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements. Each of these
books has a reading comprehension component to the assignment. Students will have to answer the openended questions attached, making sure to support each answer with evidence from the text and properly
citing the information. It is an expectation that all answers be either typed or neatly written in blue or black
ink. All answers should be proofread for spelling and basic grammar errors. Each response should be no less
than a full paragraph. Each of these assignments counts as a quiz grade.
Along with the required books, students must read any combination of books on the attached list to
equal 35 or more Accelerated Reader points (including Flowers for Algernon and Things Not Seen.) The points
earned will be a quiz grade based out of 35. If you were to only read a book worth 3 points, then your score
would be 3/35 or a 9%. Remember: You only get the point value listed if you score a 100% on the quiz; for
each incorrect response the point value earned is lessened.
600 Slater Road, New Britain, CT 06053
Phone: 860-223-0726  Fax: 860-223-9742  www.crecschools.org
CREC MEDICAL PROFESSIONS & TEACHER PREPARATION ACADEMY
Open-Ended Questions
Flowers for Algernon
1. Write a journal entry as if you were Charlie. You may choose any point in the novel. Your journal entry
should explain what Charlie’s life is like and what he thinks as he goes through his day.
2. You are given the task to change the ending of the novel. How would you change the novel and why?
Things Not Seen
1. Explain how Bobby changes throughout the course of the novel. Make sure that you are using direct
textual evidence to support your answer.
2. What questions does a reader have at the conclusion of the novel? Why does the author leave these
questions unanswered and what effect does it have for a reader’s understanding of the novel?
AR Book Options
(Choose any combination of books to equal 35 points or more, including the two required books.)
Flowers for Algernon- Daniel Keyes 13 points *required
Things Not Seen- Andrew Clements 9 points *required
The Secret Life of Bees- Sue Monk Kidd 15 points
Speak- Laurie Halse Anderson 7 points
Black Duck- Taylor Lisle 8 points
Brooklyn Bridge- Karen Hesse 6 points
Under a War Torn Sky-L.M. Elliot 10 points
Fallen Angels- Walter Dean Myers 11 points
Farewell to Manzanar-Jeanne Wakatsuki 7 points
Book Thief-Markus Zusak 18 points
Little Women- L.M. Alcott 33 points
Uncle Tom’s Cabin-Harriet Beecher Stowe 32 points
Maus I-Art Spiegelman 3 points
Maus II- Art Spiegelman 3 points
The Road to Memphis- Mildred Taylor 12 points
Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary- Walter Dean Myers 6 points
Esperanza Rising-Pam Munoz 6 points
After Tupac and D Foster- Jacqueline Woodson 4 points
Tunnels- Gordon Roderick 20 points
Deeper- Gordon Roderick 27 points
The Devils Arithmetic- Jane Yolen 6 points
600 Slater Road, New Britain, CT 06053
Phone: 860-223-0726  Fax: 860-223-9742  www.crecschools.org